What do you do with an over abundance of chile peppers? Well, you marinate them, you make relish, you grill em and you make hot sauce! Lots and lots of hot sauce. Lots. I love making  hot sauce. But breathing in the fumes and leaving all the windows closed is not recommended. Unless of course you don’t mind coughing your brains out and having your eyes burn and tear up.

Now, it’s no secret that I am a spicy girl. I have to have a little heat with everything I eat. I will drown my food in crushed pepper flakes, hot sauce, salsa, jalapenos, etc. It’s just so good. I even love my hot cocoa with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. One of my favorite chocolate cookies has some heat to it as well. I will admit though, that I can’t handle the heat like I used to. Oh, big sigh. Tis a sad thing. It sucks getting old. Hahahahah.

Anyway, I’ve been passing out bottles of hot sauce to my spicy friends, hoping they will enjoy it as much as I am. I should tell you…..this isn’t a salsa that you would eat with chips. It’s more of a table hot sauce like a Tabasco or the other little bottles of hot sauce. It’s vinegar based, so you get that pucker and then the heat. So while your face is puckering up, you will be dripping sweat. Very attractive, don’t you think? Hahahahah.

Oh!! can I tell you…….If you take some fresh pop corn, drizzle it with a mixture of melted butter and hot sauce and then put it in the oven for a few minutes, it’s SOOOOO good. You just gotta try it. My favorite way to enjoy this hot sauce is on some over easy eggs and fried potatoes. M-mmmm-mm.

If you don’t have a garden full of peppers, just go to a farmers market or the grocery store and get yourself some peppers. The sauce will last in your fridge for about 6 months. But you will use it all, long before that.

  
As you can see in the picture above, I also made a Habanero version. Wayyyyy too hot for me.  Holy crap! I should have worn gloves and goggles for this one. I’ve decided it’s not for me. I’m not a fan of the taste of habanero. It’s funky. Blekh. But if you like habanero, then by all means have at it. You’re biscuits will be burning for sure.

Everyday Hot Sauce

20 medium size jalapeno peppers (I used green and some that had turned red) roughly chopped
7-8 Serrano peppers, roughly chopped
4 cloves of fresh garlic
2 cups of distilled vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 Tblsp kosher salt

Dump the peppers (seeds included), salt and the garlic into a food processor. Pulse until you have a fine relish like consistency. Add about 1/4 cup of the vinegar. Pulse, pulse.  Carefully scrape the mixture into a sauce pan. Pour in the rest of the vinegar and the water. Heat it on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Boil for only a minute. Let it come to room temperature.

Carefully pour it into a glass jar. Not plastic. Seal it tight and put it in a cool dark place for 3 days…..2 days if the weather is really warm. Give it a good shake, shake, shake. Now you can decide if you want to strain it. I don’t. I like the little bits of chile. But if you want a clear smooth sauce, strain your sauce into a fine mesh strainer. Press down on the mixture so you get every bit of sauce. Toss the solids. I just cant do it! But that’s me.

Pour it into little hot sauce bottles or jars. Don’t use plastic containers. Keep it in the refrigerator. It will continue to develop flavor over time. Shake it up before each use.

Tips:
-if you find it too vinegar-ish, add a wee bit more water and shake it up.
-if you like it with a bit of tomato taste, add some tomato sauce.