DIY Hot Sauce

Hot Sauce

20 Tabasco or Serrano Chilies (or your favorite), stemmed and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch slices, or 12 very ripe Jalapenos (about 1cup or about 10 ounces)

1 TBS Kosher/Pickling salt

2 cups water

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 TPS cooking oil

Combine the peppers and oil in a non-reactive saucepan over high heat. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add the water, salt and vinegar and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, or until peppers are very soft and almost all of the liquid has evaporated. (Note: this should be done in a very well ventilated area!) Remove from the heat and allow steeping until mixture comes to room temperature. In a food processor, puree the mixture for 15 seconds, or until smooth.

Taste and season with more salt, if necessary. (This will depend on the heat level of the peppers you use as well as the brand of vinegar used.) Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and then transfer to a sterilized pint jar or bottle and secure with an airtight lid. Refrigerate. Let age at least 2 weeks before using. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

My favorite is a mixture of Cayenne Peppers and a few Habenaro's, with a glove of Garlic.

An even easier Pepper Sauce is…

Pepper Vinegar

1 Cup White Vinegar

3 or 4 Hot Peppers of choice (Datil is my Favorite for this recipe).

In a non-reactive saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil and blanche the peppers for 3 minutes (Note: this should be done in a very well ventilated area!), pour mixture into a glass container and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours before using. Last for 6 months in the fridge.

As a kid down in South Dade County they had a version called "Old Sour" were you use Key LimeJuice instead of vinegar.

A great place for Hot Sauce recipes and Hot Sauce things in general is the Hot Sauce Network and check this site out for containers of all sorts like those small hot sauce bottles; http://www.containerandpackaging.com/index.html .

Enjoy…