Pepperheads Canada - Dark Secrets Hot Sauce

Some parties are just plain spicier. Not everyone wants to go over the edge, while others make it a lifestyle. Tastefully done, these experiences can be a blast, something to liven up your senses. We’ve built our (10 out of 10) Dark Secrets Hot Sauce to deliver taste before the ‘simmering heat’ starts to kick in. Forget bragging rights and waivers. Simply enjoy our selection of peppers from around the world and enjoy the tasteful fire it delivers. For those who are holding or attending Hot Luck Dinners, this 2-ounce bottle will bring a little heavenly heat to your festivities.

True pepper connoisseurs will appreciate the Pepperheads blend of Habanero, Ring Of Fire, Piri-Piri, Tepin, Jalapeno, Scotch Bonnet, African Oleorresin, Hatari & Bird's Eye chili peppers. Dark Secrets Hot Sauce can be used by itself to kick up your meal or combine it with Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce, to appeal to a wide variety of tastes (and heat levels).

All this quality heat is packed into a Limited Edition 2 oz. Bottle. Each year we restrict production to 100 cases (1200 bottles).

INGREDIENTS: Habanero, Ring Of Fire, Piri-Piri, Tepin and Jalapeno peppers, Wild Garlic, evaporated cane juice, Scotch Bonnet peppers, onion, African Oleorresin & Hatari peppers, cinnamon cloves, lemon, lime & orange juices, honey, sulfur-free molasses, vinegar, salt, Bird's Eye chili peppers and our exotic blend of herbs & spices. No preservatives added.

SUGGESTED USES: Use it by itself to 'spark up' your next creation, or it blends well with Dark Secrets Gourmet BBQ Sauce. See more recipes below.

HEAT: A full flavoured 10 out of 10 for heat.

"When Columbus arrived in America, thinking he was in the East Indies near the Spice Islands, he erroneously called the natives Indians and assumed that if they were Indians then they must be flavoring their food with pepper. In fact, the Indians were using various forms of a completely unrelated plant, Capsicum frutescens. The fruits of this plant ranged from dark greens through bright oranges, purples, and yellows. Some were round, some oblong, some shaped vaguely like bells, and some the size and shape of small tears. Like the word "Indian", which today must do double duty to represent people in Asia and America, the overburdened word "pepper" must represent both a small Asian berry and a whole family of unrelated American fruits." ~ Jack Weatherford ("Indian Givers - How The Indians of the Americas Transformed The World")

Please don't use this sauce to shock your friends…
that would not be the 'Pepperheads Way'.
Serve it with care and consideration.

‘Hot’ news on the nutrition front is the healing potential of chili peppers. Just ¼ cup packs over 150% of the RDA for vitamin C and over 80% of the requirement for vitamin A. As well, they may help prevent heart disease. Hot peppers have been reported to increase your blood’s ability to break up potentially dangerous clots. Capsaicin, an organic compound that gives hot peppers their punch, thins the blood, protecting against heart disease and stroke. Chilies may also help burn calories. Hot spices may boost post-meal metabolism by as much as 25%, say scientists. They may also help relieve congestion, whether due to bronchitis, asthma, allergies, or a cold. The amounts required for an effect are no greater than those typically found in Mexican or East Indian foods eaten frequently.

For those of you who have been asking, the standard measure for heat, was discovered by Wilbur Scoville, a pharmacologist who worked for the Parke-Davis Company, in 1912. The 'Scoville Unit Measure' determines how much the chili extract could be diluted before it loses it's burn. For example: A jalapeno peper takes 4,500 parts sugar water to dilute one part
jalapeno extract to the last point it's heat can be tasted. After that it loses it's punch.

"If none of the (other) products are hot enough for you, let this baby blow your tongue out! One drop will remind you what real heat is about and put you over the edge into another flavour continuum."
~ From: C.J. Katz's "Prairie Food Bytes" (Regina, Dec. 1st, 2004 issue)

R E C I P E S

If you wish to print any of these recipes, we have added 'printer friendly' versions on the 'Recipes To Inspire' page (see: the Pepperheads section). You fans of 'serious spark' can always send in your own uses & recipes, and we'll share them with. We heard a story about an impromptue Dark Secrets Hot Sauce tasting session, where they were using banannas to sample from...hmmm.

