I am a fool for hot sauce. When I get in the mood for hot food, I like for it to take the eyebrows clear off my face. I want my upper lip to sweat. I want my sinuses to clear. If I’m not moderately dizzy when I’ done eating, it wasn’t hot enough. Feel the burn....
Also, I’m a total slacker. My tomato and pepper plants have been producing like happy little rabbits all season, and yet, there are piles of ripe fruit sitting on my kitchen counter, going uneaten. This bothers my husband. So much so, that he asked me last night, “Why do you even plant these if you’re not going to eat them?”
Well, he does have a point. It happens every year. I plant, I water, they bloom and bear fruit....and then they sit. In my defense, I do eat some of them, but I’m not as diligent as I should be about it.
What is it about planting a garden? I think it comforts me, just knowing its out there...that I’m growing something. And its not that I don’t like what I am growing. I only plant things that I know I like. I don’t know what it is....
In any case, last night the hubs made a very valid point. And, I’m going on a trip, so I need to do something with the little jewels or they’ll go bad while I’m gone.
So what did I do? Something I’ve been waiting all season for. Something I almost didn’t do because my habañeros never produced. But, with a pile of jalapeños and super chilis on my counter, something had to be done.
I made Hot Sauce.
I’ve done this before and absolutely loved it. If you have a garden and have chiles coming out your ears, this is the way to use them up, especially if you’re a chile-head like I am. The best part of this is that you can make it as hot (or, as mild....wussy) as you want.
Garden Hot Pepper Sauce
1. Gather up as many chiles as you want to use. The sauce has a better flavor if you use a variety.
2. Roughly chop them and remove the stems. No need to seed or devein.
3. Toss them all in a sauce pan.
4. Cover the chiles with white vinegar (keep the vinegar handy, you might need more later).
5. Simmer the contents until the chiles are very soft, about an hour (don’t inhale anywhere near your stove or you’ll lose nose hairs).
6. If the vinegar level falls below the chiles, add more.
7. Remove from the heat, and pass the contents through a food mill, pressing to get as much of the flesh and juice as possible.
Voila! You’re done. You can keep this in the fridge indefinitely or you can process it and have jars for later. My batch last night started with a couple of cups of chiles and a couple of cups of vinegar and yielded about a cup and a half of finished product. Check it out! Mine’s going to be HOT. Yours can be any way you want.
Also, I’m a total slacker. My tomato and pepper plants have been producing like happy little rabbits all season, and yet, there are piles of ripe fruit sitting on my kitchen counter, going uneaten. This bothers my husband. So much so, that he asked me last night, “Why do you even plant these if you’re not going to eat them?”
Well, he does have a point. It happens every year. I plant, I water, they bloom and bear fruit....and then they sit. In my defense, I do eat some of them, but I’m not as diligent as I should be about it.
What is it about planting a garden? I think it comforts me, just knowing its out there...that I’m growing something. And its not that I don’t like what I am growing. I only plant things that I know I like. I don’t know what it is....
In any case, last night the hubs made a very valid point. And, I’m going on a trip, so I need to do something with the little jewels or they’ll go bad while I’m gone.
So what did I do? Something I’ve been waiting all season for. Something I almost didn’t do because my habañeros never produced. But, with a pile of jalapeños and super chilis on my counter, something had to be done.
I made Hot Sauce.
I’ve done this before and absolutely loved it. If you have a garden and have chiles coming out your ears, this is the way to use them up, especially if you’re a chile-head like I am. The best part of this is that you can make it as hot (or, as mild....wussy) as you want.
Garden Hot Pepper Sauce
1. Gather up as many chiles as you want to use. The sauce has a better flavor if you use a variety.
2. Roughly chop them and remove the stems. No need to seed or devein.
3. Toss them all in a sauce pan.
4. Cover the chiles with white vinegar (keep the vinegar handy, you might need more later).5. Simmer the contents until the chiles are very soft, about an hour (don’t inhale anywhere near your stove or you’ll lose nose hairs).6. If the vinegar level falls below the chiles, add more.7. Remove from the heat, and pass the contents through a food mill, pressing to get as much of the flesh and juice as possible.
Voila! You’re done. You can keep this in the fridge indefinitely or you can process it and have jars for later. My batch last night started with a couple of cups of chiles and a couple of cups of vinegar and yielded about a cup and a half of finished product. Check it out! Mine’s going to be HOT. Yours can be any way you want.
3 comments:
Amen! I love my hot sauce. I'm getting ready to make a fiery habanero salsa.
Oh yeah, this is my kinda sauce, too!! This would go over really well around here...awesome!
Oooooh! Next year I'm definitely going to do hot sauce! My husband goes through that stuff like water.
I love me some spicy food too....I canned some raging hot salsa today.
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