Homemade Red Hot Sauce

Okay... I haven't posted in a couple weeks.  To be frank, life has not been sharing its most savory bits with me.  I'm hibernating.  Maybe I will wake up in the spring (if spring ever happens... here we have our sixth snow day and are approaching 5 feet of snow in 2 weeks).  But with that said, I can't deprive you of my great recipes any longer.  No matter how stressed and tired and sick I feel, you still need to know how to make your own hot sauce.

I hate hot sauce, not surprisingly, because I am not big on spice.  But Nick is.  And so this was a belated Christmas present that I made for him.  I bought a pretty jar before the holidays with the intention of whipping up a sauce and handing it to him Christmas Eve, but then life happened.  This got made in 2015.  But hey, it's the thought that counts.

Now, don't be confused about the title of homemade red hot sauce.  My sauce wasn't red.  Emeril Lagasse suggests using tabasco peppers, red jalapeños or serrano peppers; I couldn't find any.  The peppers I got at Market Basket were labeled serrano peppers, but they were green, so I have a feeling that they weren't.  I know they weren't poblano or jalapeño peppers, but I guess I can't be too sure what they were!

Once you have peppers of some spicy variety, you sauté them with onions and garlic, and add water to soften them.  After it has steeped, you just puree the whole thing together and add some vinegar to cut the spice, and voila: hot sauce.  Green hot sauce.  I tried it and thought I was going to die, so I can't tell you much about it myself, but I can tell you that Nick loved it and proceeded to top everything he ate with this green devil sauce.  Actually I think I like that name better.

Recipe:

homemade red hot sauce
from Food Network

Ingredients:
20 tabasco or serrano chiles, stemmed and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch slices, or 12 very ripe red jalapeños (about 10 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 cup sliced onions
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 cup distilled white vinegar

Instructions:

1) Combine the peppers, garlic, onions, salt and oil in a non-reactive saucepan over high heat.  Saute for 3 minutes.  Add the water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.  Note: this should be done in a very well-ventilated area!

2) Remove from heat and allow to steep until mixture comes to room temperature.  In a food processor, puree the mixture for 15 seconds or until smooth.  With the food processor running, add the vinegar through the feed tube in a steady stream.

3) Taste and season with more salt if necessary.  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.