Garlic Choco Primotalli

Fermented Ingredients (70 days):
• Chocolate Primotalli 81g
• Yellow Onions 71g
• Garlic 50g
• Brine 3/4 Cups

Fresh Ingredients:
• Sweet Onions 260g
• Garlic 151g
• Red Bell Peppers 191g
• Limes 1 Juiced
• White Vinegar 1.25 Cups
• Water 1/2 Cups
• Brown Sugar 1/4 Cups
• Salt 1 tsp
• Xanthan Gum 1/4 tsp

Saute the fresh onions and bell peppers until they start to char and lose color. Remove and add the fresh garlic, cooking until that browns. Blend everything except the xanthan gum on high for five minutes, then simmer on low for 20 minutes skimming solids off the top. Let cool and reblend with the xanthan gum on low for sixty seconds. Bottle, refrigerate.

Notes:
• First time using chocolate primos, pretty excited
• I wasn't sure what to do with this sauce when conceptualizing it. I didn't think any fruits would play with the earthiness of a chocolate pepper so I just fell back on garlic
• That said, I still added some brown sugar for balance
• I wanted more garlic in this, but two of the heads I bought were compromised and I didn't feel like driving back to the store. I think the 151g of fresh stuff was 3 heads totaled
• Garlic is still very noticeable but the peppers still take center stage
• Very spicy. I've heard people say they think the choco primo is the hottest pepper out there but I disagree. For sure it's up there on my personal scale, but for my money I still have reapers as the hottest I've worked with pretty consistently from different growers. Noticeably hotter than regular red primos though
• Flavor is very floral and earthy. I don't know what else I really expected. Not my favorite but still really good
• Color is a bit brighter than I thought it'd be. I used a red bell on purpose to try and keep the dark color of the peppers but it's still closer to a red than a brown
• Glad I was able to try this finally. I'd throw in more garlic next time and reconsider adding any sugar, but this was a good sauce to get to know the variant

Mango Peach Reaper

Fermented Ingredients (65 days):
• Carolina Reapers 155g
• Yellow Onions 125g
• Garlic 80g
• Brine 1.25 Cups

Fresh Ingredients:
• Yellow Onions 284g
• Shallots 58g
• Red Bell Peppers 146g
• Garlic 42g
• Peaches 96g
• Mangoes 166g
• Limes 1 Juiced
• White Vinegar 1 Cups
• Apple Cider Vinegar 1/2 Cups
• Water 1/2 Cups
• Salt 1 tsp
• Brown Sugar 1/3 Cups
• Xanthan Gum 1/4 tsp

Saute the fresh onions, shallots, and bell pepper until they lose color and start to char, then add the fresh garlic and cook until that browns also. Meanwhile, pit and peal your peaches and mangoes. Combine everything except the xanthan gum in a blender and blend on high for 5 minutes, then simmer on low for 20 minutes, skimming solids off the top. Reblend with the xanthan gum on low for sixty seconds, bottle and refrigerate. 

Notes:
• Commission for a local taco truck, pretty big yield, maybe 50oz
• Up front this was just supposed to be a peach reaper sauce. I bought them when they were pretty firm and waited a few days for them to soften up. I got side tracked with work and by the time I got to them they were starting to spoil, one or two of the five started to mold and bleed a bit
• What's nuts is even at this point the ones that weren't thrown out were pretty bland. Not a lot of sugar or flavor. I had some mangoes on hand threw them in
• Result is pretty solid. Mangoes definitely steal the show but the peaches cut the flavor a bit
• It's pretty sweet. Not over the top but I wouldn't want any more sugar in this
• Good heat. Good color, good aroma
• That bottle on the left is a little under filled and it's bothering me so much more than it should
• I still want to do a straight peach reaper someday. Definitely need to sample the peaches before going through with it. I know they're out of season in April and was surprised to see them at all. I don't remember where I got them, either Raleys or Winco. But definitely do a better job sourcing next time. Maybe a farmers market
• That said I'm still happy with this and have a lot of positive feed back

El Pato Green #1

• El Pato Green sauce 15.5 oz
• White Onions 94g
• Garlic 8g
• Lime 1/2 Juiced
• Cilantro 5g
• Salt 1/2 tsp
• Cumin 1/8 tsp

Mince the garlic and cilantro, finely dice the onion. Mix everything with a spoon

Notes:
• Hopping on the reddit el pato wagon
• Super small test batch designed to the scaled up
• Green can already has jalapenos in it so I didn't add any peppers
• Not very spicy at all compared to the yellow can
• Good call on the cumin amount, I thought I used way too much until I fully mixed it together
• I didn't want to use a blender so I could keep the color. I really took my time cutting everything up and it still seemed a bit too chunky. When up scaling I'd rather just blend the garlic, onion, and cilantro with a small amount of sauce
• Also used a bit too much garlic and onion. It over powered everything else just a bit too much
• The el pato hype is pretty real. I love the color and always wondered how to make actual restaurant style salsa. Key is canned sauce instead of always blending store bought roma tomatoes. It's insane I tried so hard trying to replicate that when the answer was so obvious. I always assumed fresher stuff would taste better, but guess that's not always the case!
• Looking forward to tweaking this recipe. Green el pato isn't bad but I prefer the yellow

 

White Onion Verde Salsa

• Tomatillos 537g
• Jalapenos 154 g
• Garlic 31g
• White Onions 206g
• Cilantro 14g
• Limes 1.5 Juiced
• Water 1 Cups
• Salt 1 tbsp

Boil the tomatillos until they turn dark green, reserving a cup of the water. Meanwhile, saute the jalapenos and garlic in olive oil until the skins blister and the garlic browns. Blend on medium for twenty seconds. Refrigerate

