Hottie Hottie Hot Sauce
On the post-Soul stroll through Whole Foods early last Saturday morning (before the tornadoes, etc.), these bright local chili peppers were all waving and yelling out to me from their little green cardboard box. I’ve been contemplating a hot sauce for a while now, and they knew it. Ok little buddies, I hear you. Let’s do this thing.
Here’s the crowd:
The Goods:
- Little box of hot peppers, stemmed and tossed lightly in olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Agave nectar
- Garlic powder, S&P
The Execution:
Sauté the oiled peppers until browned a bit. Don’t inhale too deeply while this is going on. And maybe turn a fan on or something. Drop into blender, add a squeeze of agave nectar and the spices. Hit it a few times with the blender to discipline it all. Now start adding the vinegar while running the blender on low until it looks less like a pepper purée and more like a hot sauce. Then crank up the blender to smooth it all out. Taste, and adjust sweetness and seasoning. I like my heat a little sweet, so I’m likely to add some more agave nectar here.
Here’s the peppers after the sauté:
The Takeaway:
People spend a lot of $$ on hot sauce. But it’s pretty easy and satisfying to make all on your own. And this all came together quickly too. So once Hottie #1 is done, I’ll be doing this riff again.
p.s.- Last weekend found GHT with some good friends at Pulino’s on Bowery/Houston, followed by Karaoke at 2nd on 2nd. Some highlights (lowlights?): Jump Jump, Every Rose, Total Eclipse, Sister Christian (yes, heavy on the 80’s). And duets with S: If I Could Turn Back Time, and Johnny Cash/June Carter ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’. Awesome. Bloggers Triple Threat Mommy and Hoboken Foodie can attest, if they got their voices back yet …
This weekend was Man Weekend with law-school compadres on the North Fork. More on that scene later.
