When the gardens give peppers, I make hot sauce. Watch out, this one is H-O-T. But then again, the heat of your hot sauce all depends on the heat of your peppers.

Note: The optional fruit adds a nice natural sweetness and cuts the heat tremendously, but the addition of the raw unprocessed fruit will make your sauce slightly more perishable. With fruit, sauce will last in the fridge for about 2-3 weeks. Without fruit, the sauce will stay well in the fridge for about 2 months.

What You Need:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil

• 2 medium onions, small dice

• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 4 medium carrots, small dice

• 2 cups water, plus more if needed

• 20 habañero chili peppers, stems removed, remove seeds for a more mild sauce or retain seeds for most intense heat

• ¼ cup lime juice

• 2 tablespoons orange juice 

• 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons sea salt, divided 

• 2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped or 2 cups chopped pineapple pieces, optional

What You Do:

1. Heat canola oil in a medium pot. Add onion and a pinch of salt, and sauté on medium heat until soft. Do not brown. 

2. Add garlic and carrots and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add water and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and, into the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the carrot, onion and garlic mixture with chili peppers, lime juice, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and fruit, if using. Blend on high speed until liquified and smooth. 

4. Taste and add salt if needed. If the mixture is too thick, add water. Blend again and repeat until you reach desired consistency and seasoning. If it is too hot, add more vinegar or mango. If it is not hot enough, wait a day or two, then add more habañero peppers.

5. Put into jars to store in the fridge for up to 2 months. Put into plastic freezer storage bags to store in the freezer for up to one year.