Sunday, September 26, 2010

100+

It's over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit outside today, and I can't even think about writing. Isn't there a theory out there that eating spicy-hot foods actually cools you down? Or, is the heat just making me lose my mind?

Whatever. I can't think well. It's hot. My chiles are ripe and hot. I like hot food and want to eat it all year long, so I made myself this:


Yup, "rooster" sauce, or super-spicy-chile-garlic-sauce. And it's easy. And even though it will heat up your food, it won't heat up your kitchen. And finally, it is the base for another recipe that will soon appear on this here little blog o' mine.


Southeast Asian Chile-Garlic Relish
This comes straight out of Linda Ziedrich's amazing book The Joy of Pickling. It's a quick, easy recipe, and it is infinitely usable. It tastes fantastic in dry-fried green beans and stirred into breakfast eggs. It's hot and tangy and garlicky-delicious. I just made my first quart yesterday so I haven't had experience with how well it ages, but due to the high acidity and salt, Ziedrich writes that it "will keep well for as long as a year" in the refrigerator. To make mine, I used ripe chiles from my two plants of Chile Rallado, an heirloom Mexican jalapeño-type chile.

You will need:
1 1/2 pounds ripe hot peppers, stemmed and cut into rough chunks
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
Peeled cloves of 1 small head garlic

To make the sauce:
Pulse the ingredients together in a food processor until minced but not pureed (the seeds should stay whole). Store in a covered jar in the refrigerator or in airtight containers in the freezer.

That's it.

Seriously.

It's hot.

9 comments:

Robert Brenchley said...

Thanks. We use masses of chili sauce, and I've often thought it would be good to try making my own.

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

olé

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

In this case, simple is best.

Amy said...

It is hot. It's offensive.

I love Rooster sauce and never even thought about making it. This recipe is so easy though, I have to try.

GS said...

Thanks. Just made a small batch with the very last of our chilies.

ann said...

After months of insane hotness and intense dryness, it's finally raining here, but it's too late for the garden, so I think I'll have to keep buy Rooster sauce until next year. Always next year!

Christina said...

Robert: I hope this works well for you.

HP(I): You're just all over the place in your many incarnations, now aren't you? Yes, simple is best here. Olé back at you.

Amy: What's to lose? A few bucks on chiles and garlic at the farmers' market. If you don't like it, it isn't a big loss. However, the gain is great: locally sourced Rooster sauce, and lots of it.

AOF: And, what do you think? I hope you enjoy using it.

Ann: You can still make it; try some with chiles from a greenmarket. Ah, rain. I wish we had rain, but alas, not until November . . ..

Terry at Blue Kitchen said...

I've been reading about the awful heat in Southern California, Christina. I hope it cools down soon for you. In the meantime, your hot sauce sounds wonderful. We go through vats of Sriracha--we should try making this.

Unknown said...

Love chili sauce! No tomatoes, eh?