This year we grew lots of hot peppers in our garden with the plan of making hot sauce.  We started several different varieties from seed, but unfortunately the long cold wet Maine spring made our baby pepper plants very unhappy.

When the weather finally warmed up, we put the peppers in our garden (supplemented by a few purchased seedlings just in case) and hoped for the best.  For much of the summer it didn’t look like we were going to have any peppers to show for our efforts.  As September has arrived however, we have found an abundance of hot peppers to harvest.

It was Paul who had the vision of making hot sauce, but given my addiction to canning this season, I volunteered to try to create something fiery and delicious.  Since we had both red and green pepper options, I decided to go for a red sauce and a green sauce.  First up was the red sauce featuring cayenne peppers.

Today’s hot sauces were made almost entirely with vegetables grown in our own garden, which was extremely satisfying.  The cayenne sauce contained homegrown peppers, carrots onions, and garlic.

The veggies were simmered until tender and then run through the food mill.  Since I wanted a really smooth sauce, I also buzzed it with the immersion blender.  The resulting sauce was a beautiful silky orange.

Next was the green hot sauce.  I had a variety of peppers to work with:  cayenne, ancho, jalapeno, serrano.

For this sauce, I just decided to throw all the peppers together and hope for yummy results.  This one also featured onions and garlic from our garden.

Like the red sauce, I simmered the veggies until tender, processed with the food mill and blender and come up with a luscious green sauce.

I am pleased to report that both sauces are quite tasty!  The green sauce has a nice fiery bite, and the red sauce has a warm sweetness.  It doesn’t hurt that they are both very pleasing to look at.

We put them to the taste test for supper this evening.  Paul grilled veggies and meat and these sauces were the perfect accompaniment.

For the red sauce recipe, click here.

For the green sauce recipe, click here.