Recipes

Five recipes, one for each bottle. They are simple on purpose — the sauce is doing the work, and each one is built to show what that particular pepper is for. Every recipe uses the sauce as an ingredient, not just a finish, so you can taste what happens when the heat cooks into the food.

If you only cook one: make the eggs. If you only cook one and you like heat: make the wings.

Garlic Cayenne Eggs

Uses First Mistake. Serves 2.

Soft scrambled eggs finished with a spoon of garlic-cayenne butter. The mildest bottle, doing exactly what it is for.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon butter, plus 1 tablespoon more for the finish
  • 2 teaspoons First Mistake, plus more at the table
  • Salt
  • Buttered toast, to serve

Method

  1. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
  2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick pan over low heat. Add the eggs and stir slowly with a spatula until they are just set and still glossy, 4 to 5 minutes.
  3. Off the heat, stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and 2 teaspoons of First Mistake. The butter carries the garlic through the eggs instead of sitting on top.
  4. Serve on toast with more sauce at the table.

Jalapeño Fish Tacos

Uses Took The Bet. Serves 4.

Quick pan-seared white fish, cabbage, and a jalapeño-lime crema built on Took The Bet. Bright sauce, rich fish. That is the whole idea.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb firm white fish (mahi, cod or snapper), cut into strips
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Salt
  • 8 small corn tortillas, warmed
  • 2 cups shredded cabbage
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or Mexican crema
  • 1 tablespoon Took The Bet, plus more to finish
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Cilantro and sliced onion, to serve

Method

  1. Stir the sour cream, 1 tablespoon of Took The Bet, and half the lime juice together. Taste; add more sauce if you want it greener.
  2. Season the fish with cumin and salt. Sear in the oil over medium-high heat, 2 to 3 minutes a side, until it flakes.
  3. Toss the cabbage with the remaining lime juice and a pinch of salt.
  4. Build each taco: cabbage, fish, a spoon of crema, cilantro and onion. Finish with a few more drops of Took The Bet straight from the bottle.

Habanero Honey Wings

Uses No Turning Back. Serves 4.

Oven wings tossed in a habanero, honey and butter glaze. The fruit in the habanero is what makes honey the right partner.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb chicken wings, split
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 3 tablespoons No Turning Back

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Pat the wings completely dry, toss with the baking powder and salt, and lay them on a rack over a sheet pan.
  2. Roast 40 to 45 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and crisp.
  3. While they roast, melt the butter with the honey over low heat. Take it off the heat and stir in No Turning Back. Do not boil it after the sauce goes in.
  4. Toss the hot wings in the glaze and serve immediately. The heat builds over the plate, so keep something cold nearby.

Smoked Chipotle Black Beans

Uses Crossed The Line. Serves 4 to 6.

A pot of black beans with onion, garlic and enough Crossed The Line to taste like they simmered next to a fire. Good on rice, in tacos, or on their own.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, with their liquid
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons Crossed The Line
  • Salt
  • Lime and cilantro, to finish

Method

  1. Soften the onion in the oil over medium heat, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and cook one minute more.
  2. Add the beans with their liquid and 1 tablespoon of Crossed The Line. Simmer, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes, mashing a few beans against the side of the pot to thicken it.
  3. Taste. Add the second tablespoon of sauce if you want more smoke. Season with salt.
  4. Finish with lime and cilantro. The smoke is the point; do not drown it in lime.

Ghost Pepper Noodle Bowl

Uses Ignored The Warning. Serves 2.

Sesame noodles with a ghost pepper dressing measured in drops. This is the recipe that proves Ignored The Warning has flavor under the heat, if you use little enough to find it.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz dried noodles (ramen, udon or spaghetti)
  • 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 4 to 8 drops Ignored The Warning
  • 2 scallions, sliced
  • Toasted sesame seeds
  • Cucumber, sliced thin

Method

  1. Cook the noodles, drain, and rinse under cold water.
  2. Whisk the tamari, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar and garlic. Add 4 drops of Ignored The Warning. Taste. Add more one drop at a time; six is plenty for most people.
  3. Toss the noodles in the dressing. Top with scallions, sesame seeds and cucumber.
  4. Serve at room temperature. The cucumber is not decoration. You will want it.

A note on quantities

Every amount above is a starting point. Hot sauce is the one ingredient in a recipe where the right quantity depends entirely on who is eating, so taste as you go and add from the bottle at the table. The one exception is Ignored The Warning: measure it in drops, and add them one at a time.

Want more ideas without a recipe? Six things to put a Bad Decision on is the short version. All five sauces are in the full lineup, or grab the complete set and cook all five.