Pepper Vinegar and Brockian Hot Sauce

I don't usually have much success growing peppers, generally just winding up with only enough to put a few in salads and a pot beans every now and then.  This year I lucked out, however, and got a bountiful amount of two different kinds from two different sources. 

A friend of mine, Tommy Stone, has an incredibly green thumb, and donated some Jalapeños for the St. Peter's Church Youth to use for a fund raiser.  He said he had plenty more and gave me a grocery bag full. I decided that with such surplus I should make Brockian Hot Sauce. I first found out about this method of hot sauce production about 2 years ago listening to Sean Brock at the SFA Field Trip in Bristol.  Since this was the first time I've tried this, I pretty much followed the instructions.  I started them August 1st and on October 1st I stopped the fermentation process and added the vinegar.  Exactly two months after that I strained it off and here's what I got:

First I tried it some on a Ritz Crackers. It's pretty powerful stuff, but not insane.  The flavor reminds me of Green Smoked Tabasco, but it is significantly hotter. It goes very well with well with Collards!

Late this summer Mom and Dad began gleaning some at Barefoot Farms up near Belton.  Mostly they've been getting Okra, (lots and lots of Okra), but last month before the hard frost came,  they pulled up the last of the pepper plants.  They brought me probably close to a bushel of Hot Hungarian Peppers and a few fruits of various other kinds. We used plenty of them in cooking and making stuffed peppers,  and I made several bottles of pepper vinegar.  We haven't tried them yet. I figure I'll let them set about a month or six weeks, so they should be ready by Christmas. Don't they look real purty in bourbon bottles?

HUSK!

Last week when we took Catherine back to the College of Charleston we finally made it to HUSK. I’ve been eagerly anticipating that event since last summer when I first heard that James Beard award winning Chef Sean Brock of McCrady’s was opening a new place. HUSK opened November 9th, so we were exactly at the 2 month mark. Husk is like no other restaurant I’ve ever heard tell of. It’s Southern Food, which doesn’t mean everything is pork and collard greens. It does mean food from the South and the South Only. Chef Brock is adamant: “If it doesn’t come from the South, it’s not coming through the door.” Husk showcases the phenomenal products of the South with diversely incredible ways. As soon you walk in the door, they have a Big Board (not like the one in Dr. Strangelove, though) that lists ingredients and where they come from. Stewart did a count and came up with at least half from South Carolina. Everything from James Island Peas, to Happy Cow Creamery butter from Pelzer. Lamb from Virginia, Trout from North Carolina, and of course Ham and Bacon from Allan Benton in Tennessee. It was all exceptional! Here’s what we had:


Duck Leg Confit, Anson Mills Farro, Maria’s Greens, Winter Squash, Red Eye Gravy, with a Duck Fat Fried Egg $12

Sausage Stuffed SC Quail with Benne and Honey, Johnny Cakes, Slow Cooked Egg, and Spicy Hollandaise $14

Wood Fired SC Beef Tenderloin, Sunny Side Up Egg, Surry County VA Pork Sausage and Potato Hash $16

A Stew of LA Shrimp, Carolina Mushrooms, Charred Scallions, and Benton’s Bacon over Carolina Gold Rice $14

The quality of everything was amazing. The kitchen is kinda-sorta open so you can see the folks preparing the dishes, and while I saw Chef de Cuisine Travis Grimes lightly doing a touch up here or there, mostly I could tell that the cooks (who served the food they prepared) took ownership and pride in their creations. (On a side note, our server Caddy said that over 570 folks applied for 50 Front-of- the-House positions!)

The next time you’re in the Holy City, you really ought to go by. The menu changes depending on availability of product, so don’t get your hopes up that you’ll be able to get the same thing we did. Whatever you get, it’ll be fantastic. That’s a given.