My First Attempt at Habanero Pique

I got a new book that is primarily hot sauce (because we love all things spicy) and decided today was the day to give it a try. I had 5 habaneros in the fridge that needed to be used while fresh and there is nothing I can think of that I want to cook with 5 habaneros in it, so I pulled the book out of my cook book collection and gave it a peruse.

The very first recipe was one I recognized. My grandmother always had a bottle of peppers in vinegar on her table. We called it pepper sauce, this book calls it pique. We loved it on beans or a little sprinkle on French fries. Spicy and good. My husband loves making his own marinades for smoking or grilling meats and a spicy vinegar will be perfect for his marinades. I had my recipe and I had the ingredients—white vinegar, peppers, fresh garlic cloves and a few sprigs of spicy oregano from my kitchen herb garden.
 
It is an easy peasy recipe but does take some planning because you must have a non-reactive pan to heat the vinegar. I have one 6-quart stainless steel kettle just for such a recipe. I highly recommend at least one good non-reactive pan if you plan to do much in the way of jam making, cooking tomato sauce or cooking anything that varies too far away from a neutral pH.
 
I changed the recipe a little from what was written in the book because I only had 5 peppers and it called for 10-12. I heated 3 cups of vinegar instead of 4 and that was just enough for a 1-quart jar. I had part of a head of garlic with a whole bunch of tiny little cloves, so I peeled them and added them to the jar with 4 sprigs of fresh spicy oregano. Now we wait for 2 weeks….
 
Two weeks later it is beautiful and tastes good. My husband said he can taste the peppers and spices but it is not overwhelmingly hot. He is using it for cooking and marinating meats. I will be trying this with other kinds of peppers.