Hot Mango Flush Hot Sauce

     I've been on quite a hot sauce kick this summer. Mostly this is due to the fact that making hot sauce is the most efficient way to use up lots of garden produce in one shot. This time I decided I was going to make my own hot sauce from scratch. I know that mango is a solid accompaniment to most hot peppers, so I used jalapenos and mangoes as the base. From there I just sort of went bat-shit crazy and started adding stuff. What I ended up with elicited tremendous positive response from the The Wife and our friend Dan. This sauce starts with a straight shot of jalapeno then opens up into a finish of fruit and a bite from the rum. We put the naming rights up for a vote on my Facebook page and the hands down winner came from The Wife. She knows that my favorite band is Jethro Tull. Most of the band members are huge pepper heads and really enjoy spicy foods. They make mention of hot foods more than once in their music. She suggested naming the sauce after one of their songs: "Hot Mango Flush." I know a winner when I hear one!
As always, any notes are in blue.

Hot Mango Flush

Ingredients

• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and cubed
• 12 jalapenos stemmed and seeded (or leave the seeds in if you want more heat)
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup gold rum
• 1 teaspoon Ukrainian Village Seasoning from The Spice House (this seasoning is a blend of salt, garlic, onion, pepper, green onion, and red and green peppers)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large, non-reactive pan. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for about 10-12 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft. 
2. Load everything into a blender and pulse until smooth.

   

   Looks like a sneeze gone wrong. I assure you it does not taste that way.

3. If you are using right away, just put in a container and refrigerate. If you plan on long term storage, this will yield a little over one pint of sauce. Load into two half pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (As always, if you're not familiar with canning, refer to the National Center for Home Food Preparation to learn how not to accidentally poison your entire family)

Good Times!

                                  

Caribbean-Style Pork, Zucchini and Apples

     I was a bit surprised at how positive the response was to this when I posted it to my Facebook page. This recipe came about simply because we were looking for a quick and easy way to burn through some more zucchini. I found the original in Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine. The recipe was simple, but seemed like it would be lacking in the taste department. It struck me that the sweetness of the apples would play well with the She Simmers sauce I posted recently. I got a little aggressive with the sauce and used 3 tablespoons of it in the recipe. It was right on the edge of too hot for the wife, but she powered through it. The play of the spices in the sauce with the sweetness of the apples is great. The zucchini basically just sits in there and soaks up flavor. This would do well over a bed of rice or with some crusty bread. I imagine a nice bottle of Red Stripe beer would work well, too! As always, the original recipe is posted in its entirety with any changes or notes in blue.

Caribbean-Style Pork, Zucchini and Apples
formerly Pork Sauteed with Zucchini
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced (I cut those pieces in half again. I like smaller pieces of zucchini)
• 2 celery stalks, sliced 
• 2 apples, cored, peeled and sliced in wedges (the recipe doesn't specifically mention the type of apple, but I think sweeter is better for what we're doing here)
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 8 pork cutlets, trimmed of fat and cut in strips (we used 5 boneless chops; about 1.5 pounds. Sliced pork loin would work and a pack of pork tenderloins would be good, too)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• salt, pepper, paprika
• 2-3 tablespoons She Simmers or other Carribean-style hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

1. Heat half of oil in frying pan over high heat. Add vegetables, apples and garlic; season well (nothing like a vague recipe instruction. "Season well?" Do they mean don't make a mess? I don't cook that way, so I assumed they meant use a heavy hand. I don't do that with salt, so I used maybe 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper and 1/2 teaspoon paprika) Cook 3 minutes.

   

   One of these days I'll remember to not overfill the pan.

2. Turn vegetables over and continue cooking 3 minutes over medium heat. Remove vegetables and apples from pan and set aside.
3. Heat remaining oil in pan over medium heat. Add meat and cook 2 minutes on each side (I may have gone a little longer since I like a bit of a sear on my meat). Season with salt and pepper (I didn't put any salt in with the meat, but I did add a little more cracked pepper and another 1/2 teaspoon paprika.)
4. Return vegetables and apples to pan with pork. Add parsley, season lightly with paprika (here's where I changed things up. I left out this last bit of paprika and dropped in 3 tablespoons of the hot sauce. You may want to use less if you are feeble. Also, this recipe produces a fair amount of water from the apples and veggies. I made a corn starch slurry and mixed it in at the end. It thickened the water into a nice sauce). Cook 2 minutes to reheat, serve.
5. Accompany with boiled new potatoes (I did no such thing) 

No new potatoes were available, but I did have a couple old ones I baked!
Good Times!