Turbo's Slog (Hot Sauce Log with a silent H)

turbo · Jun 24, 2014

Instead of having a different for each sauce I want to share with folks, I decided to make a Slog...a Hot Sauce Log with a silent H.

Roasted peppers with strawberry and mango ferment (take 1)

Haven't made any hot sauce all year because I've been going through last year's surplus. So for my first sauce of the year I figured I'd go with a ferment. I've been jonesing something charred and fruity.

Ingredients:
roasted habaneros, rocotos, and red chilis
one red onion
3 inch hunk of ginger
head of garlic (7 cloves)
1 mango
1 pint of strawberries

I think/hope that the fruit will add enough sugar to sustain a good ferment.

Once its finished fermenting, I'm guessing it'll be pretty two dimensional and need a little something else for richness / complexity. I'm thinking a bit of red wine and/or apple cider vinegar and/or soy sauce would really level out the sauce. We'll see when the time comes.

Everything all ready to go in the food processor for a whirl tomorrow morning.

turbo · Nov 16, 2014

Smoked Habanero Plum Powder

I like my sauces smooth so I always them through a sieve to strain out the seeds and other bits. I usually just throw this stuff away, but this time I decided to run it through the dehydrator, then grind it into powder to see what its like.

The powder really held the smokiness and has great flavor. Can't wait to make some chili with this stuff!

Before putting it in the dehydrator

After 14 hours in the dehydrator

The finished product

Downriver · Nov 17, 2014

...and it makes a ton of powder vs grinding just dried pods. Seems that way anyway.

Habanero Plum - that sounds awesome. Mix that up into a rub and smoke you some ribs.

cypresshill1973 · Nov 17, 2014

Excellent tread!!!

I like your recipes posted here... I have stealing a few :drooling:

turbo · Jan 30, 2015

Cranberry / Fatalii / Aji Lemon Jelly

I really loved the prior pepper jelly I made. I loved it so much I ran out in about two months. I decided to make some more, but a bit hotter this time. I followed my other recipe exactly, except instead of cayennes I used 10 Fatalii peppers, and instead of dried cranberries I used 1.5 cups of fresh cranberries.

Here is the jelly getting cooked just before adding pectin.

This should last me a while longer...maybe 3 months? The color is much more red from the cranberries, and not as clear. Still pretty though

Really love the flavor!!! Wonderful heat, acidic from the cider vinegar, sweet and fruity, and kind'a zesty from the ginger. Love IT!

rghm1u20 · Mar 18, 2015

turbo said:
Cayenne / Aji Lemon Jelly (or Holly Crap That's Good!)

I've been collecting a LOT of Aji Lemon peppers that my wife is starting to get pissed about the refrigerator being too full of peppers, and not enough room for real food. I've been wanting to try a hot pepper jelly so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I followed this recipe loosely, but changed a few of the ingredients up. The sugar, lemon juice, and pectin are the same

Ingredients

40'ish Aji Lemon peppers, de-seeded

2 large Cayenne peppers, de-seeded

1 green apple

1/4 sweet onion

1 inch hunk of ginger, grated

1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped up

1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup fresh pressed apple juice

I chopped the peppers, apple, and onion in a food processor. Then tossed all that into a pot, and added the ginger, apple cider vinegar, apple juice, and cranberries. Simmered it for about 10 minutes and hit it sparingly with an immersion blender. Not enough to liquify everything, just break stuff down into smaller chunks. Then I added the sugar and cooked it at a simmer for another 20 minutes, added the pectin and stirred for a minutes, pulled it off the heat, filled my jars and processed them for 10 minutes in boiling water.

It really turned out beautifully; its sweet, hot, savory, sour...just a really balanced blend of flavors. I ate half a jar right away on top of cream cheese covered crackers.

Hey Turbo, I want to ask for your permission to reproduce this recipe on another, Spanish language, hot peppers forum. I know you didn't pateted this

, but I am sure is not funny if anybody is re-posting your posts on other place without at least to ask.

turbo · Mar 18, 2015

rghm1u20 said:
Hey Turbo, I want to ask for your permission to reproduce this recipe on another, Spanish language, hot peppers forum. I know you didn't pateted this , but I am sure is not funny if anybody is re-posting your posts on other place without at least to ask.

Absolutely! And thanks for asking. One thing I forgot to write down when I posted this is to put the lemon juice in once all the sugar has been added. So you should add that to the translation.

turbo · Apr 13, 2015

Manzano Jalapeno Apple & Spices Ferment

I picked up a new fermentation vessel last week. Its got a pretty neat design. It has a spring loaded metal disk that holds all the veggie material below the water level.

This is my first sauce ferment with this thing. I like to slice my ingredients very roughly. That seems to make it easier to keep all organic matter below the water level. No little bits floating up to the top and getting all yeasty.

