Minimal Monday: Caribbean Habanero Hot Sauce

True hot sauce lovers are a brotherhood and sisterhood unto themselves.

They know that just about everything tastes better with a good shot of the stuff.

They wouldn't think of starting the day with a plate of naked eggs

or eating a bowl of chili, a burger, or a taco without shaking it all over the place.

After a while nothing seems to taste quite right without the pleasant burn of a good hot sauce.

In fact most of us like to have a small army of different varieties on call.  If you're like me you get a little twitchy when you go to the fridge and realize that you're all out.

But worry not, hot sauce is one of the easier diy projects.  You can use a variety of types of hot peppers to make a fiery red, brilliant yellow/orange, or deceptively cool looking green sauce.  This particular rendition is wonderfully fruity as well as stirringly hot.  I used two habanero peppers; one with the seeds and pith, and one without, to moderate the heat.  Use all the seeds and add in another pepper if you think you're up to it. :)

Caribbean Habanero Hot Sauce
makes about 2 cups
1/2 lb (a heaping cup) fresh pineapple, cut in chunks
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut in chunks
2 habanero peppers, rough chopped (keep the seeds and pith for most heat, remove for less)
1/2 cup water
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cider vinegar

• Put your pineapple, mango and habaneros in the bowl of a food processor or blender. 
• Process the fruit and peppers until they are completely smooth and pureed.  Scrape down the side of the bowl as necessary.  Be cautious, the fumes will be strong.
• Pour the puree into a saucepan.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring up to a simmer.  Simmer for five minutes.  Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings.  I added more lime juice and a touch more salt.  
• Put the sauce through a mesh strainer, pushing down firmly to get as much of the good sauce through as possible.  
• Let cool and then fill your bottles or jars.  Refrigerate, and eat within the month. 

Notes:  You hot sauce aficionados will have no trouble finding the perfect bottle to recycle for your home brew.  A little set of funnels makes filling it a snap.  I found my set at World Market, but you can buy them online here or here as well. I use the different sized funnels all the time and they are well worth picking up.  If you don't have an empty bottle lying around, just pour your hot sauce into any jar and use a spoon to slather it on. Truth be told, we die hard hot sauce lovers sometimes find the slow drip of commercial bottles to be frustratingly slow!

Oh yeah.