Recipe - Falco's Fire Sauce

It's been quite a while since I posted a recipe here. Using the ingredients shown in the picture below, I actually measured everything today while I whipped up a batch of this, though I've been making this sauce for over a month now.

This zesty sauce can be used as a marinate, barbecue sauce, or condiment. I use it on hot dogs both as a catchup replacement, or brushing the dogs with it before grilling. It's really great with vegetables too. I often toss veggies with it, and fry them on the stove with eggbeaters as a spicy garden omelet. It's as tasty with seafood as it is with any kind of meat. I've even brushed it on corn on the cob and then grilled the corn. While this recipe has heat, cooking mitigates a good portion of this. For those with limited tolerance for hot foods, you probably do not want to use this uncooked as I often do.

WARNING! Use caution when preparing this recipe and handling habenro peppers and other spicy ingredients! Afterward make sure you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Rubbing your eyes after de-seeding a Habenaro pepper can be quite the unforgettable experience! Use caution when removing the lid of the blender after blending. The fumes arising from the blender can be irritating to the eyes and throat (makes your mouth water for some of this, don't it??). No kidding here! Th first time I made this I followed the chef's instinct to take the lid off the blander and smell my creation. BIG mistake! My eyes watered profusely, my throat almost clogged shut, and I coughed for an hour afterward. I also rubbed my tearing eyes with the hands that had been rinsed in water......it...was......memorable!! Ingredients: 1 7 oz jar Conimex Sambal Oelek (It must be this brand) 1 7 oz can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce (I use Embassa brand usually) 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 1 cup water 1 cup Splenda 2 tbs curry powder 2 tbs paprika 2 tbs onion powder 1 tbs cumin 2 Habenaro peppers (seeds in or out; in makes it spicier!) 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (only 1 tsp; don't want to make it too spicy!) 1/2 cup roasted garlic cloves Juice from one lime Note: Those not concerned about sugar or calories can substitute 1/2 to 3/4 cup of honey for the Splenda. Preparation: In a blender add the jar of Sambal Oelek, the habaneros, the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, the red wine vinegar, the Habenaros, and 1/4 cup of water. COVER! Blend on liquefy or puree until smooth. Wait a minute or two before carefully removing cover, as mentioned above the fumes of this first blend can be most powerful! Seriously! Add remaining ingredients and again blend until smooth. Keeps for about 8 days in the fridge, I sometimes split the batch and put half in a freezer storage bag and freeze for up to a month. ENJOY!!

A Busy Saturday

Tomorrow is Father's Day - We will be having it here, so in addition to the work I am doing on my rear sliding doors there are other things to be done today in preparation for tomorrow.

It has stopped raining and the sun is out. It is a Saturday and no work! So, today will be good just tiring. Yesterday I spent over two hours re-screening one of the rear sliding doors. I have never re-screened a large sliding door and it was an adventure! I was more soaked with sweat when done than two days worth of exercise bike riding and after one of those session my shirt is soaked with sweat. The spline tool that came with the screen kit was cheap, so I ended up having to use a screwdriver after the tool to insure the spline was all the way down in the channel on the door.

It was a lot of work, but, it looks great, and the materials cost a fraction of what having someone coming to the house would have charged. And there is that feeling of accomplishment after doing a job one has never done, and doing it well.

The door I did yesterday was the slider for the Living Room and it is always sticking and popping out of the track. This morning I spent the better part of an hour cleaning out the bottom tracks for the Living Room and Kitchen sliding doors. They had all kinds of dirt and debris in them. Once the tracks are dry I will WD40 them. I also readjusted the four rollers on the Living Room slider. I think I finally have it well adjusted (unlike me!). Between the clean tracks and the WD40 perhaps it will stop sticking and jumping out of the track.

After all the bending yesterday working on the first door coupled with the bending this AM to clean out the tracks for both doors my back is not pleased with me but I told it suck it up as I must exercise in about half an hour and cool down. Then I must run out and pick up a better spline tool for kitchen slider awaits me on the dinning room table (I have a big table!). That one was way fun getting out of the frame, it has totally different rollers and tracks but I finally figured it out.

Once the kitchen slider is done I must go shopping for tomorrow and then the meat has to be cut up and marinated today - sigh! It's Father's Day, a day of rest for dads I would think, but because of my diet I must do the cooking . The kids, the X, and her folks will be here. It will be good to have everyone over, plus I can make sure Dad has a great meal for Father's Day. I don't really mind the grilling portion but the prep work is a pain. I have to make two different marinates. For my son Chris and I (and possibly Danielle) the marinate will be very spicy with chipotles in adobo sauce, Sambal Oelek, and fresh habanero, and a milder sauce for those who cannot handle the heat of what I am going to call Falco's Fire Sauce if it comes together as I plan. Both marinates will also feature other spices.

The house also needs some cleaning; yesterday was the end of my week with the kids and they've gone back to their mom's. If you have kids you know how messy the house can get. If you don't, and you are a slob, well, then you know too and you probably only clean when the board of health comes knocking on your door!

Back to dinner tomorrow I figure I will make the grilled chicken, corn on the cob, salad, and if someone wants to bring dessert for the normal eating folks that's fine. Perhaps I will get strawberries and blueberries for me - we shall see. There will also be apple sauce for Dad and perhaps I'll make some baked beans too for everyone else.

The day's tasks would not appear so daunting if I was not so tired. It rained here until around 3 AM so I did not get to sleep until after that and only got four hours of broken sleep.

Perhaps I will feel better once I have exercised! Time to quaff down my morning nutrition shake and then after 30 minutes or so.....we ride! I exercise while watching shows from the Food Network! Yes! I am a glutton for punishment. I consider this my penance for letting myself get to the point I was at. it serves as a reminder of how I got there, and gives me something to look forward to; the occasional meal that goes above my daily caloric limits. It also gives me ideas for cooking, such as using chipotles in adobo sauce. After hearing Bobby Flay talk about it many times on shows like Iron Chef America, Grill It, and Throwdown, I finally bought some last weekend. This will be the second time I use it. It is awesome stuff.