Sriracha Sauce

My thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow- this recipe comes from her cookbook- My Father’s Daughter- and it is a keeper.

Last week I had the fun of seeing the taping of THE CHEW in NYC. As though spending a day with my dear friend Kate wasn’t enough of a treat, all the stars on the show were present AND Gwyneth  Paltrow was the guest chef for the show.We all received a copy of her cookbook and on the train ride home, I had the time to read it cover to cover.

So we all know about local, organic, farm fresh but in her cookbook Ms Paltrow makes a strong case for limiting the preservatives we unavoidably add on to all those good products by using commercially processed sauces.

Since sriracha sauce is appearing in more recipes, I decided to have a hand at making it from the red hot chili peppers on down ! The result is a very bright taste- HOT but not screaming and with a balance of vinegar to spice. I’m sure this sauce will keep well for 2-3 weeks but we have gone through a whole recipe this week. Hope you try it -Cautionary note wear gloves when you slice those peppers!

Sriracha Sauce

1 ½ Cups clove garlic, peeled

1 Lb. red jalapeno peppers, stemmed,sliced and cut into thein rings

2 ¼ Cups rice wine vinegar

¼ Cup agave nectar

2 Tbsp coarse table salt

1 Tbsp arrowroot

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1. Place the garlic in a small saucepan and add cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil, immediately drain and run the garlic under cool water.
2. Return the garlic to the saucepan, cover with cold water and bring back to a boil. Rinse the garlic and slice the blanched garlic into thin slices.
3. Combine the cut red jalapeños,blanched garlic and rice vinegar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the agave and salt and stir to combine.Let the mixture stand, covered for 1 hour for the flavors to steep and cool. ( I let the mixture rest overnight to cool completely.)
4. Puree the mixture in a blender until smooth- some seeds will remain in tact but that's fine.
5. Return the mixture to a saucepan and bring back to a boil. Simmer 10-15 minutes, skimming off any foam as it rises to the top. The mixture will thicken slightly as it cooks down.
6. In a small bowl, dissolve the arrowroot with 1 Tbsp of lukewarm water. Whisk the arrowroot into the sauce and cook for 2 more minutes or until nicely thickened. Remove from heat let cool slightly and stir in fish sauce.