Smoking Carrot Hot sauce
A little bit sweet, a little bit smoky and a whole lotta hot! The Smoking Carrot hot sauce has something for everyone. Adjust the fresh red chilis to the heat preference or your liking. This recipe gets it's smoke for the charring of the carrots and the dried chipotle peppers. Dried peppers impart a deeper flavor than the fresh chilis for added complexity. The lime and vinegar brightens it back up. The only sweetness is naturally provided by the carrots and sundried tomatoes.
I really think you will love this recipe no matter how hot you decide to make it. We use it on everything from hispanic food to indian dishes. Let us know what you like it with!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mixed red chilis
- 1 1/2 Tbsp chipotle chili powder
- 4 large Carrots (12 ounces)
- 10 dried red chilis
- Juice of 2 limes
- 2 1/2 oz sundried tomatoes in oil (1 oz dried with no oil)
- 1 small fresh tomato
- 4 large garlic cloves
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup cider vinegar
- Water to thin
Directions
Cut the ends off the carrots. I do not peel them, I think it makes them dry out more when cooking, but you could. Just make sure your have about 12 ounces when you go to cook them.
For the Grill: I preheat the grill to about 400 to 500 degrees and then place the carrots directly on the grate. I let them char on one side and then turn until all sides have some blackening. Do not worry if the carrots seem to be drying out. The moisture in the recipe will replace it.
For the Oven: Roast at 450 degrees until the carrots are beginning to blacken on the outside. Turn them to get the blackened on both sides. They may begin to dry out some, but that is ok.
Let the carrots cool.
Prepare the rest of the ingredients.
For the chilis just cut off the barest ends of the peppers leaving all the seeds inside. For the Designer Diners preferred hotness, use a heaping 1/2 cup of peppers. I use a blend of the 3 hot peppers we grow at the house.
Add them to your high powered blender
Now you can go and spend $4 a bottle for powdered chipotle pepper. Or you can spend $6 for a bag of dried whole chipotle peppers from your hispanic grocer (or Amazon) and use your high powered blender to pulverize them into a powder. For my $6 bag I can make about 5 spice jars of powder. That's a savings of about $14.
However you get it add your 1 1/2 Tbsp to the blender. Add more to increase the smokiness. Just know you are also increasing the heat!
For the sundried tomatoes I really do not have a preference. For this batch I used tomatoes packed in olive oil. Unfortunately these contained nitrites to retain color. I normally try to avoid those.
Dry packaged sundried tomatoes weigh less, but usually do not contain nitrites. Check your ingredients to make sure.
Add them to the blender along with all the other ingredients.
Blend them starting on low and increase the speed until you are on the highest speed.
There is a good chance that there is not enough liquid to reach the saucy consistency you are looking for. One tablespoon at a time add water to the mix until it blends freely. Continue adding and testing the consistency until you have the thickness you desire.
Adjust the salt level to your preference.
I prefer a smooth sauce so it comes out of my squeeze bottles nicely. But I've also used a chunkier version that I spoon onto my dishes. Do what works for you.
The recipe makes a large batch of hot sauce. The stuff goes quickly at my office black market.
This recipe lasts about 4 months in my fridge, so share what you can't eat in that time period.
I've never frozen it... but let me know if you try it and I'll put the info on my website.
