Recipe: Hot Sauce

I should just start calling these recipes non-recipes and be done with it.  GOOD magazine put out a call a few months ago about redesigning recipes and there were some brilliant ideas about how to change the standard recipe so that it better reflected how to cook.  I could steal a few of those approaches but in the meantime...

I guess I will start by what I did and then put down a receipt that more or less follows what I did.  I took just over a handful of mixed hot peppers including habaneros and thai chiles, put them in a small pot.  I took off the stems but if you wish you can chop them and take out the seeds and other related membranes.  Added a bit of salt and some sugar.  The sugar isn't necessary -- sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't.  Put enough vinegar (cider in this case but any can be used) to boil them in.  Boil the chiles long enough for the rawness to come out of them.  You will know when some of them become too plump or wrinkled.  Take them and mash em up.  That is all.

Mistakes
Too thick: Add vinegar.
Too thin:  Mix in other stuff like pickled peppers (hot or red), pickled carrots or fruit.  Any raw additives may reduce the shelf life depending on the acidity.  You are just making a quick pickle.
Too salty: Not much you can do but use it as both a salt replacement and a hot sauce.
Too hot:  See the too thin piece.

85g peppers
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pickling spice
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar

1. Remove stems from peppers.  Remove seeds and veins for a milder version.
2. Add all ingredients to a small pot over a medium high heat.
3. Simmer until peppers become plump and some may wrinkle (10-15 minutes)
4. Let cool slightly and then whir in blender until desired consistency is achieved.