While I might unintentionally fling flour all over the kitchen from time to time — I’ve gotten better; I’m not nearly as messy a baker as I once was. It’s amazing what practice can do! — I’m not the only one in our household that is guilty of making a mess in the kitchen. My husband is a great cook and a willing one, lucky for me. He does most of the cooking in our house while I do the baking. Late last winter or so, he planted a bunch of different hot pepper seeds. Eventually he transferred them into a raised garden bed in our yard that quickly grew over. The plan all along was to grow the peppers to make salsa and hot sauce. He made his final batch of hot sauce over this past weekend and now he’s using it on nearly everything he eats. I might cover the kitchen in flour but he covers it in pepper seeds and an eye-watering pepper smell. Oh well, it cleans up easily!
The “secret” of the hot sauce is one you might not ordinarily think of: smoking the peppers. He used cherry wood to smoke cherry and white habaneros plus fish peppers. Add to that golden berries (Physalis peruviana), a sort of miniature yellow tomatillo. After slicing up the peppers, combine them with garlic, onion, salt and olive oil. Saute the mix for a few minutes and then add about two cups of water. Cook the mix down for about a half hour or so. Take the reduced sauce and blend in a food processor with vinegar. Bottle the hot sauce in sterilized mason jars. Let the hot sauce rest for a few weeks or enjoy immediately.
Many thanks to my husband for sharing his recipe and photos. This is what happens when you’re married to someone with a blog!