TEQUILA CHICKEN or FISH MARINADE & BBQ GLAZE December 14, 04

6 tbsp. Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce	1 tsp. Dark Secrets HOT Sauce
1 tbsp. soya sauce	zest from ½ of an orange*
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger	6 sprigs of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp. gold tequila	½ tbsp. fresh lime juice
Optional: 2 pinches of Chinese 5 spice

NOTES: *Zest comes from grating the outside of an unpeeled orange. Chinese 5 spice is available in larger grocery stores. Adding the Dark Secrets Hot Sauce adds some flavourful heat to this sauce. Cilantro can be replaced with fresh Italian parsley.

DARK SECRETS BBQ BURGER with CARAMELIZED ONIONS & SAUTEED MUSHROOMS December 14, 04

1 lb. lean ground beef , or turkey	2 onions thinly sliced
5 thinly sliced mushrooms	½ tsp. honey
¼ cup Dark Secrets Gourmet BBQ Sauce 4 oz. Big Rock Traditional, Guinness, or other dark beer 2 eggs dried breadcrumbs (as needed)
1 tbsp. chopped parsley	½ tsp. Dark Secrets HOT Sauce
1 tbsp. butter	1 small diced onion
salt & pepper to taste

In a large bowl, place meat, Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley, Dark Secrets HOT Sauce, the one small diced onion, and salt & pepper. Mix well together.
Divide the mixture into four pieces and form burger patties. Fry or grill burgers 6 to 7 minutes on each side until cooked through and the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F.
To prepare the 2 thinly sliced onions, heat butter or margarine in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and stir frequently until the onions begin to soften. Add honey and continue to stir. Add mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes. Add salt to taste. Caramelize on low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Serve burgers topped with this mixture of onions and mushrooms and your favorite garnish.

Serves four. These have a fine tasting ‘snap’ to them. If you don’t want them as hot, leave out the Dark Secrets HOT Sauce, or better yet, make one batch with and one batch without and have some fun sampling the difference. These are well worth the effort.

DARK SECRETS PLAYFUL PIZZA December 14, 04

1 store-bought pizza crust	4-6 tbsp Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce
3 oz. cooked chicken, cut into strips (or use duck, pork, turkey, or beef)
Green peppers cut into thin strips (volume of peppers to your tastes)
Green onions	Provolone cheese

The beauty of a pizza is that anyone can become a chef! It’s one of the best ways to involve budding younger chefs to play in their kitchen. Throw away the measuring cups & build it to your desires. For an Asian twist…use a little cilantro, shredded carrots, snow peas & bean sprouts, which bring a nice crisp texture to the end result. Most kids will love the way Dark Secrets blends with pineapple, or see the Dark Secrets Cooking Tips/Playing With Fruit for some more fruit ideas. Spark it up with some Wild Garlic Hot Sauce, or Wild Garlic Salsa & Pizza Sauce, or fire it up with a little Dark Secrets Hot Sauce (but mix it with the Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce before adding it to the pizza). Encourage your kids to try their own creations once they know how our sauces taste. They will learn how combinations work & understand tastes. Encourage them to make a few casual notes about what they added, then, as they are tasting, update their notes with ideas on how to change toppings next time. Use smaller pizzas and have everyone make their own, then share the results/tastes around the table. It often fires up their imagination and has the family, or friends planning on the next cook-off. Casual play and quality time is so important. The best theme parties are centered around food…the possibilities are endless. You can always share your favorite combinations on our “Share Your Thoughts” page. Have fun!

NAPOLEON MANDARIN BRANDY SAUCE November 11 , 04

2 oz. Napoleon Mandarin Brandy	2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 mandarin sections	salt & pepper (to taste)
4 tbsp. Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce
1 tbsp. Wild Garlic Hot Sauce

In a saucepan mix brandy, sugar, Dark Secrets & Wild Garlic sauces, and squeeze juice & pulp from mandarin sections, then add salt & pepper to taste.
Simmer in the pan to let it get thicker.

