Each year around October I make two bottles of cranberry steeped vodka for the holidays. This year I had some cranberries left over and also had a hodge podge of different peppers left over from my garden, so I figured I'd make a "Heinze-57" style sauce. Just toss a bunch of leftover stuff in and see how it comes out.
I didn't really like it at first, too sweet and not very complex. But two months in the fridge and its become something really nice.
Here's the recipe if you're interested:
8 oz of random peppers
Habanero
Cayenne
Thai red hot pepper is what the label said at the nursery. 1 inch peppers, kind'a looks like birds-eye
Thai red hot pepper is what the label said at the nursery. 3-4 inch thin peppers that grow in bunches
5 garlic cloves
6 oz of fresh cranberries
2 inches ginger
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup rose wine vinegar (thats rose as in wine, not flowers. Its a mild, yet sweet vinegar)
1 oz lime juice
3 oz apple cider vinegar
Slam them all in the blender and puree till thin. Pour mixture into a pot and simmer for 30 minutes, then pull off heat and let cool. Give it a go with an immersion blender until nice and smooth. Then it through a strainer to pull out the big bits. This last step is optional of course, but I like a smooth hot sauce.
NOTE: One thing to note about using cranberries in a hot sauce. Cranberries have a fair amount of natural pectin. It may look thin when its done cooking, but it'll thicken a lot once it cools. No need to add anything extra for thickener.
I didn't really like it at first, too sweet and not very complex. But two months in the fridge and its become something really nice.
Here's the recipe if you're interested:
8 oz of random peppers
Habanero
Cayenne
Thai red hot pepper is what the label said at the nursery. 1 inch peppers, kind'a looks like birds-eye
Thai red hot pepper is what the label said at the nursery. 3-4 inch thin peppers that grow in bunches
5 garlic cloves
6 oz of fresh cranberries
2 inches ginger
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup rose wine vinegar (thats rose as in wine, not flowers. Its a mild, yet sweet vinegar)
1 oz lime juice
3 oz apple cider vinegar
Slam them all in the blender and puree till thin. Pour mixture into a pot and simmer for 30 minutes, then pull off heat and let cool. Give it a go with an immersion blender until nice and smooth. Then it through a strainer to pull out the big bits. This last step is optional of course, but I like a smooth hot sauce.
NOTE: One thing to note about using cranberries in a hot sauce. Cranberries have a fair amount of natural pectin. It may look thin when its done cooking, but it'll thicken a lot once it cools. No need to add anything extra for thickener.
