Delicious Homemade Hot Hot Hot Sauce

By Jodee Weiland

In our home, we love hot sauce and spicy recipes! When I was growing up in our Italian household, it was not unusual to see my father or mother putting hot sauce or hot peppers on a wide variety of foods. The hotter the sauce the better sauce was my father’s opinion. So I guess my love of spicy food comes to me naturally. Adding hot peppers or hot sauce to a dish, almost always makes a meal taste better for me. That’s why I decided to make my own Delicious Homemade Hot Hot Hot Sauce!

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Our jalapeno peppers have been growing strong in our garden this year. We also grew some dragon cayenne peppers this year. The dragon cayenne peppers have a good amount of heat, so we love them. When I decided to make my own sauce, I decided to put some of our abundant Roma tomatoes to use as well. You might say our garden determined the direction of this hot sauce because it did. The result was a great hot sauce with a good kick to it, and we loved it!

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Delicious Homemade Hot Hot Hot Sauce

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup onion chopped
9 jalapenos sliced
6 Roma tomatoes cut up
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup filtered water
1 dragon cayenne pepper sliced (optional)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

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Sauté the garlic, onion, jalapenos, tomatoes, and salt in olive oil for about five minutes. Then add the water and dragon cayenne pepper. Bring this to a low boil over a medium heat. Lower heat and simmer this mixture for about twenty minutes stirring it frequently. It will thicken.

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Once it is done, spoon the mixture into a food processor or blender. Gradually adding the apple cider vinegar, blend until smooth. When ready pour the hot sauce into a container. This hot sauce can be refrigerated in a closed glass container for up to six months. Ours is usually gone long before six months.

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My Delicious Homemade Hot Hot Hot Sauce is thick and spicy! I like my hot sauce to have a thicker consistency, so I only add 1 cup of water, but if you like your sauce thinner, just increase the amount of water in the recipe. The dragon cayenne pepper will kick up the heat level, so if you prefer, you may leave it out of the recipe. Either way, the rich flavor of tomato adds something to the sauce, and if you love hot sauce, you will love this sauce. Give it a try, and enjoy!

 

Delicious Homemade Crusty Bread

By Jodee Weiland

When making a meal like pasta, stew, or soup, it’s always great to have a crusty bread to serve with it. So many dishes are enhanced by adding crusty bread to your meal, but especially if your crusty bread is homemade. My Delicious Homemade Crusty Bread is not only delicious to eat with a great meal, but if done right, it’s great by itself straight from the oven. https://learnfromyesterday.com My father used to love to break off a crusty piece of bread from the loaf and have it with a little cheese and a glass of red wine. He thought this was a great snack any time and honestly, I can’t disagree! He always chose a hard imported provolone and if he had it on hand, he would add a slice of hard Italian salami. But many times, he chose to have just the slice of fresh crusty bread! My Delicious Homemade Crusty Bread is the type of bread my father would have loved, crusty on the outside and a light airy bread on the inside!

https://learnfromyesterday.com Delicious Homemade Crusty Bread

3 and 1/2 cups bread flour (the last 1/4 cup or less to be added as needed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 and 1/2 cups warm water (1/2 cup of this will be for the yeast mixture)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare the baking sheet by misting olive oil over the baking sheet lightly. Then in a small mixing bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar with 1/2 cup of warm water that is water that is warm to the touch, about 100 degrees. Stir this and let it rest for about 10 minutes until it becomes foamy.

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Then in a large mixing bowl, gradually blend together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water mixture, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and remaining water as you begin to work this with your hands into dough. At first, you may blend the ingredients with a spoon, but as it thickens you will work it with your hands. Once your dough is all blended, continue to work the dough with your hands and begin to knead the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes. Do this on a flat surface, where you will add flour as you go to the surface to keep your dough from sticking.

https://learnfromyesterday.com https://learnfromyesterday.com https://learnfromyesterday.com Once done, place your ball of dough into a bowl, smoothing a touch of olive oil over the dough and over the sides of the bowl.  Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and then with a clean towel over that for about 30 to 40 minutes or longer and let it rest.  It should double in size.https://learnfromyesterday.com https://learnfromyesterday.com https://learnfromyesterday.com

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it again before shaping into two long narrow loaves. Place your loaves on the prepared baking sheet and cover loosely with the plastic wrap from the bowl and a towel while it sits.  Once again, it should double in size.  Then with a sharp knife cut (1/4 inch deep) slits diagonally across the top of the loaf.  Put the bread into the preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes.  My bread took about 30 minutes to bake.  Allow bread to cool briefly before cutting and serving, although in my family, they start cutting or breaking off pieces as soon as it cools just enough to be able to touch. https://learnfromyesterday.com My Delicious Homemade Crusty Bread is so good with its crusty outside and a light airy bread on the inside. This bread is the perfect complement to any meal, but with the fall coming, it will be a great side for soups, stews, and other hearty meals. You can always eat it on its own like my dad did, but no matter how you choose to eat this bread you will always come back for more. We love this bread, especially fresh from the oven. Give it a try, and enjoy!

Garlic Butter Kale and Sweet Corn

By Jodee Weiland

Recently when I made a delicious Lime Basil Pesto Chicken for dinner, I wanted a side dish that would complement it. I had fresh kale and sweet corn to use, but rather than make one or the other, I decided to combine the kale and sweet corn in a delicious side dish cooked in my garlic butter recipe and extra virgin olive oil. As it turned out, this was the best decision I could have made. My Garlic Butter Kale and Sweet Corn was delicious!

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My garlic butter recipe made with chopped fresh garlic is a perfect way to add rich flavor to vegetables. In the original recipe, I add jalapeno powder, but in this recipe I left the jalapeno powder out and simply used the whipped butter and garlic. I heated the garlic butter and extra virgin olive oil together to saute my vegetables slightly. The effect was absolutely delicious when combining these two healthy vegetables, kale and sweet corn. I usually cook fresh kale from my garden with olive oil and garlic, while corn is usually served with butter for many people, so what could be more natural than Garlic Butter Kale and Sweet Corn lightly cooked in both!

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Garlic Butter Kale and Sweet Corn

2 fresh corn cobs, corn sliced off before cooking
4 cups fresh kale with stem removed (tear leaves away from the center stem)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup garlic butter (see below)
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

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Garlic Butter Recipe: (use extra butter for garlic bread or cut recipe in half)

6 to 8 whole garlic gloves peeled
1/2 cup unsalted whipped butter

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Heat the garlic butter and olive oil in pan on the stove over a low to medium heat. Do not burn your butter or the garlic. Add the fresh kale to the pan and toss lightly in the heated mixture until slightly wilted. Carefully slice the corn off the 2 cobs and add the corn to the slightly wilted kale and toss together. Saute slightly for a few minutes until the corn is cooked but not overcooked. Serve with any main course as a side dish.

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My Garlic Butter Kale and Sweet Corn is both healthy and delicious! The sweetness of the corn balances wonderfully with the kale, while the garlic butter adds flavor to the dish overall. I served this dish with my Lime Basil Pesto Chicken, and the two together were awesome. The Lime Basil Pesto Chicken will be on my next post, so be sure to watch for it, but in the meantime, enjoy this side dish with whatever main course you are making. You will love it, so enjoy!