Options To Play With This: You can use it as a glaze for poultry (chicken, turkey, duck), sauté mushrooms and finish them off with sauce, for tofu, white fish (marlin & salmon are good too), glaze a ham or pork roast, add it to create a sweet stir fry, or toss your dry garlic ribs or wings in the sauce & finish off in the oven. Add a little mayonnaise to the sauce to create a sweet dip for fondues, fresh veggies, or for slow roasted pork. For glazed carrots: * sweat (*cook medium/low in 1 tbsp. butter & 2 tbsp. water in saucepan until the natural sugars in the carrots come out) carrots, then add 4 tbsp. glaze for 5 minutes on low to finish off. You can also add 1 tsp. *zest (grate from the mandarin peel) and/or 1 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary to the sauce before cooking. The zest adds a little tang & the rosemary adds a little herbal flavour. For the ‘heat lovers’ add Dark Secrets Hot Sauce to taste (remember a little goes a long way.)

~ Thanks to Grant at Sunterra Market Lendrum for providing the inspiration for this!

TEQUILA CHICKEN or FISH MARINATE & BBQ GLAZE July 6, 04

6 tbsp. Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce	1 tsp. Dark Secrets HOT Sauce
1 tbsp. soya sauce	zest from ½ of an orange*
1tsp. fresh grated ginge	6 sprigs of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp. gold tequila	½ tbsp. fresh lime juice
Optional: 2 pinches of Chinese 5 spice

Mix all the ingredients & set aside just over half for brushing on as a glaze while cooking. Use the rest to marinate in a plastic bag. Marinate fish for 30 minutes, chicken for 1 hour. BBQ or bake.
NOTES: *Zest comes from grating the outside of an unpeeled orange. Chinese 5 spice is available in larger grocery stores. Adding the Dark Secrets Hot Sauce adds some flavourful heat to this sauce. Cilantro can be replaced with fresh Italian parsley.

BREW BURGER July 6, 04

1 lb. medium ground beef	3 garlic cloves (minced)
½ cup quick cooking rolled oats	1 tbsp.Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp. dried parsley)
¼ cup Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce	1 tsp. thyme
¼ cup Big Rock Beer (try: Traditional Ale, Honey Brown, or Grasshopper)
1 tsp. dried oregano	1 medium onion (finely diced)
salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine beef, rolled oats, Dark Secrets Sauce, Big Rock Beer, onion, garlic, parsley, mustard, thyme, oregano, salt & pepper. Mix lightly, but thoroughly to blend.
Shape into 4 to 6, ½” to ¾” thick patties.
Lightly oil grill, barbeque, broil, or pan-fry using medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes per side (turning once) until instant-read thermometer inserted sideways into the center of patties reads at least 160 degrees F (70C). (Patties cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F are completely cooked, regardless of colour.
Serve on toasted whole wheat buns & your favorite chilled Big Rock brew.

These could also be known as ‘Drew Burgers’, as this came in from Drew at Alberta Beef. www.albertabeef.org. For those who ‘desire more fire’, add a number of drops of Dark Secrets Hot Sauce to desired heat and mix well, or mix separate batches. It’ll provide mare buzz to your burg.

THE SWEET ‘' OF RED (Watch The Wings Disappear) April 23,04

5 oz. pure honey	1 bottle Wild Garlic Original Hot Sauce
1 tbsp. butter	flour (less than a cup)
2-3 lbs. Of wings
(optional for heat) ½ to 1 tsp. Dark Secrets ‘Simmering Heat' Hot Sauce

Dust the wings in flower.
Shake excess flour off the wings in a colander or basket.
Deep-fry the wings for 9 minutes.
First heat the honey, Wild Garlic Hot Sauce & butter in a pan, then lower the temperature.
Remove the grease off the wings.
Add the fried wings to the warm sauce for five minutes.
Finish off the wings on a medium pre-heated barbeque. Oil the barbeque grill first, these are sticky, flavourful & fun.
Cook 1 ½ minutes per side. This will leave grill marks...kind of like a few of the Flames faces after a hard fought round one. Baste with a bit of the remaining sauce as you turn them.

These are a solid hit! For FLAMING HOT WINGS, add ½ to 1 tsp. of Pepperheads Dark Secrets Hot Sauce, depending on your ‘desire for fire'. We tested these while watching Game One against the Wings ~ prepped watching the first period, deep-fried during the second & barbequed a round between periods. Grilled the rest before overtime. The third period was the best and overtime was SWEET (2-1 Flames). Our culinary voodoo for Round One was sharing a jar of Wild Garlic Salsa during the third period with Flames fans…we only did this for games 4, 5 & 7, to add some ‘spark' to the Flames.

