Lemon Drop Hot Sauce Recipe

This hot sauce is a perfect last-minute dash of heat and flavor. Despite its benign color, it's fairly hot, but not as face-meltingly spicy as a brew whipped up from habaneros.

Purists may scoff at the inclusion of olive oil and honey in this sauce, but it rounds off the heat and helps the lemon flavor sit on the tongue. You can go without it if you want the sauce hotter. You shouldn't have to worry much about the raw garlic and oil breeding botulism spores—this is an acidic environment that doesn't force air out—but if you're really concerned either use the sauce quickly or cook your garlic first.

If using fresh lemon drop chiles, simmer about 2 cups of seeded peppers in the vinegar until soft, then proceed with the rest of the recipe.