Fermentation for Fall: Delicious, Healthy Food Preservation

Step 1

Peel your garlic and crush it with the bottom of a cup or pan or the side of a knife blade. This is great to do if you've had a bad day.Drop your crushed garlic in a glass or clay jar and cover it in honey.Wait for 1-2 weeks for the garlic to properly ferment. Note: It doesn't matter how much garlic or honey you use. I prefer to buy a package of pre-peeled garlic. The only set rule is you must use enough honey to completely cover the garlic. Any garlic exposed to oxygen is at risk of developing mold and going bad.Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.

Step 2

Pickling your peppers:Wash your jalapeno peppers.Chop the stem off each jalapeno pepper, then cut each in half lengthwise.Place the peppers in a glass jar. Plastic is acceptable if you don't have glass, but do not store the jalapenos in a metal container, which will impart a metallic taste to them after the fermenting process.Dissolve the salt in the water, then pour the solution over the jalapeno peppers in the jar.It is very important that the peppers are entirely submerged in water. If there isn't enough water to cover all of them, add more water.Cover the peppers in a pickling weight to keep them submerged in the brine. if you have no pickling weights, take a sheet of paper towels and fold it in half twice. Press the paper towel into the brine with the peppers to hold them down in the water.****Wait for five to fourteen days for your peppers to ferment. The amount of time depends on how funky / fermented you want your peppers to be. During this period, it is normal for the brine to become cloudy / white. It is also normal for the top of the liquid to gain a film of sorts, which is merely the accumulation of beneficial bacteria that create probiotics for your body. However, it is NOT normal for fuzzy mold to appear. The cause of this is likely that your peppers were not fully submerged in the brine. If it occurs, discard the jalapeno peppers. Making your hot sauce:Remove your newly fermented peppers from the brine. Set the brine to the side (DO NOT throw it away).Combine all of your ingredients in a blender.Run the blender on high until your ingredients are all pulverized and blended. Because you added oil to this recipe, the resulting liquid should look somewhat creamy and gradually lighten in color. When I use any sort of red pepper (like red jalapenos), the sauce usually turns orange.You could consider the sauce finished by now. However, it will have pulp in it from all of your peppers.To render a smooth sauce, place a fine mesh strainer (mesh is preferred to wire) over a bowl and pour your sauce into it.The resulting liquid is your finished hot sauce. Pour it into a squeeze bottle or jar and let it sit for at least three hours (preferably overnight) to give the elements time to meld.You may discard the leftover pulp, but I personally enjoy stirring it into melted butter and using it on garlic bread or fried potatoes.You can likewise discard the leftover brine, but I prefer keeping it for salad dressings and as a mix-in to funky drinks. Notes:*You can use any pepper you want. I tend to use jalapeno peppers because they're more common, but I adore this sauce with habaneros or scotch bonnets.**Honestly, you should add anything you want to this recipe. Try rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, and sesame oil instead of canola oil for an Eastern twist. Try brown sugar instead of honey. The world is your oyster, and this will soon become YOUR incredible hot sauce.***I actually use my recipe for fermented honey and garlic in this sauce. However, if you haven't made that, fresh honey and garlic will do.****The main thing to remember during the fermenting process is to have your peppers completely submerged in the brining liquid where probiotics can grow. Oxygen is an environment for harmful bacteria, which can ultimately ruin the fermentation process and result in a wasted batch of peppers.Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.