Peachy Pepper Sauce

It's even more orange than it looks here.

I made some hot sauce a few years ago.  I never wrote what I did down I just threw somethings into the pot.  Some tomatoes, some hot peppers, some carrots...  It was kind of what I had on hand along with the other usual suspects, alt vinegar etc.  This time I am making something different.  Not sure how it will come out so I am writing it down just in case I love it and want to recreate it.So far I am loving the flavor of this sauce.  My guess is that it will get better over time.

I have this thing with mango hot sauce.  Since mangoes are not exactly plentiful around here I decided to use the closest thing to it- peaches.  If I had some apricots I would throw them in there as well.  But lets just stick with this so far.

A few tips about making hot sauce

1. The more seeds you put in the hotter it will be.  The seed is the heat center of the pepper.
2. Use stainless steel, ceramic or glass for everything it touches. Its pretty caustic, especially when you add in the vinegar.  It will eat away at plastic and aluminum.
3. Do wear gloves, if you don't have them use a sandwich bag or a plastic bag to protect the hand that touches the peppers.  Don't touch your eyes through out this whole process.  If you got an itch, get a clean towel and use that. Just ask me how I know these things...
4. Cover the pot, this will cut down on the amount of heat going into the air.  The hotter your peppers, the more cautious you need to be about this.  It can burn your lungs, eyes, whatever. Respect the heat!

Cherry Peppers

Peachy Pepper Sauce
Makes about 2 quarts.

1/3 cup chopped garlic
8 cups peaches, peeled pitted and sliced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon neutral oil
18 cherry peppers ( you can go as hot as you like here- I started out with these)
1 cup onion
1/2 cup carrots
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of ascorbic acid*, citric acid or the juice of half a lemon

In 1 tablespoon of oil sauté onion, carrots and peppers until translucent.  I covered it once it started to really cook.  Too much fumes. One it gets to the point where the veggies are a bit more tender you can add the water, vinegar, garlic, salt and peaches. Let the mixture cook until everything is super soft.  I simmered it, covered, for about 40 minutes.  Add in the sugar and ascorbic acid. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.  I did not can this because I am not 100% sure that there is enough acid in this. I am guessing there is.  I half of it.  The other half is in my refrigerator.  I am thinking it is going to go pretty fast. 

Why ascorbic acid? Basically all this is- is vitamin C.  It helps to maintain the color, preventing browning, at least for a little while.