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The Simplest Hot Sauce Recipe (and it`s Awesome!)

My cousin from New Brunswick came to visit us from her new home (Shanghai) and brought along her fabulous Mexican boyfriend and he taught me how to make the most fantastic hot sauce.  I`ve made a few modifications since then and I`ll identify them in the recipe.  We brought this to a party last night and those who like heat demanded instructions so we`ll be back to preserving recipes tomorrow.

My instructor roasted jalapenos in the oven – being summer I took the opportunity to do them on the grill.  I cooked them at a low heat for a long time removing them as they collapsed.  The long, slow heat will bring out the sweetness of the pepper.  Start with as many jalapenos as you`d like.

Ingredients

  • Roasted Jalapenos (lots)
  • Olive Oil (plenty)
  • Salt (more than you`d think)
  • Half a roasted onion (this is a Joel addition and not true to the source)
  • Clove of raw garlic (this is also a Joel addition and not true to the source)

Directions

  1. Toss the onion in a food processor.  Give it a good whirl until it sticks to the sides of the bowl.  Push the onion back off the sides and repeat.  You want to obliterate it – this is not the time for chunks (the following steps will reduce it further so don`t be too picky).
  2. Pull the tops off the peppers and put them in the processor (seeds and all).  I just leave the processor running as I drop each pepper in.
  3. With the blade running, add olive oil.  It will almost emulsify in this process.  For my half-pound of peppers I used about three-quarters of a cup of oil; taste as you go if you like that type of thing.  I love to use an early season bold-tasting olive oil (generally very green).  When you taste the sauce you won`t notice the oil at first but if you place close attention you`ll find you can taste it equally with the peppers.
  4. Add salt.  More than your comfortable with but not enough to make this taste salty.  I probably added a half-teaspoon.
  5. Add the garlic and spin until decimated

The final sauce is thick but full of flavor and packs decent heat without being overbearing.  It`s just simple spicy love.

How to Make your Own Skim Milk Ricotta Cheese (Recipe)

I don’t think I’ll ever become a cheesemaker but I find it fascinating to learn to make things that I otherwise take for granted this it’s important to me that I learn a bit about how to make cheese.  When it comes to ricotta, it’s super easy, limited ‘equipment’ or special ingredients are needed and the results are very quickly achieved.  Ricotta is a fantastic gateway drug into the world of making cheese.

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Homemade Dog Snacks – Pupscicles

I imagine that I`ve either lost my mind or, more than likely, never had it to begin with.  I never thought I`d be the guy making trays of dogs snacks while simultaneously cooing sweet nothings to a little ball of fur.  I`ve always loved dogs and been a softy – but cooing and cooking was a combo that I didn`t expect.

Then Shaeffer (also known as `The Shaef`, `Shaefanator`, `Shaefs`, `HellHound`, `Sweetie`, `Fuzzy`, `Furry` and a different name every other day) chose us to live with, moved in and melted a piece of my heart:

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11 Days of Feastmas – Marinating Cheese

This is a last minute addition to the Holiday feasts – a new friend at work shared a holiday tradition he holds dear with me yesterday and it simply sounded so good that we had to give it a whirl.

  • Get yourself a piece of Stilton cheese
  • Poke holes in it with a skewer.  Do not poke all the way through.
  • Pour port onto the surface until it is absorbed.  Continue to do so until the cheese will take no more (he says he puts up to 2 ounces in a fairly typical piece).  You are not trying to have the cheese swimming in port – you are trying to drown it from the inside.
  • Place in fridge and wait a week. Read more

Food from the depression – Tomato Soup Macaroni (Cheese optional)

My mother told me that she learned this from her mother and that it was food from the Great Depression – I’m not sure it dates that far back but it is certainly in the spirit of affordable comfort food that warms the soul and can be made on a shoestring.  I made it for Dana this week to comfort her as her back is rather sore:

Tomato Soup Macaroni – mm mm good

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