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Hot Sauce

Recipe adapted from Jose Enrique, Jose Enrique, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Yield: 1 quart

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 large onion, peeled and cut into 8 pieces

1 large tomato, cored and cut into 8 pieces

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 Cubanelle pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 2-inch pieces (Anaheim or another sweet pepper can be substituted)

5 habanero peppers, stemmed

9 Serrano peppers, stemmed

7 garlic cloves, peeled

About 5 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Directions

1. Put the onion, tomato, peppers and garlic cloves in a large braising pan. Add enough olive oil to just cover the vegetables and set over low heat. Cook uncovered for 4 hours.

2. Strain the vegetables from the oil, reserving the oil. Place the vegetables in a blender with about ½ to 1 cup of the reserved olive oil. (You can adjust the heat by reserving a few habanero or Serrano peppers and blending them in as needed to taste.) Blend, season to taste with salt, and add more reserved olive oil as needed until it reaches a hot sauce consistency. (The remaining olive oil from the pan can be used as a sauce for other dishes.) Season to taste with salt.

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