Two Favorite Homemade Hot Sauces

Quite often, a good hot sauce will brighten up any meal in a pinch.

Colombian Aji Salsa 

Process these simple ingredients for a fresh and spicy boost to empanadas, rice, fish, chicken, veggies, guacamole.

Ingredients

• One ripe tomato cut into cubes
• One small to medium yellow onion
• One stalk of green onions
• One Habanero pepper, seeds removed (any other pepper will work, amounts can vary)
• 1 cup of chopped cilantro, stems included
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar (or any other vinegar, you can also only use lime juice)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• ½ teaspoon of salt

Use the “pulse” setting for a coarse texture. This salsa keeps for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Moroccan Harissa

This smoky peppery paste will kick up your vegetables, proteins, soups, and such.
Keeps for several weeks refrigerated in an airtight container.

Ingredients

• 3 Mexican Guajillo chilies, cleaned of seeds and stems
• 1 fresh red pepper
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 1 whole chipotle in adobo
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ¼ cup of olive oil

Directions

1. Roast the fresh red pepper in a hot oven or over a griddle until the skin is charred and the flesh is cooked. Discard skin and seeds.
2. Coarsely chop the cleaned Guajillo peppers to facilitate the blending. 
3. Dry fry the caraway, cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant.
4. Place spices in a blender to pulverize and add the Guajillo chilies to blend until fine.
5. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients using the olive oil to finish the emulsion. The flavors will optimize overnight.