Avanti Cafe Musings: chilies

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Peach Bhut Jolokia HOT Sauce

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If you like your flavors complex and your hot sauce smoking, then grow yourself a patch of Peach Bhut Jolokia HOT chili peppers!

Peach Bhut Jolokia Persimmon & Tahini HOT Sauce

I wanted to create a light colored hot sauce to showcase the crazy heat of the peach bhut jolokia I grew this summer in the Avanti Natural garden. This HOT sauce is sincere! It’s got all the SE Asian flavor components, Spicy, Salty, Bitter, Sweet. Hence one of the odd ingredients in the recipe, Scotch Wiskey. It imparts a slightly smoky bitterness that marries w/ the bite of the sesame and other seeds.

It’s all made over the course of a day in one large blender jar. If you have a smaller blender, you can make a half batch. I use organic whole brown sesame seeds. I never use hulled sesame seeds, those have most of the beneficial fiber removed. So this HOT sauce has good texture. The seeds will plump and begin to germinate as they sit in the jar before grinding.

Amount	Measure	Ingredient	Prep Method
1 1/3	Cups	Organic sesame seeds	Whole brown
1	Tablespoon	Organic flax seeds
1	Tablespoon	Organic chia seeds
2	Tablespoons	Organic quinoa
5 /12	Cups	Flavorful herbal brewed tea	Room temperature
3	Tablespoons	Miso	White preferable
2	Tablespoons	Avanti ginger puree
¾	Cup	Red wine vinegar
1	Medium	Orange	Juice and zest
1	Medium	Lemon	Juice and zest

Directions:

When you make the herbal tea, make at least 7 cups. You’ll need some more at the end. You can get extra fancy and whip up a batch of Avanti Power Dashi for added flavor & magical nutrition. Combine all in the jar of a large powerful blender. Let plump and germinate for several hours or overnight. Next, prepare the flavor base:

¼	Cup	Evoo
1	Large	Shallot	Rough chop

Saute the shallot over med heat in the evoo until it begins to color. Add in:

1 ½	Teaspoons	Hawaij	Or garam masala
¼	Teaspoon	Nutmeg	Freshly ground
¼	Teaspoon	Black pepper
2 ½	Teaspoons	Sea salt
2 to 4	Whole	Peach bhut jolokia	Or favorite habanero type chili
¼	Cup	Scotch whiskey

These chilis are soooo hot, I hold the stem end and snip w/ scissors into the pot. Even then, you will get some chili oil on your fingers. So wash your hands well, rub your finger tips w/ oil, or wear gloves. The Bhut family is like The Sons of Anarchy. Mess w/ them at your own risk peoples. And, if you can’t find peach bhut jolokia, substitute any extra HOT chili, preferably from the habanero family, like scorpion, scotch bonnets, chocolate habs, fatalii, etc. I grew a fatalii chili this summer and got over 50 chili fruits. The peach bhut produced only 5. But man, they pack a wallop.

Once the chilis are slightly wilted, after a few minutes of sauté and the scotch has reduced a bit, add in the pulp of two very ripe persimmons, skin and seeds removed:

Medium

Persimmons

Pulp only

You can use either fuyu or hachiya persimmons for this. Just make sure they are very ripe, nicely squishy and gelatinous. Heat through for just a couple of minutes and cool.

Have the following ingredients ready:

½	Cup	Jamaica / Hibiscus blossoms	Full flower pieces
1+	Cup	Extra herbal tea	To rinse out blender jar

Add to the blender jar and let ‘er rip. This makes a full jar. Blend just to combine and work the seeds into a tahini like paste. Don’t let the sauce get too hot from the friction. It’s filled w/ healthy probiotics after all. Let this mix sit in the blender for several hours and blend again, two or three times. Pour into clean and sterile glass jars, not completely full. Add a couple of pieces of Jamaica (hibiscus) to each jar for a rosy glow. Add a cup of herbal tea to the blender jar and rinse out. Top off each jar. Allow to ferment at room temp for up to 4 days. Shake twice daily. Then put into the fridge.

