recipe - The Bridge Cottage

Make Your Own Fermented Hot Chilli Sauce

October 17, 2022/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Kitchen/by Sue Reed

Ring of Fire Chillies

Are you a fan of hot chilli sauce? Do you grow chillies? Here at Bridge Cottage we make our own fermented hot chilli sauce which has no nasty additives, is sugar-free, great for your gut health and very easy to make. If that wasn’t enough, you’ll be producing food at home, without lining the coffers of the big food corporations who push their plastic-wrapped, shipped foods full of additives, preservatives and goodness knows what. Sure, it takes a bit of time and effort, but isn’t that worth it in the grand scheme of things?

There are other ways to preserve chillies: they freeze well, and a bag of frozen chillies will keep well all year round, ready to pluck from the freezer when a recipe calls for a whole chilli. Dried chillies are great too, chopped finely for chilli flakes, and keep well in a jar in the spice cupboard, but by far the most popular method of using chillies here at Bridge Cottage is by making fermented chilli sauce.

saving chilli seeds

It’s early autumn now and the chillies have ripened in the greenhouse. Time to pick them and freeze a few but use most of them for a handy hot chilli sauce which is incredibly easy to make. (Don’t forget to split open a couple of your favourites, dry and save the seeds for next year).

Bridge Cottage Fermented Hot Chilli Sauce

You will need:

A large glass jar with a screw top lid

A circle of plastic cut from the lid of a plastic tub

Water

Salt

Chillies

Ginger

Garlic

Fermented hot chilli sauce

Wash them and pack your jar with whole chillies, a couple of cloves of garlic and a couple of chunks of root ginger.

Add water so the chillies are all covered.

Pour out the water into a jug and add 4% salt – weigh the empty jug first, then weigh the water and add 4% of the water’s weight in salt. Dissolve the salt then our back over the chillies.

Fermented hot chilli sauce

Place a disc of plastic over the chillies – this is important and is to ensure all the chillies are kept submerged. This is anaerobic fermentation, meaning starved of oxygen. Alcohol and pickles are made this way and the airtight condition creates ethanol and lactic acid. The addition of salt is important as it raises the acidity and to cut a long story short, prevents you from catching botulism.

Place the lid on the jar and leave somewhere reasonably warm.

Your chillies will soon start to ferment, so once bubbles appear, it is important to ‘burp’ them every day to release the gas. You don’t want an exploding jar of chillies up your wall. This is done by carefully unscrewing the lid and allowing the gas to escape. There’s nowt worse than trapped wind!

Screw the lid back on, and burp daily til the bubbles stop. You can leave them like this for as long as you want. Some people leave them for months. We tend to wait til they have stopped fizzing and then move on to the next stage and make the sauce.

Strain the contents, making sure to reserve some of the liquid.

Put into a food processor and blitz.

BE CAREFUL – YOU NOW HAVE THE EQUIVALENT OF PEPPER SPRAY.

If it is too thick, add a dash of the reserved liquid, and pour it into sterilised screw-top glass bottles.

Here is a timely reminder to never throw glass bottles away. We like to bottle our chilli sauce in small bottles and give some away as gifts.

It is important to remember with fermented sauces that they are live. You will need to loosen the lids from time to time to let the gas escape.

Fermented Chilli Sauce

Once opened, we keep a bottle in the fridge and add a dash to soups, stews and curries. A Sunday morning breakfast of smashed avocado on toast with grated lime zest and a dash of chilli sauce is divine. Non-vegans can add a poached egg.

I’ll be writing more on fermenting foods in due course, but in the meantime if you want to find out more and get some fabulous recipes, look no further than the River Cottage Handbook No. 18. Fermentation by Rachel de Thample.

It’s October as I write this, and we’re saving seeds for planting out next year, chillies being the first crop that gets sown in the greenhouse in the New Year.

