Hot pepper sauce, my friends. And here's what you do:
Cut the stems off of your chili/cayenne/whatever hot peppers you got, throw them in the food processor and grind them til they're about the size of a grain of rice. Be sure to wear gloves. And maybe goggles. Come to think of it, a gas mask might be okay too.
Anyway, to each 1/2 gallon of pepper mash, add 1/4c of pickling salt. Mix it well, put it in a crock or glass jar, add a few drops of lemon juice/citric acid to the top, cover and place in a cool dark spot for 1-2 months. If you get some mold, that's sort of normal. Just scrape it off. After it's fermented for a couple of months, add white vinegar; approx. 1/2 the volume of pepper is a good amount of vinegar to start with. Allow it to age in a cool spot for 1-2 weeks, then taste and make any necessary adjustments. Once you're happy with the flavor, strain it through a cheese-cloth lined collander, and either refrigerate or heat and seal in Mason jars. So easy.
I'm really excited about this sauce because we LOVE green hot sauce in this house. Red hot sauce is okay, but green...oh my. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Even darling daughter Mara asks for a few drops of green sauce in some of her favorite dishes. But as with all things, the price of our favorite green hot sauce is going up Up UP! Thankfully, we had a bumper crop of hot peppers and plenty of time for fermentation. Nothing to do now but wait and anticipate. With any luck, this homemade sauce will be a reasonable facsimile of the sauce we enjoy...and that will be one more product we won't have to buy.
In re-evaluating my goals each season, I've decided that product replacement needs to be moved closer to the top of the priority list. Between rising food prices and product safety, it just makes sense to begin purging the house of as much store-bought, factory-farmed, chemical-laden products as possible and replacing said nasty products with wholesome homemade ones. After all, what benefit is there to growing a big garden and working my fingers to the bone to preserve the bounty if we're still eating all the same grocery store junk as before? So my goal is to begin replacing one store-bought product a month with a healthy, homemade version. This summer, I've eliminated the need for store-bought pasta sauce, salsa, flavored vinegars, jams, jellies, pickles, relishes and canned veggies. Time to take that a step farther and purge more of the big offenders: coffee creamer (which thankfully Amy just posted about), salad dressings, ketchup and condiments.
It's goofy, but when I can replace a manufactured item with a homegrown, homemade one, I feel like I've accomplished something; and the something is good.
What are your goals for the coming seasons?
What gives you that sense of having accomplished something?
4 comments:
I didn't ferment it first, because I've had absolutely awful results with lactofermentation, but I made a simple hot sauce - just chopped peppers and vinegar - with a basket of jalapenos that my farmer gave us. It's been steeping in the fridge. I'm going to put it through the food mill this week and then maybe add other spices. I hope it'll be good.
I had been very careful while chopping, just using my slap chopper, and then I burned by finger when putting the dishes in the sink!
I have replaced almost everything store bought with homemade, the only things that are still bought on a regular basis are dried Keen Mustard powder that I make into my hot mustard sauce, I am unsure that I would be able to give up my keens :)
Hubby still likes Kraft Peanut Butter and he goes though a lot of it a year.
Soy Sauce is the only other major hold out, I get real fermented ones, no more of the fake one of my childhood..
The two things my mother tends to get us each year are from England and arrive in our xmas box, one jar of ginger jam, and one jar of bitter orange marlalade and I have tried to make both of them at home to limited success, but I keep trying to figure out the recipe.
Otherwise, I do the rest homemade.
CD-I've had mixed results with fermentation. I made a really good kraut a couple of years ago; but the pickles this summer, not so much. I figure I'll give the fermented hot sauce a try and see how it goes. If it fails, I have about 2 gallons of various hot pepper vinegars steeping as we speak. One way or another, we're going to have some hot sauce!
Farmgal-I'm on the same path as you...just a few (dozen) steps behind. My 'awakening' didn't happen til about 2008-2009, so I think we're making good strides, but sometimes it comes more slowly than I'd like. The biggest hold-outs in our house: ketchup and Ranch dressing. I think I make pretty good ketchup and Ranch dressing but the kids quarrel about it.
The ginger jam...that sounds amazing!
Ohh...tell your hubby that Kraft is predicting a 30% price increase in the coming year. Better stock up on that peanut butter now!
That is a great idea, trying slowly to replace store bought items with homemade ones. I am going to try doing that!
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