5 ways to crank up the heat with hot-pepper sauce

If your meals are begging for an extra jolt, look to these novel ways to use hot pepper sauce.

1. To perk up scrambled eggs, use two millilitres (1/2 teaspoon) hot-pepper sauce for every eight eggs.For a novel topping for corn muffins, mix together 250 millilitres (one cup) honey and 45 millilitres (three tablespoons) hot-pepper sauce. Store at room temperature. Try it on grilled shrimp, too.
2. To make a spicy yogurt marinade, combine 250 millilitres (one cup) plain yogurt, 50 millilitres (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice, 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) hot-pepper sauce and 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) cayenne pepper. Use to marinate 1.5 to two kilograms (three to four pounds) of chicken parts for one hour. The chicken will be spicy but not unbearably hot.
3. For mahi-mahi tacos with a kick, simmer mahi-mahi fillets in picante sauce, then add lime juice and cilantro. Serve in warm flour tortillas or crispy corn tortillas with sour cream, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped onions and lime wedges for squeezing over the top.
4. To make nut brittle that will surprise your guests, mix a little hot-pepper sauce into the sugar mixture before spreading the mixture on a baking sheet.
5. To make a simple sauce for Buffalo-style chicken wings, merely combine equal parts melted unsalted butter and hot-pepper sauce. You can dip the entire wing into the sauce, or use it as a separate dipping sauce for fried or grilled chicken. Better yet, use as a baste on grilled chicken. Some people add ketchup to the butter and hot-sauce combo to reduce the heat and strong vinegar flavour.

Hot-pepper sauces contain a potent blend of chili ­peppers, vinegar and salt. While people often love the flavour, most animals run from these ingredients. For that reason, hot-pepper sauce makes an effective organic pesticide. Put some hot-pepper sauce in a spray bottle (diluted with some extra vinegar and water, if necessary) and spray it on your garden plants to keep bugs and other critters away. The spray is effective for three to five days.

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