Aunt Ruby's Chile Sauce

Aunt Ruby's Chile Sauce

I hadn't made Aunt Ruby's Chile Sauce in 15 years.  I don't know why, I guess I'm usually just frantic to get my plain tomato sauce completed and haven't had time for too many other things. And too, this year I didn't grow any cucumbers so I've not been making pickles.

So I dug out the old recipe and realized that what I had made in the past and what my mother made in the past used sweet red peppers instead of hot red peppers.  Mom probably did this because as children we were not inclined to eat anything spicy.

I made only four pints - which is half the recipe, but I figure that will be enough for me and maybe a jar or two to give away.  This time I added the hot red peppers in the form of dried red pepper flakes and I think it worked pretty well. This is a  a piece of Havarti cheese on a water cracker and I thought it was excellent.  It would also be good poured over cream cheese.  But its is meant to be served with beef or pork as an accompaniment.  Here's the full recipe.

Aunt Ruby's Chile Sauce

24 meaty good sized tomatoes, skinned, cored and rough chopped.  I let the tomatoes sit in a big bowl in the refrigerator over night to drain some of the water off.

8  yellow onion, peeled and rough chopped

1/2 a gallon (two quarts) white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon ground mustard (I used Coleman's)

2 hot red pepper pods or two teaspoons of dried red pepper flakes

2 pints of sugar (I weighed the sugar, 2 pints equal 32 oz or 2 pounds)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick three of four inches long

Put all the ingredients together in a large stainless steel stock pot. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer until thick.  This could take three or four hours.  The house will smell wonderful the whole time.  When the sauce is as thick as you'd like it pour into clean hot canning jars fitted with hot clean lids and rings and water bath process at a boil for 10 minutes. Cool. Make sure all the jars seal. If one doesn't "pop", store it in the refrigerator and eat it first.