Emeril's Homemade Pepper Sauce

alligirl's Note:

Taken from Emeril Lagasse's book - "Every Day's a Party"; posted for ZWT 5. Taken from the recipe intro - "The oils in the flesh and seeds of the peppers are quite volatile. You should wear rubber gloves when handling them, being careful not to touch your face or eyes while working with the peppers." **Refrigeration / 'aging' time is NOT included in prep or cooking time.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 16

Yield: 16.0 1 oz. s ...

• 6 large red anaheim chilies (about 12 ounces)
• 4 serrano peppers (about 1/2 ounce)
• 2 ¼ cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon salt

Directions:

1. Remove the stems from the peppers, cut them lengthwise in half, and remove the seeds.
2. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
3. Put the peppers, vinegar, water, and salt in a medium-size nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep until completely cool.
5. Pour the mixture into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
6. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, pour into sterilized bottles, and secure with airtight lids.
7. Refrigerate and let age for at least 2 weeks before using.
8. **Note - The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Reviews

[**Tinkerbell**]

This recipe requires a longer time to age than the parameters of this event, but I really wanted to make it so I will review now & update in 2+ weeks when it's ready. My grocery store did not have ripened anaheim chilies (red) so I used the green anaheim chilies instead. I also cut the recipe in half as it's just 3 of us & depending on how hot it is, it may be just me eating it. lol It's currently in a jar in the refrigerator but was super easy to make (I never would have thought it was!) & the house smelled amazing. The entire place smelled like peppers while the mixture was cooling on the stove. I taste-tested the sauce after straining last night & it's not as fiery hot as I'd expected, the vinegar & salt are quite pronounced. I suspect that after aging these flavors will balanace out & probably swap places in intensity. I expect it to get hotter & less salty & vinegary. I'm really excited to try it. :) Thanks for posting, alli! Made for ZWT5 - Ali Baba's Babes. UPDATE: OMG! My expectations for this recipe were right on. It's been 2 weeks & 2 days in the fridge & the flavor is spicy hot without the salt/vinegar flavors that were so prominent when first made. The surprising (& maybe strange) thing is that if I were blindfolded & asked what kind of pepper was in this recipe I would tell you without a doubt that it's jalapeno. But there is no jalapeno in the recipe at all. When I taste-tested this (with just a finger) two days ago, I knew that it was going to be way too hot for my boys to eat. So I had to wait til today when DS was out all day with friends & DH was planning on making (gag) frozen pizza for lunch. lol So today I enjoyed a ham & cheese-filled tortilla with sour cream and raspberry/chipotle salsa on the side. As my toddler would say (a la Barney), "Super-dee-duper!" I can't wait to try this with the red peppers too. DH even looked for them at the store for me. We'll find them sometime & I'll make this again. :) Thanks again for posting, Alli!

[Deantini]

Nov 15 - I am preparing this for the Holiday tag game and this is part 1 of my review. I could not for the life of me find any serrano or anaheim chilies in the stores around here - very odd. Anyway - I used Thai chilies for the serrano chili and some milder chilies that I can't recall the name for for the anaheim chilies. The sauce is now placed in the fridge and I will report back in 2 weeks. UPDATE Dec 6 - I have now learned that you probably cannot sub the types of chilies, my sauce is still quite vinegary and looks cloudy. I strained it another time today and will keep it around and report back if it improves. But for now - sorry - just a commentary

[Andi of Longmeadow Farm]

This is an amazing sauce that, I never figured would be so easy, so tasty, and an excellent addition to any food. (I like hot sauce on Mac & Cheese!) The previous reviewer was right on and added even more insight on this glorious sauce. I was able to obtain red = ish deep color from the Anaheim peppers. Can hardly wait until another week is up so I can pour this on top of *Everything* ~ I followed this exactly. Will report back in one week. Made for *Everyday is a Holiday* June 2009