This is more of a method than a recipe. I have made hot pepper vinegar, or pepper sauce, so many ways and with so many types of hot peppers. We always had this growing up. We made at least a dozen jars in the summer, and if we happened to run out before the next summer’s pepper crop, we would just add more hot vinegar to an old bottle of peppers to reuse them. The recipe couldn’t be simpler, it’s just hot peppers and white vinegar. Really, it’s too easy. I recently started adding garlic and/or peppercorns for extra flavor. In this jar pictured, I just used the 3 free jalapenos my local meat market gave me with my collard green purchase and a couple cloves of garlic. When I was a kid, we had a very large garden and always tried a few new varieties of peppers every year. We combined different colors and shapes of peppers to create pretty bottled creations that were packed with heat and flavor. We poured the yummy hot pepper sauce on peas, southern peas of course, and any kind of greens.
I still can’t eat greens without hot vinegar. It is a pantry staple in our home I can’t go without it. In the photo, I used one of my old jars I got at a yard sale. I have a few of those, but most of my pepper sauce is in old Patron bottles. Their bottles are beautifully hand blown and already have rustic wood corks I reuse.
Another variation I have had of this is the pickled carrots and jalapenos at Mexican restaurants. When doing this, you have to add a little pickling salt though. It is very, very good, although I haven’t done it at home yet.
Yield: Serves 4
Hot peppers, any variety, I used chopped Jalapenos in the photo
Garlic (optional)
White Vinegar
a few peppercorns (optional)
Clean the jars you are going to be using in the dishwasher or boiling water. Bring vinegar to a boil. Wash peppers and either chop then to fit in your jar like I have done, or put a little slit in them so that the vinegar penetrates them. Trim top stems too.
Add peppers, garlic and peppercorns to a decorative bottle or jar. Pour boiling vinegar over peppers. Make sure peppers are completely covered with vinegar.
Leave a little head-space, airspace in between the peppers and vinegar and the lid, and close the lid. Let it sit for a few weeks and enjoy. I always store them in the pantry, if it make you feel better, store in the fridge.
