Does anybody have any good recipes for hot pepper vinagerettes or sauces? My wife's uncle hinted HEAVILY that he would be mighty appreciative if we good make him some. And since he's a good ol' bird, I thought it would be mighty nice to make him some.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), September 24, 2000

Answers

Here you go, Eric, straight from the Ball Blue Book.

2 quarts chopped, peeled, cored tomatos-1&1/2 cup chopped, seeded hot red peppers-1 quart vinegar, divided-1 cup sugar-1TBL.salt-2 TBL. mixed pickling spices- Combine tomatos, peppers and 2 cups vinegar, cook 'til tomatos are soft. Press thru a sieve or food mill. Add sugar and salt. Tie spices in spice bag, add to mixture. Cook about 30 minutes or 'til thick. Stir freqently to prevent sticking. Add remaining 2 cups vinegar. Cook 'til as thick as desired. Ladel hot sauce into hot jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace. Process 15 minutes in boiling-water canner. Yields 4 half-pints.

I have made this recipe and it is very good. The amount of hot pepper seeds you leave in determines how hot it will be. A few can still make it really hot. Enjoy!

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), September 25, 2000.

Pack hot peppers in a wide mouth canning jar. Fill jar with vinegar and put lid on. Leave in the sun for 2 weeks. After peppers have "aged" in the vinegar, pour both peppers and vinegar into a blender and blend until somewhat smooth. Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar and a little salt (if you like salt.) Blend again. Store in the frig. Stir or shake when needed. Pour a little on what ever you want spiced up.

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-- Deborah Carmichael (brownswiss99@yahoo.com), October 01, 2000.