Pepper sauce woes...

June 18, 2006 6:11 PM

Help me find tasty things to do with this yummy pepper sauce.

I have a bottle of this pepper sauce and while it's delicious, I can't really think of any creative or tasty ways to incorporate it into another dish.

My food preferences tend to be a bit on the midwestern side of things. Seafood ideas are right out (allergies) and I love beef & chicken dishes.

Anybody have any ideas? I'm dying to add the sauce to *something* this week.

posted by drstein to food & drink (14 answers total)

I wouldn't tend to add something like that to a dish. Instead I'd have it as a condiment, like mustard, or ketchup, or chutney. For example, I have some hot pepper sauce that I use as a condiment on sandwiches and burgers.
posted by Good Brain at 6:25 PM on June 18, 2006

Ok... this may be trashy but I would totally make up a batch of extra spicy Chex Mix.
posted by kimdog at 6:34 PM on June 18, 2006

Yes, that does look like a condiment. If you want to put it in a dish I'd suggest making a marinade with that in it. Some oil (good olive oil, for preference), the sauce, some lemon juice. Experiment until it tastes good, but maybe start with 2/1/1 as a ratio. Then put chicken in half of it for 4 hours and use the other half as a brush-on while the chicken grills/BBQs.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:00 PM on June 18, 2006

Hmm, I should have said also maybe a touch of soy sauce, and make sure you mix it *really* well. In a blender, perhaps.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:01 PM on June 18, 2006

Hot sauce + honey = awesome with chicken.
posted by IvyMike at 7:22 PM on June 18, 2006

I'm a pepper sauce freak, and one of the best places to use a good pepper sauce is added to good old fashioned baked macaroni and cheese. Yummm.
posted by jeremias at 7:25 PM on June 18, 2006

A dash of pepper sauce in macaroni and cheese (homemade, boxed, whatever) is a wonderful thing. It's also great in a cheese sauce poured over vegetables.

And of course, pepper sauce goes well with any egg dish.

You could try searching at Allrecipes. Search by ingredient using keyword "tabasco" or "hot sauce" and you're going to find some great ideas. This sounds like it would go great with cold beer.

Pepper sauces last almost indefinitely, so you can enjoy yours for a long time to come.
posted by padraigin at 7:25 PM on June 18, 2006

Some form of pasta arrabiata comes to mind - start a sauce with cream and add tomatoes and your pepper sauce. Cook down over a low flame until it achieves a nice consistency and add to pasta and what have you - I made it last week with strips of grilled skirt steak. The trick is to balance the heat of the pepper sauce with the cream.
Okay, I'm going to eat now...
posted by rhymesinister at 11:55 PM on June 18, 2006

First I would make a bloody mary with it and then while sipping that I would make a spicy corn/black bean/avocado/tomato salsa to eat with chips?

You could mix it in with ground meat for burgers?
posted by click at 11:57 PM on June 18, 2006

Barbecue glaze:

1/2 jar ginger/garlic puree
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 cup ketjap benteng manis*
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tsp whole mustard seeds

*sweet Indonesian soy sauce, find it in the Dutch deli or the international food aisle. Conimex is a good brand.
posted by Sallyfur at 1:10 AM on June 19, 2006

You could put some in your cold beer, making a michelada. Linked recipe is overly elaborate for my taste, but at its core the michelada is just lager with hot sauce to taste. Maybe some lime, maybe salt on the rim. Works best with sauces that have a bit of body, which yours appears to have.
posted by xueexueg at 4:30 AM on June 19, 2006

I'm going to try the one I marked as "best answer" sometime this week. Making a marinate out of it sounds like a great idea. mmmm marinated sirloin...
posted by drstein at 11:27 AM on June 19, 2006

Sonoran Chili

This is a terrific, savory chili that showcases good spices and ingredients, but "hides" very little. Some work, but can be on the table in an hour, start to finish.

Begin by starting brown rice. In a covered sauce pan, bring 14 oz can of beef broth and 6 oz of water to boil. Add 1 cup brown rice, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp basil flakes, 1/2 tsp black pepper. When broth returns to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 40 minutes, until liquid is fully absorbed.

Compound spices, in a small cup, mixing well.
1 tblsp chili powder (commercial or homemade)
1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper
1 tsp cracked black pepper
(or omit above 3 ingredients in favor of 1 & 1/2 to 2 tblsp of pepper sauce)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin

Dice 1 medium sweet onion, 2-3 stalks celery, 1 medium carrot, together. Chop 1/2 cup of black ripe canned olives, and reserve packing juice.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tblsp of olive oil, and saute vegetables, cooking until onions begin to turn clear. Add 1 or 2 beef bullion cubes and 1 or 2 cloves crushed garlic, and then brown 1/2 lb. mild pork sausage and 1 lb cubed stew beef or chuck steak in oil and vegetable mixture. When meat is browned, add spice mixture along with 2 tblsp masa flour (or wheat flour, if you prefer), to browned meat mixture, and stir thoroughly, until all oil and fat are absorbed. Add 1/2 cup red wine, 1/2 cup of juice from the can of black olives, and 6 to 8 oz black coffee, stirring liquids in slowly to make a rich gravy. Reduce heat to simmer, cover meat, and cook until rice mixture is separately done. When rice is done, remove bay leaves and discard.

Just before serving, add 1 14 oz can of kidney or red beans to meat, then stir in cooked rice to meat and bean mixture. Add 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, and 1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce, as you complete stirring.

Serve with grated cheese and oyster crackers, or over tamales.
posted by paulsc at 11:53 AM on June 19, 2006

You could put some in your cold beer, making a michelada. Linked recipe is overly elaborate for my taste, but at its core the michelada is just lager with hot sauce to taste. Maybe some lime, maybe salt on the rim. Works best with sauces that have a bit of body, which yours appears to have.

The way I understand it (and I'm not culinary expert, but read a lot about such things and love me a michelada*), the michelada is really a salted and perhaps limed beer, and often contains other things such as hot sauce.

*That said, the recipe linked to is my default michelada recipe. It's like drinking a refreshing steak. I just bought a huge 27 oz bottle of Maggi seasoning that will likely allow me to make around 2560 micheladas before I'll need a refill.
posted by hoboynow at 12:08 PM on June 19, 2006