Hot Sauce - DIY Pantry

Some pantry items I go through like nobodies business: vinegar, olive oil, mustard. So it made so much sense to start making my own vinegars and mustards. Hot sauce just wasn't one of those until I discovered Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes which required hot sauce. Then I went through all of my hot sauce in a hot minute! When I realized how obsesses I was with those cakes hot sauce went on to my DIY pantry list in a hurry!  Luckily, we just finished a super hot growing season here in Southern California and the Farmers' Markets were awash in red jalapenos. Hot Damn!

It turns out that making your own hot sauce is pretty simple - saute onions, garlic, hot peppers in oil and then puree with water and vinegar and jar. For this batch I had 20 red jalapenos and another 10 green serranos which I added fearing the jalapenos might be too sweet (!) since they were red rather than green. Ha ha ha ha! I'm sure the hot chili gods had a good laugh over that one! None the less, this is a wonderfully hot, hot sauce!

You'll notice from the photo that it looks really thick, which was intentional since this sauce will soon be spread on a pizza crust for my next posting. After that recipe, I'll thin it out with a little more vinegar so that it shoots out of the jar instead of plopping. And in case you're wondering, the jar it is in was from some store bought hot sauce; couldn't resist reusing it!

Jalapeno Hot Sauce (from this recipe)
(makes 1 1/4 quarts)

20 red jalapenos, chopped
10 serranos, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

In large skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil for 2 minutes and add peppers. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until they just begin to soften. Add salt and water and stir, cooking another 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes. Place in blender and puree until very smooth, adding in cider vinegar. Jar and refrigerate. Refrigerated, sauce will keep for up to 6 months.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:

Spaghetti with Broccoli Cream Pesto at Smitten Kitchen
Big Bird-Free Bahn Mi at Pamela's Modern Family Table
All Purpose Mushroom Marinade at My Plant Based Family