I Haba Obsession with Hot Sauce

Have you ever heard of or tried fermented hot sauce? My first exposure to this sauce was when I went to Omi’s Coffee Shop in Portland, ME. I ordered the breakfast sandwich and saw that I could add this bright red sauce on the side (Resurgam’s Back to Roots hot sauce). I tried it and fell in love with the hot, flavorful, and complex condiment.

Instead of ordering it, I wanted to try my hand at fermenting hot sauces. I purchased habanero peppers and Scorch Bonnets, about a pound of each. I then cut them in half and placed them in a mason jar. I filled the jar with a salt brine mixture (for every 1c of water, add 1 tsp of salt), added garlic, topped it with fermentation weights, and let the peppers ferment for over a month. I had enough peppers to make a smaller jar with half habaneros and half Scorch Bonnets! I’m sure it’ll be an interesting flavor combination. 

As an aside, fermentation weights help to keep the peppers submerged in the brine, which decreases the chance of bad bacteria growing. Also, as the peppers ferment, the healthy bacteria on the peppers will start to multiply and produce carbonation in the mason jars. I would recommend “burping” your jars, or opening the jars, once a day to let the gas out. If any water comes rushing out, that’s okay! It means your peppers are happily fermenting. Just be sure to wash your hands well, you wouldn’t want any hot peppers in your eye! 

Now that a month had passed, I experimented with add-ins to help mellow out the heat and add flavor. For the habanero sauce, I added Jack fruit! Never heard of Jack fruit before? You can find it in the International foods section in the market. I picked this fruit because I wanted to keep the bright orange / yellow color and add a bit of sweetness, but you can experiment with other fruit or veggies! 

PSA: When I tried just the habanero peppers blended, I had to lay down on the floor and contemplate my life choices. It was so spicy that I felt the burn all the way in my stomach. So be careful!!

If you use the Jack fruit, I would highly recommend one whole can with a splash of syrup with half of the habaneros (and no garlic). I used a small blender to combine and viola, fermented hot sauce! The flavor will get better as it sits in the fridge. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb of your favorite pepper

Salt brine (1 tsp salt for every 1c of water), enough to fill the mason jar, leaving an inch of space

6 cloves of garlic

1 can of jack fruit in simple syrup 

Directions:

1. Remove the stem from the pepper and cut in half. Place in the mason jar until full
2. Combine 2 c of water and 2 tsp of salt and add to mason jar, leaving an inch of space
3. Smash garlic and add to the jar and stir peppers around.
4. Add fermentation weight, close the jar, and let ferment for at least two weeks
5. In a blender, put the whole can of jack fruit (no syrup), half of the habanero peppers, drained, and blend until well combined. Feel free to adjust the taste by adding more/less fruit, or some of the simple syrup.
6. Put in a mason jar to store and keep in the fridge! Enjoy! 

The Meal That Started It All

Do you remember the first recipe you learned how to make?

I was in 5th grade and in home economics class (when we still had the luxury back in the day). Mr. King taught us to make Eggs in a Basket. This dish is two pieces of bread, heavenly toasted, with an egg in the center of each piece. It is buttery, yolk-y, and toast-y perfection.

Here’s my recipe for Eggs in a Basket.

All you need is two pieces of toast, 2 eggs, softened butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the pan to medium heat.

Butter each piece of toast, on both sides. Remove a small hole in each piece, feel free to use a glass or a cookie cutter to cut it out. 

Place the toast in the pan, toast holes included! Let it brown for about 30 seconds and then carefully crack one egg in each piece of toast. Let the egg cook for another 1-2 minutes. 

Carefully flip over the toast and cook for another 2-3 minutes. The bread should be golden brown and delicious, while the egg yolk remains runny.

Remove from the pan and enjoy! I like to top mine with dried chili flakes and smoked paprika. I use the toast holes to sop up any egg yolk on the plate.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of bread
• 2 eggs
• Room temperature butter
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat pan to medium heat
2. Butter both sides of the toast
3. Carefully cut out a medium sized hole, either using a glass or cookie cutter
4. Place the toast in the pan and let brown for 30 seconds, including the toast holes!
5. Carefully crack one egg in each piece of toast. Cook for about 1-2 minutes
6. Flip the toast, and toast holes, and brown on the other side, 2-3 minutes
7. Remove from pan and enjoy this little piece of heaven on Earth

Oh The Possibili-teas

Have you ever accidentally bought a pound of Chamomile Tea and tried to figure out creative ways to use it, other than drinking 15131613544 cups before bed? Oh, that’s just me?

Well I have been very fortunate enough to not realize how much tea comes in one pound. I have been thinking about incorporating the Chamomile into a dessert and I wanted to try making a Chamomile and Honey cake with Honey Buttercream Frosting. 

Upon doing some research for a base recipe, I stumbled upon The Baking Fairy’s recipe. I don’t know why, but I felt there was a better way to extract the Chamomile flavor without needing to steep the tea in the milk. So after some more research, I found out that you can actually infuse the tea with butter to get a stronger flavor from the oil (thank you, Stef)! Apparently, I enjoy doing research about food on a Saturday night.

Chamomile Butter
So, for the Chamomile butter, all you need to do is cook the tea in butter for five minutes and strain!
The measurements are: for every tablespoon of butter you need in a recipe, add in 1.5 teaspoons of tea. However, you will lose some butter from straining it, so it wouldn’t hurt to add in extra butter as well. For example, in this cake recipe, I needed one cup of butter. I decided to use 2 ½ sticks of butter to equate to 1 ¼ cups of butter. Since that equates to 20 tablespoons of butter, I needed 30 teaspoons of Chamomile (or 10 tablespoons). Doesn’t it sound like this is a math problem you’d find on a test about a crazy person buying an absurd amount of something?

First, you heat the butter until it just melts. Then you add your tea and let it steep on low for 5 minutes. Once the butter is fragrant, you know it’s ready. Then you strain as much as you can, let it cool, and then use it in your recipe. Here's the butter creamed with sugar... look at the color!

Chamomile and Honey Cake
Now it is time for cake!

Ingredients:
1 c Chamomile butter
1 c granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 c whole milk
½ c honey
2 tsp vanilla extract

3 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan 
2. In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add in four eggs and beat together. 
3. Add in honey, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. 
4. Add in flour, baking powder, and salt and use a spatula to mix it into a thick batter. 
5. Pour the cake batter into the greased pan and bake for about 45-60 minutes. It will be ready when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cool. 
6. When the cake is cooled completely, top it with any icing of your choice!