Hot Sauce

There I was with a quart of jalapeños.  Why do I always get a ton of hot peppers?  What makes them so provocative?

I started out chopping them to freeze and use in little amounts as needed over the winter.  At the last minute I changed my mind and wanted to make hot sauce.  It came out freaking fabulous.  Here's what I did.

Next year, I will add garlic.  Didn't have any on hand this time.

I sauteed the chopped jalapenos, along with about a cop of onion until tender.  I swirled it in a blender and added some brine that I had leftover from making some summer pickles.  Since you probably don't have brine just laying around to use, you could make some or bring your mixture to a boil after you add the other ingredients. Recipe for brine to follow this recipe.

My hot sauce was not real hot.  Half the jalapeños were spicy and and about half were not.  Remember the rib and seeds are where the heat is.  So add it or take away- totally up to your heat preference.

Once you are done making your hot sauce, you can funnel it into an old dressing bottles and hot sauce bottles that you hoard.  Oh wait... that's me... I am the glass hoarder.  I will say it is particularly wonderful coming from this kind of bottle.

Green Hot Sauce

1 quart jalapeños
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups sweet brine
(more or less, depending on how thick or thin you want your sauce)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Saute jalapenos and onion in oil until tender.  Once cooked a cooled a little, spoon into blender.  Add brine to the mix and blend until smooth.

Brine
2 cup water
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon kosher salt (you don't want iodine in your mix)

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a boil.