The Hogg Sauce

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From time to time I am going to list some of my recipes up here so that you can access the things that I do not like to give away. Over the years I have come across some great things in this world and some of the best is a culmination of reciepes that have come from various points in my life.

There is not one as prized as the sauce recipe and that is mostly due to the fact that no matter how I attempt to describe it to people, they always attempt to cut a corner here and a corner there and do not get the best results.

The Hogg sauce is a combination of several people. My mother's sauce, which is a straight red sauce with a lot of herbs that could be as old as I am mixed together and simmered for hours. The thing about mama's sauce that I didn't like was the horrid heartburn that would come into play because of the acid levels of just plain sauce.

One of my best friends from the SUNY Buffalo days, Mr. TJ Newcomb, used a recipe from his mother that made a sweet sauce that went so well with the sausages we used to get from the Elmwood Market.

Then there was the spicy sauce that was a family recipe from James, who most of his family lived in Nawleans. They made a spicy sauce with red hot sauce that we good, but not traditional.

These three sauces made me wonder what the happy medium could be. After some serious debate about the issue, I came up with the following:
Mom's sauce was a nice base to start with--except try to use fresher ingrediants. Spice it, but also make it sweet so that as the sauce travelled along the tongue, each taste area could get a little bit of the action. (except sour, but that is why I always use sourdough bread for garlic bread)

Like most sauce bases that need a little spice, Make sure to use fresh ingrediants as much as possible-especially garlic, onions, etc.

Biggest thing with cooking the sauce is to make sure to give it enough time for it to properly develop. The longer you let it go, the better the result. You cannot mix this sauce in less than 2 hours--if you don't have that much time, don't even bother with it.

First off, start with the sauce. Canned tomato sauce is fine, Hunt's is usually the best deal and it is salty, so I don't recommend using any more salt than that. Three big cans and three cans of puree should be a good starting point, but I would recommend having a couple of each on hand just in case you need to add. With each can of puree, add a half a cup of water as well.

When all of that is in the pan, add italian seasoning, oregano (okay if in the spice tin) and fresh basil. Let it get hot slowly--key is to not boil it at this stage as you are trying to open the tomato, simillar to opening wine...

Next start chopping the multitude of fresh veg that you are going to be putting into the sauce. Remember, most fo the stuff you are chopping is water based and will shrink. I usually do two onions (white or sweet) cut normally, not too big, not too small. A couple green peppers, a couple yellow peppers, mushrooms (at least a pound, cut into quarters). Leave them until the sauce is hot, but not boiling.

Put the veggies in the mix, stirring constantly.

Give them a little time to begin their process and start on your meats. Generally, when making sauce, the better the ingrediants, the better the sauce. If your in Seattle, the best meat to buy is cascioppo bros. burger meat for the base and then some sausages to add. For the groud beef, brown it before putting it into the sauce and add fresh garlic from a garlic press to the meat while you are cooking it. Drain the fat and put into sauce.

I have used all kinds of sausage and the one that I think comes out best is just a sweet italian.

Now that the majority of ingrediants are in the sauce, now it is time to begin to play with actual chemistry of the sauce. First off, taste the sauce now. It has flavor, but is still a little bland. Start by sweeting the sauce a little. Add one cup of sugar t the mix and let it crystallize a bit on the top before stirring it into the rest of the mix. You will add sugar more through the process, but for now, stick with a cup.
Next, add dried red hot chili peppers. Try to find these--they are much much tastier and potent that the red pepper flakes that most people susbstitute--you will be able to tell the difference. Take about five or six big pods that crush them over the pot, allow the skins and seeds to crumble and tumble into your sauce.
Next add half a clove of garlic using a garlic press.

Let it sit and stew over low to medium heat for an hour, stirring regularly. Taste. The ideal taste you are going for is one of sweetness that has a spike of spice on the end that surprises your guests. I think this is an important element for sure. Keep up the same thing for at least 2-3 hours. The longer it goes, the more complicated the taste gets. a six hour sauce seems to work the best.