Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: Subversive_plot on December 07, 2020, 06:01
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I used this recipe to make hot sauce from the last of this year's Serrano chilies. It is modified from a recipe for jalapeno hot sauce, posted on mexicanplease(dot)com. I think the recipe could be used to make hot sauce from any thick-walled chili variety.
The recipe is built around a single pound of fresh Serrano (or jalapeno) peppers. The original recipe uses green jalapenos, but I used ripe red Serrano peppers. Rinse and de-stem the peppers. (Optional: if you want a milder sauce, use a few more peppers, but de-seed them).
Dice one half onion. In a pan over medium heat, gently saute the onion and 2 peeled whole garlic cloves in a little oil until the onions soften and become translucent and are just starting to brown.
[At this point the original recipe calls for adding 1 teaspoon 'Mexican oregano'; this a somwhat rare herb, and is NOT the same as Mediterranean oregano (Greek or Italian), skip if you can't find, which is what I did]
Add some freshly ground black pepper, to taste (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) and 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin. Briefly cook, then add the rinsed and de-stemmed peppers, 3/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Bring to a simmer. Then add everything to a blender, along with 8 to 10 sprigs fresh cilantro and the juice of one lime. Pulse the blender to puree the ingredients. The final product will remain thick and finely chunky with seeds and other small bits still visible. Place into jars or wide mouth bottles.
The finished product will have fiery sharpness from the peppers, tang from the vinegar and lime, a hint of sweetness from the browned onion, and extra flavor from the herbs and spices.
The acidity should keep the hot sauce in good condition in the refrigerator for at least a month. NOTE: the instructions are not designed for long-term canning or preserving.