The Petits Chefs worked with Rossy Earle this week to create one of everyone’s favourite condiments – hot sauce! Rossy’s the queen of hot sauce (her Diabo’s Fuego sauce is used in many restaurants around Toronto) so I was really happy when she said it was “do-able” in an hour! I know many of the boys are fans of hot sauce and there’s such a huge variety available these days but to learn how to make your own is pretty special – and handy! Looking at how much sauce we made (sauce for days years!!) and how relatively few ingredients we used, it’s also a great lesson in budgeting. About an hour in the kitchen produced enough hot sauce to enjoy for ages (and maybe give some away – makes great gifts!).
We started out with some HOT peppers. And gloves…
These peppers had come from Rossy’s freezer so the spiciness factor was slightly muted but we were not taking any chances. We’ve had to use the eye bath more than once in the science lab because Petits Chefs have touched their eyes after chopping (less hot than these) peppers!.
To the boys’ surprise, hot sauce is not just hot peppers. We also used some bell peppers…
Some carrots…
And, intriguingly for many boys, some mango… As soon as they heard that this sauce would include mango, a few of them remembered that they have tasted “sweet and spicy” sauce before so it seemed a little less odd! I think many people have hot idea that hot sauce is just a bunch of hot peppers with not much else and , indeed, there are a lot of hot sauces that taste just like that. Rossy explained that this sauce would initially be hot but the heat would fade away, revealing actual flavour, not burn-your-tastebuds heat!
Our sauce included some onions…
Some green onions…
A touch of lemon juice…
And, once we’d puréed the majority of the ingredients (there was some garlic and ginger in there too), we cooked them off for about 10-15 minutes, then added the fresh herbs (the green onions, parsley and cilantro)…
Along with some vinegar and mustard… (who knew?)
Cooked it a little bit more then blitzed with an immersion blender.
What could be more simple? We poured the mixture into tiny squeeze bottles with a jug and a funnel (a bit of a messy job, make sure to leave your gloves on for this too!)…
Et voilà!
The boys felt that this would be an excellent alternative to bake sales for fundraising (I think they have something there!) because 1. It’s so easy to make and 2. It’s extremely cost-effective to make a huge batch. Also: DELICIOUS! I marinaded some chicken in the sauce later that night for dinner and it was delicious. Not too hot at all (in fact, I added some more to the finished dish which is unlike me!) and so very flavourful. I’ll be making this again!
Thanks Rossy for showing the boys that even condiments are easy to make at home – and better than store bought! We so appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to work with us.
Read about Rossy’s previous sessions with the Petits Chefs:
Rossy Earle makes empanadas and dulce de leche candies with Les Petits Chefs
Rossy Earle makes alfajores with Les Petits Chefs
Rossy Earle makes “temptation plantain” with Les Petits Chefs
Rossy Earle makes corn and coconut bollos with Les Petits Chefs
Rossy Earle makes pastel de yuca with Les Petits Chefs
Follow Rossy on Twitter.
I agree – there is a lot to be said for a really good hot sauce. And, not being cuisine-able myself, I was surprised at how easy this is to make. Nice work LPCs
No, I mean this is REALLY easy!