Some Like it Hot!

Last Sunday we had sunshine, wind, rain and hail. This weekend's ending on warm and dry note. I've got daffodils and my few remaining hyacinths in bloom. The fruit trees are starting to bud and I'm late pruning the grapevine along the fence. Hopefully the late pruning will cut back on the vigor of the grapevine.

After a fairly hard winter by my wussy Portland standards, I'm ready for spring weather. I'm not ready for the spring yard work that's needed. I took a trailer load of yard debris to the recycling yard yesterday. I can't say that the yard looks any better for it. The first load and the next are just getting rid the winter debris and accumulated junk in the yard and garage.

Spring is the season for rebirth and renewal. I've got big plans for the yard this year. The laurel hedge out front is reaching for the sky, the lawn is full of moss and weeds and the old garden plot has been overwhelmed by blackberry vines. I'm afraid that I'll be taking a load a week of yard debris out of this place until the end of September of next year.

After getting the trailer cleaned out I came home and loaded up the back of the Suburban with recycling and boxes for Goodwill from the basement.

This morning after unloading at the recycling center and dropping off boxes at Goodwill, I hit Cash and Carry for some supplies. By the time I got out of there I'd purchased all the ingredients I needed to make a megabatch of Hot Sauce. The habaneros were a bit spotty and when I mentioned it to the guy he gave me a second pound for free.

By the time I got done with all of the things I wanted to get finished before starting on the Hot Sauce it was 2 PM. I should of been taking a nap and I was starting a frigging canning project. What a dumbass!

Picking through and cleaning two pounds of hot peppers took about an hour. You've got to have everything in place and be prepared to ignore the phone and anything else. These peppers are so frigging hot that you don't want to get the smallest amount in you eyes or on your nether regions. Once I got done with the peppers the pressure was off. For once I managed not to get peppers on any tender places.

So now it's quarter to 10 and the last batch of Hot Sauce is in the canner. Twenty Quarts of goodness to share and consume. I'm glad I'd scheduled a vacation day for tomorrow!

This is a recipe for a Caribbean style habenero hot sauce inspired by Portland's own Secret Aardvark Sauce. I'd been a fan of it for a couple of years and I heard a rumor that the guy that makes it was going to stop production. I bought a bottle and read through the ingredients. A couple of batches later I had a reasonable facsimile at a fraction of the cost, at least if you don't count labor! Secret Aardvark is still making sauce locally and so am I!

I've posted the recipe on eGullet, but I'll save you the click.

Sorta Secret Aardvark Sauce

1 – 14.5 oz can of roasted tomatoes chopped - include the juice

1 – 14.5 oz can of rice wine vinegar

1-1/2 cups of peeled and grated carrots (packed into the measuring cup)

1 cup of finely diced white onion

1/4 cup of yellow mustard

1/3 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of Morton’s Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

13 small Habaneros – seeded and membranes removed. (This was 2 oz. of Habs before cutting off the tops and removing the seeds and membranes)

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 cup of water when cooking

5 or 6 cloves of garlic - roasted if you've got it

Put it all in the crockpot on high until everything is tender. About 3 hours

Whirl in food processor – Don’t puree until smooth – make it lightly/finely chunky.

Makes 3 pints - To can; process pint jars in a water bath canner for 15 minutes