This year has been a good year for peppers in my organic garden. There has been a steady flow of sweet bell peppers all fall and into winter. I am writing this in February and I still have several peppers growing in my garden. We enjoy the freshness a just-picked bell pepper adds to a salad or omelet. Years ago, when I ran a country inn, we had a small but very productive garden that supplied the veggies for our morning omelets. Our guests just loved it when I would pass by the breakfast table, with my apron full of fresh peppers and tomatoes. As they were drinking their first cup of coffee I was picking their breakfast. Most of our guests were local couples “getting away” for a couple of days, enjoying a cozy room at the inn and some good old-fashioned cooking.
In our garden this year sweet peppers were not the only variety in abundance. I was able to get one habanero pepper plant to grow from some old seeds I had. This one plant produced more than 40 peppers at one time, adequately making up for the plants I lost to the summer heat.
I have been trying to find a good source of organic habanero sauce, with no success. All the sauces I have tried say “HOT” on the label, but, they need to be investigated for false advertising. Reading the ingredients to purchase the one with the highest content of peppers does not prove to be any more fruitful. Since I now had an abundance of habanero peppers I decided it was time to make my own habanero sauce.
Making your own sauce is not that difficult, it does take considerable time, but it is worth the effort. If you are starting with 40 peppers you will have a lot of sauce when you are done, close to half a gallon. This recipe will yield between two or three cups of delicious sauce that will liven up your day and get your taste buds to dancing. Most families would have a difficult time consuming half a gallon of sauce before it might spoil. I recommend freezing some of the peppers for making beans or omelets in the future. One thing you must know before you begin the process is to use gloves once you begin handling the habanero peppers. Because this sauce is fairly “hot” I used gloves until I was done cleaning the pots and pans. If you do not use gloves you should not touch any soft tissued area of your body, or anyone else’s, for a couple of days. Yes, the fire will remain and you would regret not using gloves. As with anything that brings a tremendous amount of good, there is always something to be cautious about.
Now that the warnings are out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff. I love hot sauces, the hotter the better. I do like flavor as well, so this sauce is packed with flavor and heat. The end result is a sweet sauce that goes very well on blackened fish, eggs of any kind and oddly enough, tastes good by itself on a cracker with some good sharp cheese. If you have a good recipe I would love to have you share it with everyone in the comment section below.
In my garden this year I have some carrots that were accidently over crowded and are growing into knots with each other. Since they are not much to look at they will not do so well on a dinner plate, but, they are perfect in this sauce. The peppers and carrots being one hour fresh may have something to do with the wonderful taste of this sauce. I used organic dried mango in this recipe partly because I do not have a mango tree and because it is just so much easier to store, and they are less messy to use while cooking. The price of dried mango compared to fresh organic mango is another positive factor. As usual, I recommend all organic ingredients when cooking. When using dried mango I dice it and reconstitute it by simmering about 3/4 cup of water with the equivalent of one mango, keeping it moist if it begins to cook too much. In the sauce you want to minimize the amount of water in the final sauce so it keeps longer. Let the mango cook down to a pasty consistancy before adding it to the sauce.
Another word of wisdom when cooking hot peppers: do not remove the seeds, this is where a lot of the heat is. If you choose to strain your sauce (I just run it all through a food processor) at the end you will be able to remove the seeds after the cooking has brought out most of the heat. Save and freeze the strained pulp and use it in soups and other spicy dishes later. Do remove the stems before preparation. Don’t forget your gloves.
Ingredients:
1 onion chopped
5 cloves garlic chopped
1 Tbs grape seed oil
1 large carrot chopped
1 cup water
12 habanero peppers
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
In a medium sauce pan saute onion in the oil until translucent, adding the garlic at the end so it does not over cook and become hard; add the carrots with just enough water to cook the carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer just until carrots are soft. Do not cook the peppers with the carrots, cooking reduces the hotness of the peppers. In a blender or good food processor puree the peppers, add the cooked mixture and mango, puree together. Add the vinegar and lime juice to the puree. Place puree into the pan and simmer for five minutes. Your sauce is ready to enjoy as-is or may be strained to make a sauce that can be poured from a bottle. Store in sterilized bottles and refrigerate. This sauce should keep for several months in the refrigerator.