fermenting End of Season Ferment

[Kramer]

Getting kind of cold here in PA, the season is coming to an end. Gathered up some of the last good looking fruits yesterday and made a bit of an everything sauce.

1 Quart

- About equal 1/3's of habanero, cayenne, and thai, with a couple fully ripened red jalapenos. Half smoked with pecan wood, half fresh.
- 2 cloves of galic, peeled, cut in half and lightly crushed.
- 2 circle chops off a Vidalia onion. One cut into pieces and added in, the other left intact sitting right below weight (been doing this a lot lately, pretty much guarantees no floaters).
- Heaping half tsp mixed color peppercorns.
- 2.6% Himalayan salt brine.

Wish I had more cayenne than thai, but still very much looking forward to trying this one. The last cay-thai-hab sauce turned out excellent for a spicy buffalo style sauce. Wondering if the red jalapas will give it an interesting twist.

 

[SmokenFire]

Looks beautiful! 

 

[Siv]

Looks great - you should get a lovely bright red sauce out of that!

 

[Downriver]

Nice blend Kramer! Best of luck with it.

 

[Kramer]

Heya all, just wanted to check in.  I think it's safe to say the season is well over here in Pittsburgh with inches of snow on the ground this morning, but that's okay, because now it's time to enjoy the fruits (and start contemplating next season).
 
Kept it very simple.  After 7 weeks of ferment, strained, blended up, and added 1/2 parts brine and champagne vinegar, maybe 3/4 cup each, and a tablespoon of canola oil.  Ran it through a siv to get just liquid, then added back some of the solids while whisking to get just the right consistency.  I also ground up some dried cayenne and thai chiles and whisked them in as well at that point, no particular reason why, I'm just experimenting.
 
First impressions were just okay, kind of bitter actually, but it has gotten remarkably better and better the longer it has sat in the fridge and now I'm quite happy with it a couple weeks later.  I think maybe brine ferments benefit from some time to meld, whereas my mash experiments were really quite nice from the get go.  The pecan smoke flavor is an interesting twist, something I'm glad to have in my bag of tricks but maybe not something I will use all the time next summer.  I did make another smoked sauce with all habanero in the same fashion, and that one I will definitely be making again next year.
 
The other thing I can recommend is, if you're making a cayenne/buffalo style sauce, try tossing a couple fully ripened jalapas in, no more than 1 or 2.  Maybe not for everybody, but I really like the unique brightness they bring as kind of just another note in the sauce.
 
Forgot to take pics before and after, but I did snap this during.  Love the color.  It's got a bite too, but it doesn't hang too long.  Perfect if you want to sweat a little bit and get back to work lol.