Recipes from the Garden: Hot Sauce V. 2 The Global Warming

Some of you may remember my first batch of hot sauce called Red Dragon. It was a mild to medium flavored hot sauce made by boiling peppers, vinegar, water and other vegetables like carrots and onions. It was good but lacked some of the kick I have grown accustom to when eating hot sauce.

With my boon on peppers, I decided to try my hand at a new hot sauce recipe. This one was a bit different as it didn't use vinegar (only water) and it relied on time and fermentation to give it that hot sauce flavor. I stumbled across it while browsing the internet and decided to give it a try despite me being a bit wary about fermentation, how it works and what to expect.

I found the recipe at FrugallySustainable.com. You may want to click on the link to check it out yourself as it does a much better job at presenting and explaining the recipe. If you have any questions, there is a great comment section below the article with a few people chiming in to answer any concerns.

This recipe is different than the first in many ways, one of them being that something could go wrong here. If your jar is not filled to the top and the seal is not air tight, mold/scum could potentially seep in. I personally didn't have that problem. I filled the water to the top, screwed the lid on tight and let it sit on my counter out of direct sun for 2 weeks. You may want to slightly burp the lid every 4-5 days so the pressure doesn't build up and do anything bad. You'll see the carbonation from the CO2 rise up when you do this. Just a quick release of the gas should be fine. No need to take the lid off all the way. I only did this twice on mine but I did have some liquid bubble out and escape before I opened the lid. The pressure found a way to force some out.

I know I just made it sound like a dangerous science experiment but its really not. Those are just cautionary things. Essentially it is more of a waiting game by letting it sit for 2 weeks. I blended mine up this past Friday, exactly two weeks after I put it together.

I have named it The Global Warming as the heat spreads across the surface of your mouth with little hopes of reversing it. It is much hotter than the Red Dragon but not in a way that you want to throw yourself in a pool of milk. It is flavorful and creates a warming effect. It is actually very similar to Sambal Oelek made by Huy Fong Foods (aka the Rooster people who make Sriracha). I will definitely be making this hot sauce again. Now if only I had a recipe for those pesky little Ghost peppers....

Anyone out there have any Ghost pepper recipes? Preferably for hot sauce as I can't imagine a dish being made with them having any redeeming qualities and I would prefer not to waste money on the other ingredients.

As always, if anyone has any questions, please let me know! Happy gardening (and cooking!)

Peter Piper has nothing on me

My garden is dying. Not all of it. But most of it appears as yellowish brown and wilted. Despite this, there is still fruit to be bore. The plant that is showing the most evidence of demise is my squash. I believe it is being helped along by the striped cucumber beetles that have taken up residence there near all season long. I am still getting a few squash from the plants but the growth rate has slowed. It's to be expected. This is September after all.

But wait. Is it? I just did one of my last few harvests for the year in 90 degree weather. This is supposed to be harvest season where the air is starting to become crisp, the breeze cooler and the wearing of summer shorts more sporadic. At least that is what I am used to here in Michigan. But no. Instead, I have come in from a picking dripping with sweat. But that is OK because this IS Michigan after all and if you don't like the weather you just wait for a bit. This case is no different. Yesterday it hit 93 here in Lansing. Friday the high will be 60. The low a mere 40 degrees. That is a 53 degree difference in 4 days. Yikes. I digress.

The plant that I am still picking from at a ridiculous rate is my black cherry tomato plants. I can barely keep up with them. So prolific. I have to believe I have picked 2-3 pounds a week for the past month or two. At least. This is from 4 or 5 plants. Oddly, my Italian heirloom tomatoes did not produce like crazy. I probably only harvested about 25 tomatoes this year so far. Which is a complete switch from last year. Last year, I was probably taking in 25 tomatoes a week from July onward. Enough to make lots of sauce to freeze. And my black cherry tomatoes were in low supply. Obviously this years weather made my tomato crop low but I have to wonder if it in turn made the cherry tomatoes more abundant.

Also, you may remember a month or so back that I had to pull many of my pole beans due to bean rust. Well, I let a 3-4 of the healthier plants stay just to see if they would grow and produce. They have. I have been picking beans off of the pole bean plants for the last few weeks. Glad to see I still managed to get something from them despite it being an off year.

And last but not least, my peppers. It is a good thing I love peppers and eat them with a lot of my food. Because holy wow. Just a few plants has kept me in full abundance all summer long.

And now for the pictures. These are just what I picked today.

Just one harvest. I've gotten this amount every 3-4 days for the last month or so.

Three more acorn squash! I have to admit, I've yet to eat the original 3 or 4 I picked a few weeks back as I've been waiting for more autumn type weather to eat and enjoy. And would you look at that pile of peppers?

Mix of pole and bush beans. Probably one of my last decent sized harvests for the year as most of my bush beans are done. 

There you go! In the next week or two, after I clean out the garden bed, I will do a year end reflection blog entry and further explain what you can expect out of me and this blog during the winter months. Thanks to everyone who reads this. For me, it is more than just a hobby and I love sharing what I do. And again, as always, your comments and questions are always welcomed here!

Bookend of Summer = Harvest Season

Today is Labor Day and caps off the 3 day Labor Day weekend as well as the end of summer. Not officially but in the minds of a lot of Michiganders, Labor Day is the last hurrah for summer. My wife and I tried to make the most of it ourselves. We were married 3 years ago on a Labor Day weekend so we celebrated by having a night away with each other. Afterwards, we met up with my Aunt who had our son. We ended up spending the night and camping with them. I was able to relax and kick back. For the most part. 

I say for the most part because always in the back of my mind was, "I need to get back to my garden. I bet there are tons of things ready to pick." Upon my arrival home last night, I found out that I wasn't wrong. I was able to pick a couple of tomatoes and yellow squash before deciding to hang it up until I could get in there and see everything better the next day. 

I knew when I went to pick things in the garden that there would be a lot but I didn't realize just how much. I had to make multiple trips to empty my bowl I was using for harvesting purposes. The black cherry tomatoes were so abundant it was like picking berries. The green beans were also getting quite large. I imagine that I picked a pound or two today. 

Another fun point to note: Almost all 3 or 4 of the Ghost peppers are red and ripe. I have one spoken for but that still leaves two or three left for the taking. Same with my basil. I have a half field of that yet to harvest. 

Here, take a look. 

I'm very serious about giving some things away though. If you live in the Lansing area and are interested in the basil or the Ghost peppers, let me know. I'll set some aside for you.