Green Ghost Hot Sauce

For this sauce we harvest Ghost and other hot peppers while they are still green. They are plenty hot enough and, combined with other fresh herbs and vegetables, bring a full, rich garden taste, a tangy backnote, and quite enough heat to your table.

As the name suggests, most of the heat from this green, rich, quite hot sauce comes from still-green ghost peppers taken fresh from the garden. You'll find an unexpected depth of flavor in every spoonful, courtesy of the herbs and spices that truly compliment the ghost heat, and properly temper the acidic vinegar.

At the end of an unusually long season a few years ago we found ourselves with a crop of green, unripened, Ghost peppers. Couldn't let that go to waste! It took quite a bit of recipe noodling before we were happy with the result, but we are and trust that you will be too.

This sauce goes well on hot dogs and other sausages. You might try it drizzled on a plate of nachos, or mix a spoonful into any salsa verde to add extra richness and a lot of heat. I will frequently spread 1 teaspoon evenly on a slice of bread while making a sandwich, or stir some into a serving of hummus. I've added some (just a little) to the basil pesto sauce we make.

If you're a real hot-head you might even use it as a chip-dip, right out of the jar.