RAW Fermented Jalapeño Peppers & Carrots & Lemonade!

For healthy gut flora and fantastic taste, fermented jalapeños are a powerhouse!

(I'm republishing this blog because it's summertime and because I've made modifications - including the NEW simple recipe for jalapeño lemonade.)

Everyone, literally, everyone who has tried these loves them! So simple and great to have on hand in the fridge, they basically take every dish they've been added to the next level of goodness.

We've used them on everything from homemade spicy raw cheese sauce, nachos, cheese and crackers, burritos, pupusas (Salvadorian quesadilla-like food), hummus, scrambled eggs (one of my favorites, w/ raw cheese folded in after they're cooked), sandwiches, salsa, and more. Don't be surprised if I don't start putting them in my morning protein shake! (Okay, that's pretty unlikely, but I'm amazed at how versatile these homemade fermented jalapeño peppers are.)

I prefer the jalapeños over the cherry bomb peppers, though the cherries are nice and I prefer them when I make hot sauce or sriracha.

Also, they're very healthy for you. Up until the last hundred years or so, our great grandparents and their predecessors were fermenting all kinds of foods as a health and preservation tactic, from sauerkraut to pickles, beets, jalapeños, carrots, and of course the bevy of fermented beverages, the ancient and traditional ones being tea (kombucha), hard apple cider, wine, and ale to preserve and utilize an abundance of harvest fruit and grain.

But anyway, here's the dang recipe and my notes to the original author. You can find the original recipe on http://www.mommypotamus.com/a-peck-of-pickled-peppers/. I have modified it with my own notes. Below the recipe is what I did beyond the original jalapeño fermentation, including raw fermented jalapeño carrots and lemonade. Let me know how it goes!

Fermented Jalapeños 

Note: To take the heat down a notch, remove most of the seeds before you place jalapeños in the jar. I PREFER LEAVING THE SEEDS IN, AND JUST USING LESS TO SUIT YOUR TASTE BUDS AND HEAT TOLERANCE.

Ingredients:
USE ORGANIC INGREDIENTS for best results

• 2 cups chopped jalapeño rings (about 10 medium sized jalapeños)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (optional - I like mine without garlic)
• 1 TBSP pink salt
• filtered or purified water

Method: 

1. Place jalapeños, garlic and salt in a 16 oz mason jar. (I like to cut them in rings, but cut however you choose.)
2. Fill with filtered water, leaving one inch of space at the top.
3. Cover tightly with lid and shake until ingredients are mixed. 
4.  Cover with a new paper towel and flour sack towel, each bound by a rubber band. This prevents bugs from getting into the jar and ensures the dish towel doesn't transfer anything into the jar if it's not perfectly clean.
5. Leave out on counter or on a shelf for 3-7 days. They are done when the liquid is murky (the white, murky water is the lacto-bacilis) and the jalapeños are tender - test after the first 2 days and daily thereafter. A white film may develop at the top, that too is the lacto-bacilis. They will only ferment more and get more tender as time passes, so it's up to you how you like them. They will still be hot, but will resemble the jalapeños that come on stadium nachos, but much healthier! Mine are usually done in the summertime, with 80-90°F outside temperature, in about 6 or 7 days.
6. Once done to your likeness, transfer to the fridge for long-term storage. Once you eat them and have excess brine (you only need enough brine to cover the jalapeños. 

Three things to share:
1) Fermented Jalapeño Carrots:
I used the brine leftover (either works well the flavor is similar - so it's personal preference) to make fermented carrots.
Start with clean, disinfected jar, appropriate in size for the amount of organic carrots you want to ferment. I like medium-sized spears, about 1/2 inch thick (don't use baby - they're just rotten carrots trimmed!), as I found thin spears or slices get a little weak and don't work as well as finger-food.

Put carrot spears in the clean jar, cover with jalapeño brine so the brine is over the carrots, if necessary weigh down with something non-reactive like glass jar or cabbage leaf so the carrots stay below the brine (they turn out fine without the weight, but many instructions recommend, so I'm letting you know). I left mine for 3 days, but for the first batch, check every day after 24 hours to check that the carrots are fermented to your satisfaction. If it's summertime, they'll go faster so be mindful of the weather if your home isn't consistent year-round. Since carrots have more sugar than jalapeños, I noticed a thin white film at the top of the carrots after a few days. It seems to be lacto-bacilis, and I've always been absolutely fine eating these raw fermented carrots and jalapeños, but please ingest at your own risk.

The jalapeños carrots are fantastic! So delicious and fresh. They get a little soft, so adjust the thickness of the carrot spears to your liking.

2) Jalapeño Lemonade (fermented, gut-healthy beverage)
If you like the jalapeños and carrots from above, you will want to try my jalapeño lemonade. Basically, make homemade organic lemonade or limeade. I use honey, maple syrup or sugar for the sweetener (and I don't cook it so the citrus juice is healthiest). If you need to warm the water to dissolve the sweetener, just keep it under 100°F. If you're new to making lemonade, use about 1 lemon or lime, about 1-2 TBSP sweetener, and 2 cups of water for one serving. I recommend you start with one serving only because that's a great way to test if you actually like the taste of this drink!

Once the lemonade is made, add about 1 TBSP jalapeño brine. Stir & taste. If you want more heat, add more jalapeño brine. This is great for summertime as it's full of healthy bacteria and electrolytes.  I haven't seen this recipe or application of the brine anywhere, so maybe I invented it (though that seems doubtful).

3) Fermented jalapeños vs cherry bomb: 
I experimented with fermenting separate batches of green jalapeños and red cherry bomb peppers, then together. All batches turned out fantastic. We are now such big fans of these that we start making a new batch before the last one is out so we always have them on hand. They are wonderful and all friends I've shared them with also love them. I use them to make a raw grass-fed milk (cow's milk) cheese dip a la Miguel's in San Diego (where I went to college), but healthier. So delicious with some organic corn chips. For taste, to me, I prefer the jalapeños over cherry bomb which is odd, because I prefer the cherry when making homemade sriracha or hot sauce. The cherry have a tougher skin and go better in hummus and with Thai dishes. The jalapeños are better with cheese (we always use grass-fed raw for health reasons) sauces, snacks and the majority of Mexican dishes.

Let me know if you try it, how it turns out and if you experiment with new ways to ferment and use this recipe.

Enjoy!