Ahh, the time of long days and heat is upon us and we couldn’t be happier. It’s been a cool year so far and when we say “cool”, we don’t mean like Rihanna cool. We mean Princess Elsa cool. We mean Ice Ice Baby cool. Who are we kidding? It’s just been COLD. We can typically put away our thermals, furry boots and layered looks in May, but not this year. We’ve been bundled up in warm blankets and sweaters for far too long, munching warm bread and stews and dreaming of the days where we can wear shorts and tank tops, pick veggies straight out of our garden, swim in the lakes and rivers… We’ve been waiting too long for the summer experience!
For all of your Nor’westers (and PNW’ers), today we’re bringing some heat to you to shake the perpetual winter chill out of your bones for GOOD. Peppers of all types are relatively easy to grow and are covered in natural bacteria as they’re grown close to the ground. This recipe we’ve adapted from “It’s Alive with Brad” on the Bon Appétit YouTube channel does need organic peppers because conventionally grown peppers can be covered in wax for preservation which doesn’t lend well to fermenting. Take a trip to your local farmer’s market or your favorite farmer friend if you’re not keen on gardening, they’ll most likely have peppers coming out of their ears soon enough!
This sauce can be used for multiple applications; whether you just like a dab on your grilled goodies or dumped on your chip of choice, we guarantee that your core temperature will increase significantly! You can sneak some into ramen, toss some on your tacos, dress your boring scrambled eggs or fancy up a Bloody Mary with this beautiful hot sauce. It even makes great gifts for your spice lords and ladies around the holidays! Whatever your choice of usage, we guarantee that you and anyone you choose to share this sauce with will enjoy the heat year ‘round. So, let’s get to fermenting!
Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
You will need:
• Wide-mouth gallon jar (can also use a half-gallon jar)
• Latex gloves
• Cutting board
• Kitchen knife
• Funnel
• Small bottles with lids and/or a large mason jar for storage
Ingredients:
• Around 20 organic Fresno peppers, topped and seeded
• 2-3 organic Habanero peppers, topped and seeded
• 2 dried hibiscus flowers
• Mixed peppercorns (approx. 5)
• 2 Cardamom pods
• 1 Pinch Marash pepper flakes
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 3 Tbsp sea salt
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1.5 Quarts water
Preparation:
1) Using gloves, remove tops and seeds from peppers.
2) Add salt, sugar, spices, and garlic to fermentation jar.
3) Add enough water to cover spices, close jar, and shake to dissolve.
4) Place peppers into the jar and add the remaining quart of water.
5) Close the jar with your GoFerment lid, fill your airlock and let ferment for one and a half weeks.
6) After one and a half weeks, check mixture and massage peppers (please use gloves).
7) Ferment for another week (or longer if you can wait!).
8) Strain pepper solids and retain the brine.
9) Transfer peppers and around 3/4 cup of the brine to a blender and blend mixture at varying speeds until consistent being careful not to overheat. If you have an immersion blender, those are great to use as they won’t create heat when blending!
10) Remove mixture from the blender, store in a mason jar or small bottles in the refrigerator and enjoy!