Notes:
• Four large jalapenos and ten medium tomatillos
• 3/4s of a large white onion which normally cook but this went in raw
• I love this salsa!
• Really nailed the ratios of everything, heavy on the onion, garlic, and salt which is what I was aiming for. Much more aggressive flavor compared to the yellow onions 
• Vibrant green which is something I've been missing when sauteing the onions I normally use
• Reminds me of when I first stared making fresh salsa and would just wing my recipes
• Next time maybe up the heat with some serranos, maybe a white ghost or two

7 Pot Pineapple

Fermented Ingredients (39 days):
• 7 Pot Bubblegum 115g
• Yellow Onions 110g
• Garlic 40g
• Brine 3/4 Cups

Fresh Ingredients:
• Shallots 204g
• Yellow Bell Peppers 126g
• Garlic 76g
• Pineapple 260g
• Lime 1 Juiced
• White Vinegar 1.5 Cups
• Water 1/2 Cups
• Salt 1 tsp
• Brown Sugar 2 tbs
• Xanthan Gum 1/4 tsp

Saute the shallots and bell peppers until they lose color, adding the garlic and cooking until that browns. Remove and caramelize the pineapple. Add everything to the blender except the xanthan, blend on high for five minutes. Simmer on low for twenty minutes, skimming solids off the top. Let cool, reblend with the xanthan gum on low for sixty seconds. Bottle, refrigerate.

Notes:
• Good color, dark orange close to red
• Sweet and roasty aroma as expected
• Pretty hot! I wasn't sure how the bubblegum 7 pots would stack up compared to the brainstrain but these are definitely hotter. I thought this would be more moderate but this is up there towards the higher end of that spectrum
• I gave some to the guy at my new taco truck and he said it fucked him up
• These aren't as fruity as reapers or the brainstrain. A bit more earthy for sure
• Sugar and fruits come through on the back end
• Still a bit watery despite how much xantham I used but that's fine
• Lots of garlic, I remember using a head which must have been pretty big  
• Pretty solid recipe, not a lot of changes I'd make here

White Ghost Lime Verde Salsa

Fresh Ingredients:
• Tomatillos 835g (11 medium)
• Sweet Onions 284g (One medium)
• Jalapenos 174g (4 large)
• White Ghost Peppers 54g (8 medium)
• Garlic 58g (One head)
• Cilantro 24g (1/2 bunch)
• Limes 1.5 Juiced
• Water 1 Cups
• Salt 1 tbs

Peel and wash the tomatillos, then boil until they lose their color and become dark green. Reserve one cup of the water. Meanwhile, slice up and saute the onion and peppers until they start to char, then adding the garlic and cooking until that browns also. Combine all ingredients and blend on high for one minute or until desired consistancy

Notes:
• More or less my go to guac recipe without any avocado
• I also added a lot more ghost peppers, partly to use up my stock before pepper season starts this year
• But mostly because I keep seeing people online making 'crazy hot' verdes with four or five habaneros and it makes me angry
• Lime and heat come though strongest, hence the name. I didn't think there'd be a lot of lime at one and a half but it's very noticeable
• A little bitter because of it. Lots of acid here
• Dark green coloring, almost like an olive green
• A bit more savory than I'd like it to be. I think I should have added the garlic and onions raw. 
• I also blended the hell out of it. Result is a very smooth and thick sauce. I was curious how it'd come out if I just gave it top speed in the vitamix instead of the 'green smoothie' setting on my low power blender. Despite everything there's still some tomatillo seeds floating around
• It's not bad but it's not what I was aiming for. When I first got into salsas I remember my greens having a heavy onion and garlic presence along with a  bright vibrant color. I wanted something like that and this ain't it
• Also worth noting I'm tasting it straight, I think it'd like it more on a tortilla chip or in a taco
• Next batch: maybe a half to a second head of garlic. Keep the onions raw, but still cook the peppers and maybe the garlic. Blend in the lower powered blender. Maybe also use fresh water instead of the tomatillo reserve. Cilantro and salt are fine, also stick to one lime if not less. Keep some chunks and have it more watery

7 Pot Buffalo

• 7 Pot Brainstrain 255g
• Garlic 53g
• Lime 1 Juiced
• Honey 1 tbsp
• Butter 13 tbsp
• Cayenne powder 2 tsp
• Smoked Paprika 1tsp
• Red pepper Flakes 1 tsp
• Mustard Powder 1 tsp
• Celery Seeds 1 tsp
• Salt 1 tsp
• White Vinegar 1.75 Cups
• Apple Cider Vinegar 1/2 Cups
• Xanthan Gum 1/4 tsp

Make your base by blending the 7 Pots, garlic, salt, and vinegar on high for five minutes. Simmer on low and let cool, skimming solids off the top. Then blend in everything else on high for an additional five minutes. Bottle, refrigerate


Notes:
• batch two, there's a lot to unpack here-
• off the top, using frozen seven pot peppers instead of fermented reapers. Not surprising but there's less heat and funk. A lot less depth
• I also added mustard powder which I wasn't a huge fan of, and to cut that I added more butter than the last batch
• I saw mustard powder in some online recipes but I have to disagree with it. Maybe in a smaller quantity? it'd work but I really wish I omitted it. Now I know though  
• It just doesn't work well. It reminds me of the powder you get in Kraft mac n cheese
• Just lots of preserved dairy flavor. Likely a product of the vinegar and butter
• For whatever reason, despite that the sauce is really fluid. It doesn't seize up at all when chilled
• Good color, bright vibrant orange. As noted good viscosity, very creamy
• This sauce was a step backward. I feel like I nailed the original recipe, there wasn't much of a reason to change it. I feel like sometimes I try to optimize and fix what isn't broken, this is a good lesson to leave things alone now and then
• This sauce kinda sucks. It's edible but it will take forever to finish