homemade Spicy Banana Pepper Mild Hot sauce

This is a simple pepper sauce and relish I make once the farmers markets start rolling out the spicier peppers.

This blend is a mild for me and I use it in a variety of applications from mild Chili's, stews, scrambled eggs, as a relish on a burger or sausage, and even in small quantities in dressings.  

As a note for some folks not used to eating a lot of Caribbean dishes, or the spicier middle eastern or Asian dishes:  This sauce could be considered a spicy hot sauce, all depending on how spicy the peppers were. 

Banana peppers like jalapeño can range from a very mild to a damn what did I just eat depending on variety.  I did want to add this warning in here, because people who frequently love ghost, habanero, and other peppers higher up on the scale take these peppers for granted and they can sneak up on you.   Also the flavor is completely different (much sweeter), and it's usage in meals needs to be balanced out.

Ingredients:

• 8 Spicy Banana Peppers
• toasted onion flakes
• Head of Elephant Garlic
• white vinegar

Instructions:

• Clean the peppers of seeds and the ribs and place in blender of choice.   I use my Ninja juice blender for this.
• Clean the head of elephant garlic and add to pepper
• Put in two handfuls roughly of toasted onion flakes  (to flavor)
• Put in white vinegar to liquid fill line if using a blender, or to cover if using a food processor
• Blend/process until it looks like a relish.  Usually less then a minute depending on machine.

Packaging:

• So I save up bottles that have re-closable lids for this for my home use.   Make sure they are clean.  
• I typically like an 8 or 16 oz bottle.   This can be potent stuff for most people and I personally do not try and keep a batch longer then 6 months.   With the vinegar it may be theoretically last longer, but I like making fresh every year, and I save some peppers in freezer for a batch off season.
• What I like to do so that it's not too watery is to use a fine mesh sieve and separate the vinegar and the 'pulp'
• Pulp goes in a small 8 oz or 16 oz container.   This will look like a fine relish.  Pack well and then cover with some of the vinegar.
• The vinegar with all the awesome heat and flavor I save in a jar appropriate to amount 32oz typically.  I can use this vinegar for a wide variety of applications including salad dressings.  Not as spicy as the pulp but great flavor.

Homemade Habanero Hot Pepper Sauce

This is a simple pepper sauce and relish I make once the farmers markets start rolling out the spicier peppers.

Todays blend is roughly a medium for me and I use it in a variety of applications from mild Chili's, stews, scrambled eggs, as a relish on a burger or sausage, and even in small quantities in dressings.

Ingredients:

• 8 Habanero's
• 8 Jalapeño's
• toasted onion flakes
• Head of Elephant Garlic
• white vinegar

Instructions:

• Clean the peppers of seeds and the ribs and place in blender of choice.   I use my Ninja juice blender for this.
• Clean the head of elephant garlic and add to pepper
• Put in two handfuls roughly of toasted onion flakes  (to flavor)
• Put in white vinegar to liquid fill line if using a blender, or to cover if using a food processor
• Blend/process until it looks like a relish.  Usually less then a minute depending on machine.

Packaging:

• So I save up bottles that have re-closable lids for this for my home use.   Make sure they are clean.  
• I typically like an 8 or 16 oz bottle.   This can be potent stuff for most people and I personally do not try and keep a batch longer then 6 months.   With the vinegar it may be theoretically last longer, but I like making fresh every year, and I save some peppers in freezer for a batch off season.
• What I like to do so that it's not too watery is to use a fine mesh sieve and separate the vinegar and the 'pulp'
• Pulp goes in a small 8 oz or 16 oz container.   This will look like a fine relish.  Pack well and then cover with some of the vinegar.
• The vinegar with all the awesome heat and flavor I save in a jar appropriate to amount 32oz typically.  I can use this vinegar for a wide variety of applications including salad dressings.  Not as spicy as the pulp but great flavor.

Resources

Resources:

 

I wanted to start a resources page to assist people in finding the spices and ingredients I use in my recipes.   I will continue to update this page as I get questions about specific items and as I think of a good place and or product that I have found crucial in making my life easier.

