Ingredients:

3/4 large cabbage shredded

2 1/2 cups chopped watercress

3 tablespoons homemade or store bought mustard (stone-ground)

1 chopped hot jalapeno (with seeds)

handful of mesquite wood chips

1 1/2 teaspoon of pure sea salt

Directions:

1. First mix the cabbage, watercress and the salt, massage forcefully for 5 minutes to extract the juice then set aside 10-15 minutes.

2. While this was going on, mesquite chips being roasted in the oven on a metal tray covered with aluminum paper for maybe 15 minutes. Finish the roasting of the chips with a kitchen torch.

3. Now, add around 2-3 tablespoons of stone ground mustard to your mixed cabbage/watercress and mix again with clean hands.

4. In a quart jar, place your smoked mesquite wood chips at the bottom of the jar, then a layer composed of the sliced jalapeno and a couple of cabbage leaves. You basically don't want your wood chips to start floating inside your waterkraut, you just want the flavor.

5. Now place your shredded juicy mix (cabbage, watercress, mustard) in the jar on top of the wood chips and jalapeno. With clean hands, push down to make sure everything is covered with the juice/brine

6. Add a folder large leaf of cabbage above everything and a pasteurized stone on top of the leaf. The goal is to keep everything under the brine. If necessary, you may need to add some brine so it covers the ingredients inside. If so, make a brine composed of 1 tablespoon of salt for 2 cups of water.

7. Pour the brine inside the jar until it reaches the stone. Close the lid but not too tight so that fermentation gases can escape.

8. 3 times a day, using clean fingers or a clean spoon, push down the ingredients as the bubbles will have a tendency the push the ingredients up the jar. It’s a good idea to place the jar on a plate in case some brine escape during the fermentation process. Take a bit of work and sometimes stirring a knife on the side will help a bit.

9. Ferment for 7-10 days at room temperature then place in the fridge.

Bon Appetit!