GUACAMOLE With A Little 'SIMMERING HEAT' December 8, 03

For every avocado add: 4 drops Dark Secrets 'Simmering Heat' Hot Sauce
½ tsp. Wild Garlic Original Hot Sauce	2 pinches ground cumin
1 tbsp. sour cream	juice from ¼ of a lime
sea salt to taste (2 pinches)

Dice avocado, place in a bowl & mash in ingredients with a fork.
Serve with Wild Garlic Salsa & Pizza Sauce!

THE STEWED JAMAICAN

1 bottle Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce
1/4 bottle Wild Garlic Hot Sauce
1 tablespoon Dark Secrets Hot Sauce
approx.1/2 lbs. sirloin steak (or your favorite cut)
1 fresh mango
3 medium onions

Chop onions & mango into large pieces.
Cut beef into bite sized pieces or strips if you are pouring it over rice or pasta.
Add the three sauces & slow cook for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve as a stew with fresh bread or pour over fresh pasta or rice.'Brother' Elliott whipped this up at the Eat! Vancouver show.

SWEATY ONIONS

Add to your Pepperheads Pizza, on your steak (beef, elk, buffalo), enjoy as a side dish, add them to your stir fry, use them as a topping on your baked potatoes, 'wrap' them up, or enjoy as a meal all by themselves!

"Life itself is like an onion; it has a bewildering number of layers; you peel them off, one by one, and sometimes you cry." ~ Carl Sandburg

The Chefs at Pepperheads agree with Carl, but prefer the subtle heat on the brow that follows the enjoyment of this delight. Tears may be prevented by placing two or three toothpicks between your lips while cutting the onions. The wood soaks up the effect of the onions before reaching your eyes. We wish that the solutions to life were that simple.

DARK SECRETS BBQ COOKING TIPS: ADDING FRUIT revised March 11, 04
The sweet and smoky flavours of Dark Secrets Gourmet BBQ Sauce blends very smoothly with a number of natural fruit flavours, making for great Vegetarian cooking options, creating Caribbean style dishes with tropical fruits, a Native American approach to wild meat (berries), or just fine options for marinating, slow-cooking, or adventures on the grill. Dark Secrets blends with the flavour of the fruit in very smooth fashion. Use a slow cooker or simmer on low for a couple of hours on the stove. Cover and stir occasionally. You can always squeeze in a fresh lime for accent. We used huckleberries recently at a legendary oyster party in Rossland & it was sensational with freshly delivered oysters.
Fruits we've played with: papaya, mango, star fruits (also known as carambola, these are mildly tangy like a grape), bananas, apples, peaches, blueberries, saskatoons, huckleberries, cut mandarin sections in half, or try your own experiment. When the fruit is allowed to slowly cook in the sauce, the flavours blend. Squeeze in a fresh lime to accent the flavours of your creation.
Increase the heat level of your sauce by adding Wild Garlic Original Hot Sauce (6.5 for heat). This provides the extra zing of wild garlic. We recommend 1 part to 4 parts Dark Secrets, or play with the 10-out-of-10 heat of Dark Secrets 'Simmering Heat' Hot Sauce, remembering that a little goes a long way.
Marinating: We suggest marinating in a sealed plastic bag, overnight at least, to ensure the best flavour and that your sauce will go further.
A sample suggestion: slow cook bison or elk with Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce, blueberries and fresh limejuice. A simple dish with a traditional approach. (The Native North Americans used natural berries to cure & preserve their meats.) Berries blend wonderfully. Try your first version without Wild Garlic to fully savour the rich, sweet tastes. Fresh limejuice (Key limes are a treat if available), accents the other flavours in your sauce. We could create each fruit combination as a separate recipe, or worse yet (in our minds), bring out a line of similar sauces, simply changing the feature fruit on each. The Chefs take the approach of offering you versatile sauces and plenty of options, allowing you to easily create unique recipes that will add enjoyment to your meals and a little fun in the creative process.

“Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili.”
~ Jazz great Harry James