 

First:  Most of my grocery budget is spent at the local famers, though I do occasionally shop at traditional grocery stores to supplement what I can get from the local famers especially during the winter months where famers markets are limited. 

 

Second: All of my spices come from two places. 

• Savory Spice Shop (http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/), for local folks in NC the storefront is located in Lafayette Village.
• local Latin American, Indian, and Asian markets for ingredients not found in normal grocery stores.  

All my ground spices all from savory spice shop because I know their Gluten Free Spices and occasional dried whole chilis or canned pastes or whole chiles come from various local markets based on the culture purchased from.

 

Third:

Do not be afraid to make your own spice blends.   I buy bulk whole spices as well as ground base spices which I then turn into my own blends that I use for my meals.   I will share those as I continue blogging.

• Here is a BBQ sauce I love to make:  http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/06/my-favorite-homemade-bbq-sauce.html
• Here are some salt blends I make that I love to use: http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/06/salt-blends-i-love.html
• Here are some BBQ rubs I have made that I love to use both on the BBQ and on the stove or oven.   http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/07/bbq-spice-blends-i-love.html

Other Resources:
As much as I love to cook from scratch,  I also love to go out and eat and try food at restaurants.   To that end, I post reviews on Yelp, Foursquare, and Find me GF on local restaurants that have GF options or whole menus that are Gluten Free.

BBQ spice blends I love

These are my BBQ blends I love to use when smoking, grilling, or just cooking on the stove when I want a BBQ flavor.

Smokey BBQ blend:

• Crushed Urfa
• Aleppo Red Pepper
• Freeze Dried Scallion
• Roasted Garlic Powder
• Toasted Onion Powder
• Alderwood sea salt
• Honey Powder

Spicy BBQ Rub:

• Szechuan seeds
• Aleppo Red Pepper
• Crushed Urfa
• Guajillo Powder
• Ancho Powder
• 4 corners peppercorns
• tellicherry peppercorns
• Garlic and Onion Powder
• Fine Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
• Powdered Ghost Pepper
• Hot Oriental Mustard Seeds

Salt blends I love.

First of the spice blends I wanted to mention are some basic flavored salts (Sazon).   I use these frequently do I make a quick blends to save time from having to mix in small batches as needed for meals..

Simple salt and pepper:

Fill spice grinder 1/2 way with tellicherry black pepper berries and grind until powder

Mix with Himalayan pink sea salt fine ground
Great for basic meals that ask for Salt and Pepper.   Can be used as a table mix as well once balanced to your taste with pepper to salt ratios.

Szechuan salt and pepper:

Fill spice grinder 1/2 way with Szechuan pepper berries and grind until powder

Mix with Himalayan pink sea salt fine ground
Great for Stir Fry's or any meal that requires a bit of Szechuan flavor.  
 

Mixed peppers salt:

Fill spice grinder 1/2 way with a four corners blend (mix of white, black, pink, and green) and grind until powder 

Mix with Himalayan pink sea salt fine ground

Great for basic meals that ask for Salt and Pepper.   Can be used as a table mix as well once balanced to your taste with pepper to salt ratios.  I personally prefer this to just tellicherry black pepper berries due to the complexity of flavor.
 

Garlic and onion sea salt:

If you get onion and garlic flakes or even the scallions or dry the green tops of a scallion.  Fill up spice grinder and create a powder.  Not you can buy onion and garlic powder as well no need to grind. 

Mix with Himalayan pink sea salt fine ground
Great for mashed or roasted potatoes, vegetables, and even making a garlic bread from scratch.

Rosemary flavored sea salt:

Same as garlic and onion but add in dried rosemary. 
Great for mashed and roasted potatoes or fries.   Because rosemary can be a stronger flavor that does go well with potatoes in my opinion I primarily use this for my potato dishes as appropriate.

Spicy Grains of Paradise finishing salt:
Fill up spice grinder 1/2 way with the Grains of Paradise seeds and grind until powder.
Mix with Himalayan pink sea salt fine ground.
Great for a floral spicy note to food.  Use as a finishing salt to add another layer to African or middle eastern style meals.