I posted a picture of some of my habaneros on a thread that Annie started about harvesting, but I don't think I put my recipe in. Anyway, the way I make it is to take a bunch of habanero chilies and put them in a grill pan so that they will not fall through the grates of the barbeque, and then I char them slightly over mesquite charcoal, but you can use whatever charcoal you like, but it must be charcoal or wood to get the smokey flavor that I like. I usually roast a few cloves of garlic in the pan with the chilies, and I also roast a few of the large red or yellow bell peppers, to make the sauce a bit milder and make it go further. After the chilies are charred, I move them to a Pyrex or Corningware pan that has a good lid, and I let them steam covered. They must be covered right after they are removed from the grill. You can use whatever ripe chilies you have, but cayenne is not a very good choice because it is not very fleshy. You can include the tiny Thai chilies also, but I generally only use fairly large chilies, as they are better for making a sauce.

After the chilies have cooled (sometimes in the fridge overnight), I remove the stems, some seeds, and some of the skin that is loose and put them through a food mill with the garlic, but you can use a sieve or colander, as long as the holes are small enough for the seeds not to pass through. Be careful of fumes at this point, and you may want to wear a snorkel to avoid breathing them in. You may want to wear rubber gloves also, but I generally do not. The worst part of it is when you have to rinse out the food mill, for when you do this, even more fumes come up in the air.

When you have the bulk of the chilies through the food mill or sieve, add salt and vinegar - I generally add one part vinegar for four parts of chili puree, and I add a fair amount of salt - about one tablespoon per cup of sauce, but you can add more to help preserve it. I freeze some of it in plastic bags, but I have found that it keeps fairly well in the fridge, if you add enough vinegar.

A lot of people add carrots and other vegetables to this sauce, but I prefer to keep it pure, and that way I have the most concentrated flavor. You get a lot of flavor in this sauce in a tiny amount of it. I highly recommend that you add the red bell peppers, as they also give a good flavor and make the sauce go a bit further.

Let me know if you have other questions. This type of sauce is popular in Texas and Mexico, but not common elsewhere. I think a lot of people are afraid of it!

Lars

Thanks! My peppers did fairly well this year but the habaneros are ripening late. So far I made Annie's Habanero gold jelly, a fermented hot sauce, a lot of green curry paste, habanero/cayenne/thai chili powder and salt... i like spicy food but will definitely add some red peppers.

Thanks for the instructions Lars. I roasted 6 sweet red peppers, 18 habaneros, a head of garlic and a few tiny red onions last night on the egg. I made the sauce today. Hot but not terrifyingly so... Though I approached with caution. I really like that it does not have as much vinegar as the recipe I tried last year.

agmass, that looks beautiful, although I'd never have the nerve to actually taste it, LOL.

I wish I'd have thought of Lars' hot sauce before I took all the peppers out of the garden. My habaneros, serranos, poblanos, cubanelles and a few stray jalapenos from Ashley's backyard all got dehydrated, ground to powder in one mass, mixed with various herbs/seeds/spices and became homemade chili powder.

Not that I'll be able to eat it, LOL, I sneezed and coughed all the time I was making it!

Annie

Somehow I missed the follow-up on this thread, but I was curious to see whether you tried my recipe. I've been looking on YouTube and Google to find a similar recipe, but none are very close to what I make. I should add that I use a grill BASKET instead of a grill pan, as I want the smoke to infuse the chilies and garlic. The bell peppers I put straight on the grate, as they are large enough not to fall through.

I've made three batches of this sauce so far this season, and I still have habaneros in my yard, and so I've been giving some of the sauce away.

I have also changed my method so that now I puree the chilies and garlic with the vinegar and salt and then force the puree through a coarse sieve to remove the seeds and remaining skin. I found this a bit more efficient than using the food mill and easier to clean, since I use a stick blender to puree.

Another revision - I forgot to mention that I use white Balsamic vinegar, and this really helps the flavor over using a plain white vinegar. It's more expensive, but then the sauce goes a long way.

Lars

I love all things hot and hot sauces and what could be better than homemade. I am eager to make this sauce but I'm sure it won't be as good as Lars. AG, thanks for notating about the amount of vinegar being less, that appeals to me as does using white balsamic.

*I had a collection of hot sauces from around the country displayed in my kitchen. My brother was visiting and decided to try them...HE OPENED MOST OF THE BOTTLES! It's a collection, get it!!!!

I have another batch of peppers that I need to do something with.... Made another couple quarts of tomato puree and some roasted tomatoes today. More ripening still.

I gave a jar of the roasted pepper sauce and some salt ground w/dried habs/dried leeks to a couple who are old family friends. The husband is jamaican (and a very serious gardener). I will get a review next week.

I did puree and then run it through the food mill. That made more sense to me. I wish I had thought of white balsamic vinegar. I kind of fudged and mixed white vinegar and reg balsamic. I wanted some of the sweetness.

I sometimes also add regular Balsamic vinegar to my sauce, for a bit of sweetness, although it can change the color of the sauce. The roasted red bell peppers generally add enough sweetness for me, however, but I do sometimes adjust with the sweet Balsamic.

I have a collection of hot sauces also, and I may never get around to using them, since I make so much hot sauce myself, but I can also understand the temptation to open a bunch of them!

Annie, I can sympathize with the coughing and sneezing during the chili preparation! The only chilies that I dry are Cayenne and Tabasco, and I leave them whole and then chop them up later.

Lars