A Little Hot Stuff

We grow a lot of peppers.  All different types.  Jalapenos, Criolla Sellas, Anaheims, Sweet Bells.  We start them from seeds in early January.  Once it cools off in the fall before it freezes, the peppers have a last burst of productivity.  We harvest and freeze lots of them.  We dry them and make chili powder.  One thing we did this year was dried jalapenos and then ground it up to make Jalapeno Pepper powder.  It's good for adding to anything like you would black pepper.  This just has an added punch to it.

We also like hot sauce.  We like Crystal Hot Sauce and Tabasco Sauce.  Benjamin and I decided to make our own Jalapeno Hot Sauce this year.  We gathered all of our ingredients:  Jalapeno peppers (1 pound freshly picked), 3/4 cup white vinegar, 1/3 cup water, 1 cup onions, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 garlic cloves, and black pepper.

We picked the freshest jalapenos off the plants in the garden and washed them in water.

Then I de-stemmed the jalapenos.  I left the seeds and everything with the peppers.  Tricia said she could really smell them when I started cutting them.  I made a note to NOT put my fingers anywhere near my eyes.  I learned that lesson before.

I sautéed the onion and garlic in some oil in a dutch oven.  Once translucent I added the oregano, salt and cumin and allowed to cook for a minute.  Then I added the peppers, vinegar and water and brought to a simmer.

I poured all that into a food processor and added some sprigs of fresh cilantro on top.  Then I pulsed it until smooth.

We poured it all into a quart jar.  You ought to smell it.  Powerful stuff!

It'll keep in the fridge for about a month.

We just spoon out a dollop of it on top of our food.  This morning I mixed a tablespoon of it into my bowl of grits for breakfast.  It added a nice little kick!  But that's just one idea.  Really, we'll put it on anything except maybe dessert.