Hot Sauce – Sweet Jesus!

This is one of my most wicked creations to date; an earthy concoction of peppers, spices and sweets–– like walking into the ocean on a calm day, floating on the surface under the spell of a sweet lullaby, but unseen and too far from shore a tidal wave of heat quickly overtakes you.

The peppers in this batch were a carefully chosen assortment, each one handpicked and gifted to me. Some came from a rival trivia team at our Thursday night competitions at Duffy’s, while others were given by a close friend and neighbor, known for supplying the heat that fuels our street. Our street is something of a spicy enclave, where many of us cultivate our own peppers, bonded by a shared obsession with X-hot varieties. Even our house numbers are proudly marked by their place on the Scoville scale—a testament to our devotion to fiery flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Garlic Bulb
• 1 Large White Onion (coarsely diced)
• 1 Apple (Crisp)
• 1 carrot (peeled)
• 1 1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Cup Water
• 3 drops pure Extrait Vanille (farm on the island of Reunion)
• 2 TBSP Apricot Preserves
• 1 TSP Sea Salt (generous)
• 1 TBSP Brown Sugar (generous)
• 1 TBSP Honey
• 1 TSP Tandoori Powder (Madari & Sons)
• 1 TSP BBQ Spice Powder (Madari & Sons)
• 6 or more of hot peppers (Scorpion, Datil, Thai, chili, assorted unknows).  Cut the stems off but leave the seeds in the peppers.
• A pair of disposable latex gloves. Do not handle the peppers with your bare hands— especially if you wear contacts.  Capsaicin oil can last 24 hours on your fingers

HOW THE MAGIC HAPPENS

Place garlic bulb in toaster oven until firmly soft.  Remove from toaster and squeeze out the cloves.  In a large pan, add vinegar, water, gallic cloves, carrot, onion and peppers (remove stems).  Leave at simmer until the peppers are firmly soft.  The longer you simmer it will reduce the heat of the peppers.  

Remove pan from heat and let it cool down just a bit. Remove contents and place into blender. Pour remaining liquid into blender. I find that a Vitamix works best, using pulse mode and the dial set around [6] to start.  Add in: apple (remove core), Tandoori Power, BBQ Spice Powder, Honey, Sea Salt, Brown Sugar, apricot preserves, and vanilla extract.  Use the pulse feature to blend on setting [8].  Add more Indian spices, salt, brown sugar, apricot to taste.  If the mixture is a little to thick/thin, add in some water/tomato paste.

This liquid will thicken up after it sets, so go light on the thickening agents or pouring from a bottle will be like Ketchup. The blend should seem a little thin when complete and you are ready to transfer into Hot Sauce bottles, using a funnel.  It is a good idea to sterilize the bottles in a large pot of water, adding salt for buoyancy.  Only flash sterilize the caps or they will warp. Use a hair dryer for the shrink wrap and add labels of you creation. Refrigerate when done.

SERVE WITH:

• On Chips, artisan breads, vegetables, as a dip
• On Eggs, sandwiches
• Add to salsa to spice things up
• Soups, Chile, stews, when the weather cools and you want to shave off the chill.