Smoky Apricot Hot Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Place apricots in a small bowl and pour in hot water to cover. Let sit 20 minutes, then drain and coarsely chop. Return apricots to same bowl and add rum; stir to coat. Chill at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Drain into a mesh sieve set over another small bowl or container. Reserve apricots and rum separately.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cinnamon, 3 Tbsp. coconut sugar, and reserved apricots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apricots are slightly softened and coated in caramel, 6-8 minutes. Add reserved rum and cook, stirring often, until thickened and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly. (Just FYI: You can eat these drunk apricots right away over vanilla ice cream and be very happy.)
• Toast grains of selim pods and cubeb peppers in a small skillet over medium-low heat, shaking occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a spice mill or mortar and pestle and let cool. Grind as well as you can. The grains of selim won't completely break up, so cracked open but mostly whole is okay-you just want to release some of their flavor.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium. Cook white and red onions, stirring occasionally, until softened and just starting brown, 20-25 minutes. Stir in ground grains of selim and cubeb pepper, garlic, ginger, and remaining 1 tsp. coconut sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, rosemary, thyme, prawn powder, and 1 tsp. salt to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add drunk apricots along with any syrup and cook, stirring often, about 2 minutes.
• Add tomato purée to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes, then stir in chile powder. Add broth and fresh chile. Cover pot and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until a loose dark brown paste forms, 30-40 minutes. The oil will rise to the surface when the sauce is ready. Remove from heat; taste and season with more salt if needed. If you like texture, leave as is, or blend with an immersion blender (or let it cool slightly and blend it in a blender) to make it smooth. Let cool completely.
• Spoon shito into jars or an airtight container with at least a ¼" layer of oil on top.
• Do ahead: Shito can made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.
• Note: The amount of chile described in this recipe is what I would classify as pretty hot-some West Africans might call this medium hot, some very hot. Folks familiar with heat will enjoy this, but if you don't like super-jacked heat you should probably err on the lower end of the range. West African pantry staples can be found at Zoe's Ghana Kitchen.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add habanero peppers. Pour bourbon into the pot and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in apricots, followed by tomato sauce. Stir in brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, paprika, chili powder, salt, and black pepper. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Blend using an immersion blender or transfer carefully into the bowl of a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray.
• Season chicken all over with salt and black pepper. Arrange chicken in prepared pan and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine apricot preserves, soy sauce and liquid smoke. Mix until blended. Pour mixture over chicken.
• Roast 35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve 4 chicken breast halves with this meal and refrigerate remaining chicken until ready to use (or freeze up to 3 months). Garnish with parsley.

Steps:

• place tomatoes, chilies, raisins, onion and garlic in a blender and puree.
• Add to a pot with rest of ingredients.
• Cook for 20 minutes.
• Pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process for 10 minutes.
• Let flavors meld for a week or two.