We’ve been going hot sauce mad recently here at the chilliking. This scotch bonnet sauce recipe is incredibly simple (pretty much just chillies and vinegar) and really lets the heat and incredible flavour of the scotch bonnets speak for themselves. The sauce would work equally well with habaneros instead of scotch bonnets.
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Be careful when chopping/handling this many scotch bonnets. Ideally wear latex gloves when chopping the peppers or if not be very careful to not scratch your eyes (or anything else) and wash your hands thoroughly after making the sauce.
Scotch Bonnet Sauce Ingredients
20 scotch bonnets (100g when chopped)
100ml of red wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
100ml water
Method
Roughly chop the scotch bonnets, removing the stalks and any excess seed membrane (i leave most of the seeds in). Add the scotch bonnets to a food processor and blitz for a few seconds until they are finely chopped. Next add the chopped scotch bonnets to a small pan along with the vinegar and salt and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the peppers have softened.
The mixture should reduce down a bit. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn or dry out too much. When it starts to look like it might dry out, add the water and sugar then stir and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes. Rmove from the heat and allow to cool.
Meanwhile take your glass bottle/s and sterilize by either boiling in water or heating in the oven for 5 minutes.
Once cooled and your bottles are almost ready add the sauce back into your food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the sauce to your sterilized jars, seal and allow to cool.
Once opened store the sauce in the refrigerator. The sauce should keep for several months unopened and at least 12 weeks once opened and refrigerator.
Note: The above recipe made one bottle of sauce. However as you can see from the photo i was forced to give half of it away and the remaining half has not lasted long despite being blistering hot!
This great hot sauce recipe as sent in by Jim Kerr as part of our chilli recipe competition. Cayenne peppers are one of the easiest varieties of chilli to grow here in the UK and many of our readers email to ask for good cayenne recipe ideas.
I actually tried this sauce at the weekend and can confirm it is a great way to use up some of your Cayennes. The addition of the plums is quite unusual and adds a subtle sweetness to the sauce which compliments the heat well.
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Cayenne Pepper Sauce Recipe Ingredients
15 x Cayenne chillies
1 x Red Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
Large glug of Olive Oil
3 x Ripe Victoria Plums
90ml Malt Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of Honey
Seasoning to Taste
Method
Finely chops the onion and gently fry in the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the finely chopped garlic and fry 
until brown. Next peel and finely chop the plums before adding to the pan along with the chillies. Simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes, adding the water as required to prevent the mixture drying out.
Next add the vinegar and honey and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes. Then allow the sauce to cool.
Once cooled liquidize the sauce in a food processor.
Meanwhile boil in water or bake in the oven your bottle/s for 5 minutes to sterilize.
Once bottles be sure to handle with care & label up as ‘Fiery Sauce’ to avoid accidents & enjoy!
Earlier in the year (back in June i think) i had a bit of a slow start to the growing season as we moved house back in the late spring. As a result i hedged my bets slightly and bought a scotch bonnet plant from B&Q as an insurance policy to my home grown orange habaneros.
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I’m usually a bit suspicious about chilli plants bought from non specialist shops as they tend to be grown under artificial lights and usually struggle once you get them home to more natural conditions.
I’m pleased to report that this scotch bonnet has been incredibly productive. I’ve not looked after the plant that well (let it dry out a few times) but it’s been resilient and always come back to life. It’s been fruiting heavily now for a few months and is still flowering and trying to produce more fruit despite the cooler weather that has set in.
I’ll definitely be over wintering this plant so i can benefit from more of the same next year!
It seems like any hope of an autumn warm spell has all but faded away and the cold weather looks to be here to stay. As a result i’m currently focusing on harvesting as many chillies from my plants as possible. Mainly due to lack of time i’ve mainly been freezing most of my excess crop this year. I’ll soon start thinking about which plants to over winter…..
