Post by haecklers on Sept 17, 2014 7:35:18 GMT -5
I had a big pile of banana peppers that I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat before they got soggy and I wondered if I could somehow turn them into the canned green chillies that I love in Mexican type casseroles. I never found the answer online but I found a recipe using whey to ferment them (some reviews said it turned out cloudy and slimy) and then one that used just salt to ferment them. They did it with small peppers, whole. There was a teasing picture of a fermented green pepper "relish" but the link was broken.
So I tried the recipe for whole peppers but chopped mine, and removed the seeds. You can fit about 10 chopped banana peppers into a 12 oz jar, did you know? I chopped the peppers, pushed as many as I could into the jars, then filled them with filtered water and added about a teaspoon of non-iodized salt to each jar, put on the lid and shook it to mix in the salt. With the lid still on, I left them on the countertop for a week, covered with a towel so the light wouldn't fade the color of the peppers. After about a week they taste just like the canned green chillies, only without the chemicals leeching into the food from the plastic-lined cans! From what I read the jars can be refrigerated once they reach the desired level of fermentation (read sourness) and they will last for at least 6 months, tho some say their fermented peppers are still good after 2 years. You can also just leave them at room temperature for a month or longer, the fermentation really protects them from invasion by other bacteria, but once I open a jar of fermented food I usually refrigerate it because the oxygen getting in can lead to mold growth on the top.
I did a jar of sliced jalapeños the same way. They turned out good, more bright green than the ones you buy (so far). I only had enough for an 8 oz jar so I put in 3/4 tsp of salt.
Something like this is my favorite recipe to use - I use cooked ground beef and canned chillies in addition to what she has listed.
www.tastebook.com/recipes/1365378-Laurel-s-Kitchen-Vegetarian-Tamale-Pie
So I tried the recipe for whole peppers but chopped mine, and removed the seeds. You can fit about 10 chopped banana peppers into a 12 oz jar, did you know? I chopped the peppers, pushed as many as I could into the jars, then filled them with filtered water and added about a teaspoon of non-iodized salt to each jar, put on the lid and shook it to mix in the salt. With the lid still on, I left them on the countertop for a week, covered with a towel so the light wouldn't fade the color of the peppers. After about a week they taste just like the canned green chillies, only without the chemicals leeching into the food from the plastic-lined cans! From what I read the jars can be refrigerated once they reach the desired level of fermentation (read sourness) and they will last for at least 6 months, tho some say their fermented peppers are still good after 2 years. You can also just leave them at room temperature for a month or longer, the fermentation really protects them from invasion by other bacteria, but once I open a jar of fermented food I usually refrigerate it because the oxygen getting in can lead to mold growth on the top.
I did a jar of sliced jalapeños the same way. They turned out good, more bright green than the ones you buy (so far). I only had enough for an 8 oz jar so I put in 3/4 tsp of salt.
Something like this is my favorite recipe to use - I use cooked ground beef and canned chillies in addition to what she has listed.
www.tastebook.com/recipes/1365378-Laurel-s-Kitchen-Vegetarian-Tamale-Pie
