This morning I started the day cooking a couple of new dishes but I had mixed results. I made black beans and despite cooking them for hours, the beans did not get fully pliable and soft. I made the mistake of not soaking the beans the night before. I know better but I fell for the recipe’s claim it was not necessary. Of course. it may have been due to the beans being old but I hope not as they were well within their best by due date! Tomorrow I will try and salvage the beans by making black bean burgers. Fingers crossed. When I have a failure in the kitchen, I tend to focus on what did not work rather than what did.
I also cooked a Roasted Tomato Hot Sauce and it tasted fresh, light and spicy. As I love spice and chilli, I can not have too many hot sauces! Inspired by a southeast Mexican chiltomate sauce, it also works with Italian dishes or simply as a tomato hot sauce with steamed, sautéed or roasted veggies.
Roasted Tomato Hot Sauce
Ingredients
680 grams large, ripe, chemical-free tomatoes
4-5 red chillis or half a habaneros pepper
1/2 tsp grey sea salt
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 small brown onion
Instructions
Heat the oven to 230 c. Cut the top core from the tomatoes. Place the fruit on a baking dish lined with baking paper. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the tomato skins begin to blacken. Take out of the oven and let cool. Peel off the skins and discard.
Peel and roughly chop a brown onion and the garlic cloves; place them in a blender. Add the sea salt and de-stemmed and chopped chilis with the roasted tomatoes. Blend on high for one minute.
Pour the sauce in to a pot, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes with the lid off.
While the sauce is simmering, heat a large pot of water with two small jars. Bring to a boil for about five minutes. Turn off the heat and drop the lids in the hot water. Take the jars out and let them air dry. Remove the lids after several minutes.
Spoon the sauce in to the jars and seal tight. Leave on the counter until they are room temperature. Label and store in the refrigerator.