Ingredients

6 manzanos
6 jalapenos
2 chilaca peppers
1/2 apple
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbs honey
6 cloves garlic

Here is the cool part. A spring loaded disk built into the jar cap that pushes all organic matter below the water line

I'm gonna try something new this time. I've got an empty tea bag full of toasted whole spices: cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. The plan is to keep the spices in the ferment for the first 3-4 days, then pull them out. Hopefully that way they just add a subtle note to the sauce, not an overwhelming flavor.

You can see the spring loaded disk holding all the veggies below the water line.

The cap has a hole in it, so gas can escape. This cap sits over the hole, and the moat is filled with water for a seal.

turbo · Apr 19, 2015

I had some bhuts in the freezer I picked up at a farmers market last summer. I'm not really into the super hots, but I've got a family member that cant get enough of them, so I thought I'd make a jelly out of them for him.

Some onion, apple ginger, lemon peel, and dried cranberries

peppers, apple juice, and apple cider vinegar

The finished product. My wife took a jar to work. She works with a bunch of super alpha males, as well as a bunch of people from India. The alpha dudes were daring each other to have itty bitty little tastes on a cracker, while a couple of the guys from India spread it thick on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

turbo · Apr 20, 2015

Manzano Jalapeno Apple & Spices Ferment, Update 1

After 5 days I opened up the fermentation jar and pulled out the tea bag full of spices and then sealed it back up. The contents have a subtle smell of cinnamon and cloves, but not too strong. We'll see how well that comes through in the finished sauce.

You can see that fermentation in going pretty strong. Lots of happy bubbles. I'll probably it back up in 3-4 weeks as I'm not feeling very patient

turbo · Apr 22, 2015

Caribbean Calypso Sauce

Just catching up here. Made this one a few months ago and its awesome. I pulled the base recipe from a hot sauce book I have, but changed it up a bit

Ingredients

1 big sweet white onion
8 allspice berries
8 pepper corns
4 thyme sprigs
4 inches of ginger
1/4 cup sugar
2 small papayas
30'ish Fataliis, seeded
cane vinegar
1/4 yellow mustard
2 tbs tamarind paste
juice of 4 limes

Steps

Cook onions until translucent, then add spices and ginger and cook another 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients (except lime juice) and bring up to low simmer.
Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.
Pull off heat and allow to cool, then pull out thyme sprigs.
Pour lime juice in and hit it with an immersion blender.
Yell out "Hell Yea!!! That's Awesome!!!"
Taste it and adjust any ingredients if needed. I added about 1 tbs of salt to mine.
If it needs to be thinned out a bit more, add more cane vinegar a tbs at a time.

The original recipe called for this to be strained, but the immersion blender did a good enough job that its not necessary.

This is really a wonderful sauce. The sweetness of the fruit, sour of tamarind, and the ginger really combine into something very nice. Its the first time I've used cane vinegar and I'm a convert. It will give you the pH you need without the sour bite that white or wine vinegar has. It has some sweetness, but not too strong.

I love this stuff stirred into a bowl of macaroni and cheese, and brushed onto grilled chicken thighs just before they are pulled off the fire.

All jarred up. Ended up giving about half of these away to friends.

Bumper · Apr 25, 2015

I can't believe I am only just seeing this thread for the first time. Instead of spamming you with likes, a short post to say thanks for the inspiration, great recipe ideas and photos. Registered follower for this thread going forwards!

Which cookbook are you using for the Caribbean sauce?

OCD Chilehead · May 21, 2015

turbo said:
Caribbean Calypso Sauce

Just catching up here. Made this one a few months ago and its awesome. I pulled the base recipe from a hot sauce book I have, but changed it up a bit

Ingredients

1 big sweet white onion

8 allspice berries

8 pepper corns

4 thyme sprigs

4 inches of ginger

1/4 cup sugar

2 small papayas

30'ish Fataliis, seeded

cane vinegar

1/4 yellow mustard

2 tbs tamarind paste

juice of 4 limes

Steps

Cook onions until translucent, then add spices and ginger and cook another 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except lime juice) and bring up to low simmer.

Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.

Pull off heat and allow to cool, then pull out thyme sprigs.

Pour lime juice in and hit it with an immersion blender.

Yell out "Hell Yea!!! That's Awesome!!!"

Taste it and adjust any ingredients if needed. I added about 1 tbs of salt to mine.

If it needs to be thinned out a bit more, add more cane vinegar a tbs at a time.

The original recipe called for this to be strained, but the immersion blender did a good enough job that its not necessary.

This is really a wonderful sauce. The sweetness of the fruit, sour of tamarind, and the ginger really combine into something very nice. Its the first time I've used cane vinegar and I'm a convert. It will give you the pH you need without the sour bite that white or wine vinegar has. It has some sweetness, but not too strong.

I love this stuff stirred into a bowl of macaroni and cheese, and brushed onto grilled chicken thighs just before they are pulled off the fire.

All jarred up. Ended up giving about half of these away to friends.

[/quote
That looks really good. I like your slog. Thanks for the interesting tip on the white onion pectin. Nice jelly recipes as well. Any new kitchen projects in the future? Following.

