Monday, August 11, 2025

Honey Garlic Habanero b3

Fermented Ingredients (171 days):
• Garlic 35g
• Habaneros 147g
• Sweet Onions 70g
• Brine 1/2 Cups 

Fresh Ingredients:
• Garlic 213g
• Yellow Onions 244g
• Yellow Bell Peppers 156g
• Honey 6 fluid oz, or 3/4 Cups  
• Limes 1 Juiced 
• Salt 1tsp
• White Vinegar 1 Cups 
• Water 1/2 Cups 
• Xanthan Gum 1/8 tsp 

Saute the fresh garlic in olive oil, stirring until it becomes golden brown. Very important you don't let it burn. Remove and saute the yellow bells and fresh onions until they start to lose color and char. Add everything except the xanthan to the blender and blend on high for five minutes.  Afterward, simmer on low for twenty minutes, skimming solids off the top. Let cool and reblend with the xanthan on low for sixty seconds. Bottle, refrigerate    

Notes:
• Pale yellow in color. I like the contrast to the other sauces I make but was wondering about something a bit darker. Maybe an orange bell pepper would have hit that mark 
• Lots of garlic and then honey on the nose. Not any heat, peppers, or onions 
• Flavor follows pretty closely. Garlic, then sweetness from the honey, just a touch of heat and citrus from the habs on the very end 
• Recipe is pretty close with the last batch. Biggest difference being fermented onions and garlic 
• The amount of fresh garlic is about the same. The fermented stuff gives it a bit of funk but I'm not sure if it made it much stronger 
• Also this is made from crappy grocery store garlic that was a bit on the dry side. I was on a deadline to make this otherwise I would have sourced some stuff from a farmers market 
• Same with the honey, it came from a bottle that had been sitting in the pantry for a while and had more or less crystalized. I had to heat it up just to pour it out. Honey never spoils but something more fresh would probably be better 
• Honey was also closer honey. I'd like to try a different flavor, maybe lavender 
• Low yield, maybe about 30 oz 
• Low heat relative to everything else on here. On my scale I'd give it a 3 or 4 out of 10 
• Great feedback, I sold pretty much all this immediately . Wish I saved more for myself 
• Need to start doing more stuff with habs especially since they're so readily available. Just been super lazy when it comes to fermenting things 
• This would really kick ass on pizza



Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Mixed Pato Ghost Salsa

Ingredients: 
• El Pato Yellow 30oz
• El Pato Green 15oz
• Garlic 36g
• Red Onions 136g
• White Ghost Peppers 37g
• Limes 1.5 Juiced 
• Cilantro 7g
• Salt 1/2 tsp
• Cumin 1/2 tsp 
• Xanthan Gum 1/4 tsp

Blend the onions (diced), garlic, peppers, cilantro, and 5oz of the El Pato on medium for sixty seconds. Then add everything else and blend on low for thirty seconds. Refrigerate 

Notes: 
• First and foremost this is my first full batch el pato base, a few things wrong here but a lot of things right 
• This was supposed to be all from the yellow can, but I couldn't find any full sizes and the store I was relying on to remedy that only had green 
• Strong tomato flavor. I used half a head of garlic and half a red onion. I wish I used the whole on both instead of just the half. It wasn't bad by any means but personally I want to amp up those flavors a bit 
• The raw red onion was a good call. I was on the fence about sauteing a yellow but this was really good. A raw white might be even better 
• Good call on the cumin amount, at first I thought I used too much but it really meshed well with everything else after a couple hours in the fridge 
• Same with the lime. Initially I just used one and I'm glad I added another half 
• Salt is on point also. The pato had salt already so this was a shot in the dark and I got pretty close to where I want it on the first go. Maybe add a little bit more, like 3/4 tsp. I had some on my eggs and it was a little under seasoned, but with a corn chip it's close to perfect
• Xanthan gum! I used way too much. The sauce seizes up until you shake it, but it had the desired effect of coating without running at all. I'd halve it to 1/8 tsp next time 
• I thought the heat on this was medium at best, but everyone else disagreed. I made this for taco day at the bar, so it was successful in that it was good for others. A personal batch would have upwards of 50-60g of ghosts
• Cilantro amount was perfect. I don't usually add it in my rojos but this worked great 
• The technique of blending without adding much tomato sauce also worked out well in preserving the color without being chunky at all 
• Maybe add the peppers first and blend on high to get rid of the whole seeds 
• Also some smoked paprika to give it some smoky notes 
• Good run on a larger batch of restaurant style salsa. Not dialed in by any means but everyone who tried it loved this 



Monday, July 21, 2025

Mixed Supers Necatrine

Fermented Ingredients (116 days): 
• RB003 47g
• Chocolate Primotalli 64g
• Carolina Reaper 29g 
• Garlic 35g
• Sweet Onions 65g
• Brine 3/4 Cups 

Fresh Ingredients: 
• Sweet Onions 249g
• Orange Bell Peppers 178g
• Garlic 66g
• Nectarines 360g
• Water 3/4 Cups
• White Vinegar 1 Cups
• Apple Cider Vinegar 1/2 Cups 
• Brown Sugar 1/3 Cups 
• Limes 1/2 Juiced 
• Salt 1 tsp 
• Xanthan Gum 1/8 tsp 

Saute the fresh onions, garlic, and bell peppers until they lose color and start to char, meanwhile pitting and peeling your nectarines. Add everything into the blender except the xanthan gum and blend on high for five minutes. Afterwards simmer for twenty minutes skimming solids off the top. Let cool and reblend with the xanthan gum for sixty seconds. Bottle, refrigerate  

Notes: 
• Mix of my three hottest peppers and sadly the last of my primos and rb3s. Almost out of reapers too 
• That said it's not as hot as I thought it'd be personally. My friends aren't as fortunate 
• Six? small nectarines. I think I had two more I was going to add but one was moldy inside and I ate the other 
• Nectarines were just a little under ripe. Good squish but not super sweet, added a bit more brown sugar than I would have otherwise to compensate 
• Not super crazy with the color, I was hoping it'd be more red given the peppers. I should have gone with the red bell as a base 
• Good aroma though, nice balance of sweet and heat 
• Translates well to the taste too. I was concerned it'd have a bit too much sugar 
• Added a bit less xanthan gum than usual because it was so thick in the boil, but it thinned out a bit when it cooled off. I'd like it a bit thicker but it's not runny at all and I'm not worried about separation 
• Pretty big batch. Maybe about 50 ozs. I sold off a few but this will be my go to for likely a few months 
• More garlic than usual, an extra half head than I usually run 
• Solid sauce. Nothing really wows me but it checks all my boxes. I don't think I've ever used nectarines as a solo fruit and was looking to showcase it a bit, but it's kind of...not bland but supports the sauce instead of staring in it. I was also on the fence of throwing some bourbon in here also but I'm glad I just left it alone to see how it turned out. Again solid, really good. But not my best work 



Monday, May 26, 2025

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




Saturday, April 19, 2025

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




Thursday, April 10, 2025

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



Honey Garlic Habanero b3

Fermented Ingredients (171 days): • Garlic 35g • Habaneros 147g • Sweet Onions 70g • Brine 1/2 Cups  Fresh Ingredients: • Garlic 213g • Yell...