Growing chillies

This old photo did make me laugh! How earnest did I look? It was taken for the old Bridge Cottage Way blog I first started on BlogSpot over ten years ago when I left teaching, (but it no longer exists) and harks back to my Woolly Pedlar days when I make clothing from recycled knitwear. I also dyed my hair back then, but now embrace the grey, having ditched the need to try and look younger. I’ll make sure there’s a post on growing chillies in good time for the new growing season over in the Bridge Cottage Garden section of this new website.

October in the veggie garden

I’d better get this article finished and published, and go and join Tim, who is outside in the veggie plot planting out winter kale and getting sections ready for garlic and onions which can go in any day now.

The seasons are rolling on, and there’s always something to do here at Bridge Cottage.

We still haven’t finished making apple juice, chutney or jams jellies.

Autumn’s Bounty: Apples.

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other sections of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what we have been doing here at Bridge Cottage as the months go by:

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Homemade Raspberry Jam from the Bridge Cottage Kitchen

August 5, 2020/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Kitchen/by Sue Reed

Before we go on, I may confess that this is not my own recipe for raspberry jam, but is taken from the excellent book ‘Preserves’ by Pam Corbin, and the second of the River Cottage Handbooks – a most excellent series of handy hardback for the kitchen.

growing raspberries

The recipe is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s, and it is low in sugar, and a great recipe to start with if you are new to jam making, as it does not require you to test for the setting point.

Hugh recommends picking a mix of ripe and not so ripe raspberries on a hot, dry day. This is easier said than done in Northumberland, and if this July is anything to go by, you’ll be reaching in the freezer for frozen raspberries. That too is fine, though if you are able to use freshly picked, so much the better.

As this recipe is low in sugar, quick to make, and makes a great topping on plain yoghurt or porridge for breakfast. Pair it up with clotted cream, on scones, but I’ll leave you to decide whether the jam should go on before the cream, or vice versa. Personally, I’m a jam first person. Pam Corbin writes that it is also excellent in trifles, cakes and stirred into creamy rice pudding. Tim would not thank you for rice pudding – it reminds him of school dinners.

Find out how to make your own yoghurt

Recipe for Raspberry Jam

Makes 6 x 340g jars

1.5 kg raspberries

750g sugar with added pectin

Pick over raspberries carefully to remove any stalks or leaves.

Put half fruit in a preserving pan and bash with a potato masher to crush it.

Add remaining fruit and sugar.

Stir over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for exactly 5 minutes. If you prefer a firmer jam, cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir to disperse any scum.

Leave for 5-6 minutes to prevent all the little raspberry pips dashing to the top of the jar, but pour into clean, warmed, sterilised jars as soon as possible.

This will keep in the store cupboard for months, but once opened, keep in the fridge – hence the name!

This also works well with strawberries, although the blackbirds have beaten us to them again this year!

Head over to the Bridge Cottage Kitchen for the basics of Jam and Jelly Making.

Raspberry Jam

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other sections of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what we have been doing here at Bridge Cottage as the months go by:

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list here. This will go our four times a year, around the Summer and Winter Solstices, and the Spring and Autumn Equinox. We, of course, will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.

Homemade Summer Fruit Ice-Cream

August 5, 2020/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Kitchen/by Sue Reed

Homemade summer ice-cream

The taste of homemade summer ice-cream is amazing, and a firm favourite with our family. Making your own ice-cream is a great way to use your crops of soft fruit. There are no artificial additives, and you’ll be reducing your plastic consumption, and transport miles by making your own in a reusable tub.

We’ve pinched our daughter’s ice-cream maker and are hoping she won’t ask for it back. It’s a wonderful gadget, and once you get the hang of making your own ice-cream, using fresh fruit from the garden, there is no going back to the supermarket. There are plenty of recipes for ‘no-churn’ ice creams out there on the internet, so have a look down the Google tube if you don’t have an ice cream maker, or use this one from the people at Good Food, who suggest using condensed milk if you don’t have an ice-cream maker.