Thanks for sharing.

turbo · May 21, 2015

OCD Chilehead said:
That looks really good. I like your slog. Thanks for the interesting tip on the white onion pectin. Nice jelly recipes as well. Any new kitchen projects in the future? Following.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks OCD! I've got a ferment I need to process soon, and I've got a bunch of last year's Fataliis in the freezer and have been kicking around the idea of a grilled pineapple and Fatalii sauce (no ferment). That'll probably happen next month I hope.

I've been so focused on the garden this spring that I haven't made many sauces.

OCD Chilehead · May 21, 2015

turbo said:
Thanks OCD! I've got a ferment I need to process soon, and I've got a bunch of last year's Fataliis in the freezer and have been kicking around the idea of a grilled pineapple and Fatalii sauce (no ferment). That'll probably happen next month I hope.

I've been so focused on the garden this spring that I haven't made many sauces.[/quote
Thanks again and keep them coming. I found this topic, looking for recipes. I'm tempted to make a sauce this week. Looking at a basic Scotch Bonnet recipe I found on the web. Never made sauce. Plenty of salsa and preserves, but that's it. I've still got a bunch of frozen pods. I thought of using carrots as a thickener.

turbo · May 21, 2015

OCD Chilehead said:
Thanks again and keep them coming. I found this topic, looking for recipes. I'm tempted to make a sauce this week. Looking at a basic Scotch Bonnet recipe I found on the web. Never made sauce. Plenty of salsa and preserves, but that's it. I've still got a bunch of frozen pods. I thought of using carrots as a thickener.

Lots of folks around here like to use carrots for thickener and sweetness, but I've never been a big fan. I like to always have a fruit base to my sauces and use them and onion for thickener. Good luck with your sauce! Remember, it didn't happen if there are no pictures

OCD Chilehead · May 22, 2015

turbo said:
Lots of folks around here like to use carrots for thickener and sweetness, but I've never been a big fan. I like to always have a fruit base to my sauces and use them and onion for thickener. Good luck with your sauce! Remember, it didn't happen if there are no pictures

Well you inspired me to create. Here's the pics of the sauce. Not bad for the first time. Needed more fruit. I can't wait to make some more. LOL. I posted the recipe and process in my GLOG. Thanks again. View attachment 22925 View attachment 22926

RocketMan · May 23, 2015

Turbo that Calypso sauce is money! Love the color, use of Papaya, I'll have to give this one a shot when my papaya tree starts getting ripe ones again. Some really good looking sauces in here.

Cheers

cypresshill1973 · May 23, 2015

What kind of sieve do you use to get rid of the seeds? And how to go through all the sauce?

I try to woven wire sieve, but the willow do not pass through. I can think of some spinner, but I've never seen.

turbo · May 24, 2015

OCD Chilehead said:
Well you inspired me to create. Here's the pics of the sauce. Not bad for the first time. Needed more fruit. I can't wait to make some more. LOL. I posted the recipe and process in my GLOG. Thanks again.

Wow, love the color of your sauce! Looks awesome!

RocketMan said:
Turbo that Calypso sauce is money! Love the color, use of Papaya, I'll have to give this one a shot when my papaya tree starts getting ripe ones again. Some really good looking sauces in here.

Cheers

Thanks RocketMan! You have a papaya tree? Man, I'm jealous

cypresshill1973 said:
What kind of sieve do you use to get rid of the seeds? And how to go through all the sauce?

I try to woven wire sieve, but the willow do not pass through. I can think of some spinner, but I've never seen.

I've actually started removing seeds before I make the sauce. Just half the peppers and scrape the seeds. Makes it WAY easier to make a sauce when I don't have to push it through a sieve to get all the seeds out.

turbo · Aug 6, 2015

Garlic Confit

I know...its not a sauce...or even have peppers in it. But this is AWESOME! If you like baked garlic, try this. Its even better.

Harvested my garlic a few weeks ago. Each year about 10% of the bulbs I harvest are not storage worthy. They may have a bit of rot in a couple cloves, or the cloves are starting to pull away from the bulb. So I end up having about 30-40 cloves of garlic I need to burn through in about a week. This year I decided to make garlic confit.

Here is a bunch of garlic called Island Rocambole

One of my prettier bulbs this year

Confit just means slowly cooking something in oil at a really low temp. Because you aren't heating the oil very much (keep it under 210F) you can use really good olive oil and not risk burning it. Just peel a bunch of garlic cloves and put it in a small pot, then pour enough olive oil in to just cover them. Slowly bring the heat up...and I mean slowly, until you get around 210F.

Turn the heat down so to maintain 210F for the next hour. If you see bubbles rising from the cloves, its ok. But you shouldn't be boiling the oil. The garlic is done when they are nice and soft. Test them by pressing on them with the edge of a knife. Pull the pot off the stove and cool to room temp, then pour into a jar.

The garlic should be soft enough to spread on bread like soft butter, and its so sweet and creamy. And don't forget about that wonderful garlic infused olive oil. Great for cooking with.

Since its the garlic is just sitting in oil you should probably store the jar in your fridge.