Hot Hot Sauce

Hot hot sauce

We really like spicy food in my house. But I don't like hot and spicy just for the heat/pain, there is no fun in that. I need flavor, lots of flavor, and then the heat comes second. This sauce is flavor packed, with a good amount of heat. 

Mix the hot sauce with your ketchup, and you have a great "homemade" condiment for your next backyard BBQ.

Aiming for a very hot, hot sauce like the Google hot sauce by chef Charlie Ayers, the former executive chef for Google. This is what I came up with, using ingredients I had in the kitchen, giving the Google hot sauce a twist.

Makes little under 1 cup.

Ingredients:

• 3 habanero chillies

• 1 jalapeño

• ½ carrot, diced

• ¼ onion, chopped

• ¼ teaspoon ginger, minced

• ½ tablespoon raw sugar

• ½ teaspoon chipotle chili

• 1 teaspoon tomato pure

• 1 teaspoon agave nectar

• ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce

• ¾ teaspoon Thai fish sauce

• ½ lime, the juice

• water to almost cover

Directions:

Bring it all to a boil in a saucepan. Let it simmer, lid on, for 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Puree the sauce in a blender, and pass through a strainer. Store the sauce in a clean sealed jar in the refrigerator, it will keep 3-5 days like that.

Enjoy!

Warnings:

Use gloves, while chopping the chilies. 

Do not inhale the steam from the sauce, it works kinda like pepper spray.

Do not get sauce in your eyes. 

Be careful when working with hot liquids in a blender.  If you need a new blender, consider a Vitamix. They are expensive, but they are worth all the money. They can liquefy almost anything and makes soup and margaritas so smooth and creamy. But the best part, you can blend hot liquids without having to clean the soup off all your kitchen cabinets afterwards. Just saying. ;) 

Red Onions in Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

Red Onions in Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

These red onions cooked in balsamic can be used as a condiment with all kinds of meat, roasted vegetables or in sandwiches. But will also be perfect for at cheese platter.

Ingredients:

• 3 red onions, peeled
• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey
• 4 tablespoons red balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons flavored balsamic vinegar, I used Dark Espresso balsamic
• 1 sprinkle of salt

Directions:

Cut the peeled onions in 8, and add them to a heavy pan with the rest of the ingredients. Bring it all to a simmer, and let it cook for about 30-40 minutes, until the onions are soft and the balsamic has the consistency of a thick syrup.

Apricot/Habanero Ketchup

Apricot/Habanero Ketchup

We have all had tomato ketchup, but I wanted to try using apricots, since I have so many on my tree. Honestly this ketchup could be a family favorite. I might have to cook another batch before the apricots are gone for the year. If you're not into spicy food, just leave out the habanero and add some more black pepper and maybe even some star anise. 

Ingredients:

• 2 kg fresh apricots, washed, pitted and cut in half
• 500 g sugar
• 4½ dl apple cider vinegar
• 2-3 habanero chilies, without seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 whole nutmeg
• 8 whole cloves
• 10 black pepper corns
• ½ teaspoon yellow mustard seeeds

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a large pot, and bring it to a boil. Boil while stirring until the apricot is soft and mushy. Turn the heat down, and let the ketchup simmer until reduced to the desired consistency. This will take quit some time. Remember to stir regularly.

Blend the ketchup in a blender and run it through a sieve. Before adding it to scolded glass bottles. If you're not using this ketchup right away, you need to process the bottles for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. See National Center for Home Food Preservation for additional information on safe food preservation.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Abrikos-Habanero Ketchup

Ingredienser:

• 2 kg friske abrikoser, vaskede, udstenede og skåret i halve
• 500 g sukker
• 4½ dl æblecidereddike
• 2 habanero chilier, uden kerner
• 1 stang kanel
• 1 hel muskatnød
• 8 hele nelliker
• 10 sort peberkorn
• ½ tsk gule sennepsfrø

Directions:

Kom alle ingredienserne i en stor gryde og kog det op indtil abrkoserne er møre og bløde. skru ned for varmen. Kog videre indtil du får den ønskede ketchup konsistens. Det tager noget tid. Rør tit i gryden, så ketchuppen ikke brænder på.

Blend hele blandingen, og si den igennem en sigte, inden du kommer ketchuppen på skoldede flasker. Hvis du ikke skal bruge al ketchuppen med det samme, så skal du henkoge den i ovnen til den er steril. Se National Center for Home Food Preservation for mere information om fødevaresikkerhed ved syltning.

Velbekomme!

Remoulade

Remoulade

Remoulade is a danish condiment used on hotdogs, open-faced sandwiches, for fried fish and as a dipping sauce for french fries. They also have remoulade in France, but it's not the same semi-sweet sauce.

It is near impossible to find a substitute for remoulade, so most danes import remoulade whenever they visit Denmark.

Here is my take on a homemade Remoulade:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup creme fraiche or sour cream
• 3 tablespoons piccalilly
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon chives, finly chopped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoon sugar
• white pepper
• a pinch turmeric (optional)

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients, and put the remoulade in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Season the remoulade with salt, sugar and white pepper.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Remoulade

Ingredienser:

• 1 dl creme fraiche 18%
• 3 spsk piccalilly
• 1 spsk mayonnaise
• 1 spsk fintklippet purløg
• ¼ tsk groft salt
• 1-2 tsk sukker
• friskkværnet hvidpeber
• evt. lidt gurkemeje, for farven, 

Fremgangsmåde:

Rør alle ingredienserne sammen. Stil remouladen tildækket i køleskabet i mindst 30 minutter. Smag remuladen til med salt, sukker og peber.

Velbekomme!