This is a complex HOT sauce that has oh so many applications. Unlike some commercial jarred sauces that just make everything taste like it, this is a foodie’s creativity booster. Learn its flavor profile and create dishes that are enhanced by its bold and braggadocios flavor stance.

Even simple roasted vegetables take on a whole new dimension when infused w/ Peach Bhut Jolokia HOT Sauce. This one is the HOT Stuff for the big kids y'all!

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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Avanti Giardinera :: Fermented Organic Vegetables :: Italian Style

Jarring up fermented autumn harvest goodness at the peak of seasonal flavor

Giardinera is a time treasured, classic Italian autumn harvest pickle. It can be fermented or not as you wish. While fermented the giardinera takes a little longer and requires a bit more effort, we are coming full circle in our awareness that fermented foods offer health benefits that keep us younger and more vibrant, as we nurture our bodies w/ those health giving natural probiotics. Use any crunchy veggies you find in your autumn garden or farmers market. Organic is the way to go. But many farmers now are mostly organic and have their own ideas when it comes to natural farming. Ask questions, get to know your farmer and draw your own conclusions.

Fine fresh produce from the Huntington Beach Farmers Market for Giardinera

Amount	Measure	Ingredient	Prep Method
1	Bunch	Carrots
1	Head	Cauliflower
1	Head	Celery
4 or 5	Medium	Summer squash	Variety
1	Medium	Red onion
1	Medium	White or yellow onion
14	Cloves	Garlic	About 2 heads

Directions:

Wash, scrub and cut into bite sized pieces. Divide among two large glass bowls.

To BOTH bowls add the following. Add the amounts below into EACH bowl:

¼	Cup	Preserved lemons	Minced
1	Tablespoon	Sea salt	Or sea salt blends
2	Tablespoons	Italian seasoning	Your favorite blend
1	Teaspoon	Black pepper	Favorite blend
2	Tablespoon	Avanti Ginger Puree	See blog!
2	Cups	Herbal or green tea	Brewed & cooled*
2	Cups	Filtered water

It's gorgeous from the get go

This is where it gets fun. Let’s make variations. So into one bowl or the other add the following:

1	Treaspoon	Signature spice	Anise, dill, fennel, clove, pickling spice, coriander, cumin, ETC
1	Cup	Favorite vinegar	Red wine, champagne, sherry, apple cider, ETC
3 to 8	Sprigs	Fresh herbs	Rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, basil, pineapple sage, ETC
1	Tablespoon	Miso	White, red, dashi, hatcho, ETC

Time to add spices and more flavors

Add everything into the two bowls, dividing all the ingredients up as noted above. Place a plate on top of the mixture and then put some weights on the plate. I like to use smaller glass bowls rather than metal cans, as the brine may creep up and glass is inert.

Let the fermentation begin

Cover w/ a tea towel. Check and stir the mix after one hour. The vegetables will begin to release their water into the salty brine. Cover again and check after 4 or 5 hours. Stir well.

So many good things happen in the dark

At this point all the vegetables should be submerged by the liquid released and the weighted plate. If they are not, add a bit more filtered water to insure that all the vegetables are submerged and covered by the brine. Cover well w/ tea towels and let ferment in a cool place for 3 days.

Those veggies are full of water. Save any extra liquid and use it to cook rice, grains, spuds & soup

Transfer to clean and sterilized glass jars. This is a good time to add HOT chilis to some of the jars if you are a spicy beast. Let ferment in a cool place, out of direct sunlight for 3 more days. Invert the jars twice daily to bathe the giardinera vegetables in the brine. Transfer to the fridge. They are ready to use immediately, and flavor improves as they continue to ferment in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Clean and organized. It's time to jar up the goodness. Of course, we're adding HOT chili goodness

*NOTE: On herbal and green tea. I use a mixture of herbs such as lemon verbena, lemongrass, pineapple sage, mint, lemon balm, African purple basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano and citrus peels from the garden w/ green tea or my favorite genmai cha (Japanese toasted brown rice green tea). Brew it so that it’s flavorful and slightly stronger than you’d like to drink it by the cup.