No Churn Vanilla Ice-Cream

The method we use here at Bridge Cottage is to make a basic vanilla ice-cream (see below), then pop it in the fridge overnight, along with a fruit purée, which can be strained through a sieve or not, depending on whether you want lumps or pips. In the morning, when both are chilly, take your ice-cream churn out of the freezer (I keep mine in there permanently, as it is so frustrating to go to make ice-cream and find the churning bowl is not frozen)

Vanilla Ice-Cream

284ml double cream

300ml whole milk

3 egg yolks

115g caster sugar

Bring the milk and cream just to the boil, then set aside.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light in colour and fluffy.

Add a couple of tablespoons of the hot milk and cream to the egg mix to loosen, then pour it all back in the saucepan. Bring gently to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Take care not to over cook or your mixture will split.

If you are in a rush, cool rapidly by placing in a plastic jug, in a bowl of ice-cubes, but I prefer to put a plate over the top and pop it in the fridge overnight once cooled. You are then ready to add any flavourings or eat it just as it is. How about topping it with some Raspberry Fridge Jam?

Blackcurrant Swirl Ice-Cream

In the morning, or when you are ready to make your fruity ice-creams, churn the vanilla custard until thick, and then either pour in the fruit purée and let it all mix in, or swirl it once the vanilla ice cream is in the freezer container to make a ripple.

Freeze until solid, but the longest you leave it, you’ll find you may need to take it out of the freezer for ten mins before serving.

I’ll give specific recipes for three summer ice creams over on the recipes page:

Gooseberry and Elderflower Ice Cream

Raspberry Ice Cream

Blackcurrant Swirl Ice Cream

Homemade is definitely best, enjoy!

Raspberry Ice-Cream

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other section of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what is seasonal and on topic:

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list below. This will go our four times a year, around the Summer and Winter Solstices, and the Spring and Autumn Equinox. We, of course, will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.

Sign up to quarterly Substack newsletter

Make Your Own Solstice Salt

July 10, 2020/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Kitchen/by Sue Reed

Make you own herb salt

Herbs are in abundance in summer, and they can be used fresh, when full of flavour in cooking. However, winter will be here before we know it, and we like to preserve the taste of summer in herb salt. I discovered this easy method of making herb salt over on Instagram and now use in much of my cooking. I keep a jar next to the stove, and a pestle and mortar handy for grinding it.

Homegrown herbs

It’s just a simple matter of taking fresh herbs – you can see from this photo I have used rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano, and chopping it finely with a knife. I’ve added some pretty blue borage flowers here, and a chive flowerhead for colour.

Add this to rock salt, or salt flakes and leave to dry out in a bowl overnight. The next day, simply pop into a clean jam jar and label. You will have herb salt for use in your cooking throughout the year.

It’s a ten-minute job, why not give it a go?

Solstice Salt

I made this pot of herb salt at the Summer Solstice this year, hence the label!

Read about growing herbs and some suggestions for their uses in:

Growing Herbs

Make Your Own Herb & Floral Vinegars

July 4, 2020/0 Comments/in Uncategorized/by Sue Reed

Capture the flavour and scent of summer in a jar by making your own herb and floral vinegars.

This is so simple to do, and a few minute’s work will reward you with delicious vinegar you can use in cooking and to make salad dressings with wonderfully complex flavours.

Elderflower blossom

Pick your blooms on a sunny day so the flowers are open and dry and leave on a piece of white paper for a while for the creep-crawlies to crawl off and find somewhere else to inhabit.

It’s then just a simple job of popping the flower heads in a sterilised jar and topping up with either rice, white wine or cider vinegar.

After a couple of weeks of infusing, drain the liquid from the flowers and keep in a clean bottle. I do have friends who leave the flowers in, it’s up to you!

Chive Blossom Vinegar

We have made beautiful pink vinegar with chive blossoms and rice wine vinegar.

Elderflower vinegar can be made at the same time as elderflower cordial, and is a welcome treat for salads long after summer and it’s flowers have faded.

Sage Flower Vinegar

I spotted these pretty purple sage flowers and thought I’d give them a go. Why not experiment and see what you come up with? I’ve seen this work very well with deep pink rose petals.

A jar of homemade floral vinegar would make a beautiful gift for a friend or family member.

Find out about growing herbs and some suggestions for their uses in Growing Herbs.

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