Hot Sauce Recipe!

Yes, it’s my famous – some say NOTORIOUS –
hot sauce recipe!

Above is the label I use on my bottles when I make a batch.

INGREDIENTS:

1 small onion — chopped
3 cloves garlic — chopped
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 cup chopped medium-fine carrot
2 cups water
4 Habanero peppers* (or 5 if you are brave… 6 if you have a very low co-pay) – stems removed, minced
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Sorry for the poor picture quality, but I had to crop this image from a bigger one.
Above is the label I use for this. As you see, each bottle gets blessed by a priest to protect from the intense heat of this sauce. Feel free to off-load the label above for your own bottle. Then, for truth in marketing, get a priest to bless your bottle. Or become a priest yourself and do it. It only takes a moment. Click This Picture!

INSTRUCTIONS:

*VERY IMPORTANT!!! When you chop the peppers you must wear rubber gloves (not the thick Playtex® type for washing dishes, but the kind doctors use; the gloves which third-rate, generic comedians make believe they are snapping on their hands during the mandatory prostate exam bit… You do not have to toss out the seeds, but if you want most of the heat it’s in the rib attached to the seeds, so scraped the seeds but carefully. If a few cling to the rib, then let it go – no harm in using it with a few seeds rather than risk losing the rib and its magnificent heat. At no time during the process should you rub your eyes or answer “nature’s call.” That last one I can attest to from my own bitter experience… When you have finished preparing the peppers, throw the gloves out and thoroughly wash the knife and cutting board with soapy water. You will regret it if you don’t do this.

In a non-reactive pot, sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. Add the chopped carrots then slowly add the water. Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots get soft soft. Remove from heat. Add the Habaneros, the lime juice, the vinegar and the sea salt to the carrot/onion/garlic mixture. Place everything in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into sterilized jar (I pour boiling water in the jar and let it sit 10 minutes) and put in refrigerator. This absolutely needs refrigeration.

COST: Mere pennies. Stock up on the Habaneros when you find them and rinse, pat dry, put a slit into each pepper (important to protect them from ice crystals inside) then put in a zip-lock bag and freeze. They loose none of their heat, just the crispness, when thawed, which will not matter.