Home Made Hot Sauce!

Michelle harvested all of the peppers in her backyard garden and brought them to work for us to enjoy. Thank you, Shelly!!! I grabbed a ton of jalapenos thinking I would make some poppers, but then I had a better idea: hot sauce! Turns out it's pretty simple to make your own! And you can add other flavors and make it as hot as you want! I used mostly jalapenos but habanero chilies would work if you wanted them extra hot. I also added some peppers I had previously roasted to add a slightly smokey flavor! Try it out with your own pepper mix!

Ingredients: 

• approx. 25 jalapenos or other spicy peppers
• half of a white onion (about 3/4 cup chopped) 
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup roasted peppers (I used some sweeter peppers for a milder flavor) 
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• black pepper, cumin, turmeric, and other spices to taste! 

Directions:

1. Turn on your vents or open your windows, your kitchen is going to get spicy! 
2. Carefully chop your peppers into small chunks, nothing fancy, you're going to blend them later anyway. I recommend wearing gloves or carefully hold the peppers by the stem to avoid touching the seeds and ribs which is where most of the heat lies. *Note: If you want less heat from your peppers, remove the ribs and seeds since that is where most of the heat is contained! 
3. Add approximately two tablespoons of olive oil to a pan and heat to medium. When oil is hot, add your peppers and chopped onion. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
   
4. Add your minced garlic and saute for another minute more. Add 1 cup of water and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until peppers are tender and the water is almost all evaporated. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature. *Note: adding hot liquid to a glass blender can cause cracking!
   
5. Carefully pour the mixture into your blender. Add roasted peppers if desired (if using dried, rehydrate first). Blend on high until smooth. Add distilled white vinegar and spices and mix again until smooth. I recommend adding vinegar just 1/4 cup at a time until you reach the flavor you want. You can also use more water to thin out your hot sauce. 

4. Pour into a clean jar (I used an old pasta sauce jar) and store in the refrigerator, it should last about 6 months. *Note: If your blender isn't the greatest, put a strainer over the jar as you pour in the sauce to catch any large chunks or seeds.

Voila! Homemade hot sauce! My sauce turned orange due to the mix of pepper colors, next time I'll try to stick to just one colored pepper to get a nice bright red or green color hopefully!

-Amy