CARROT HABANERO CITRUS HOT SAUCE

MAKES 3 CUPS

Once or twice a year I get together with friends in Austin, Texas, for a hot sauce party. We harvest fresh chiles from our gardens, gather up gloves and bandanas, and spend the day making hot sauce, eating tacos, and drinking beer. A premium Sunday. Bonus: Everyone goes home with a few different flavors. This is one of my favorites. —CHAD

Spray oil

1 large sweet white onion, chopped (about 1¼ cups)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

7 fresh habanero chile peppers, stemmed and seeded

LEAVE IN THE SEEDS IF YOU LIKE IT REALLY HOT!

1 cup fresh tangerine juice (from 4 to 6 tangerines)

½ lime, juiced

¾ cup distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons organic cane sugar

2 tablespoons sea salt

1½ teaspoons lemon zest, optional

Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Coat a baking sheet with spray oil and spread the onions in a single layer on the pan. Roast until the onions are slightly charred, 10 to 12 minutes. Even just a little charring adds a ton of flavor to the sauce.

Meanwhile, heat a small heavy skillet (we like cast iron) over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and cook until the garlic blackens in spots, 4 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Again, the blackening is flavor.

Transfer the onions and garlic to a large pot along with the carrots, habaneros, tangerine juice, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, and lemon zest (if using). Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat so the mixture simmers. Simmer until the sauce reduces in volume by about a third, 45 to 50 minutes. It should boil down quite a bit.

Use an immersion blender or upright blender to blend the mixture until it’s pretty smooth. Return to the heat and simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. You want it thinner than ketchup but thicker than something like Worcestershire sauce. Keep simmering until you get that medium-thick hot sauce consistency.

Pour the sauce into two pint-size Mason jars while the sauce is hot. Screw on the lids. The heat will create a vacuum, sucking down the lids and helping to seal the jars. Store in the fridge. It’ll keep for a month or so.