Spicy Chocolate

Lately I have been noticing more and more chocolate companies are creating their own version of "Spicy Chocolate" and it very much excites me! The perfect combo of my favorite, dark chocoalte, and my other favorite, spiciness! While on my road trip up to Seattle, Washington I popped into a cute little chocolate factory, Theo, and HAD to try ALL of their flavors (they had samples of every last one)... of course my favorite...

If any of you are up in the area, you should pop in for tastings, it was such a cute little place. A week later I am back in town and drive up to Santa Barbara for the Radiohead concert with a quick stop in at my in-laws... what do I find? I little tin left for me by my Mother-in-law. What was in that tin?

The sweet yet bitter taste of dark chocolate fills your mouth with a surprise ending of hotness! It's a match made in Heaven.

Cabbage Crunch

Cabbage Crunch - a neutral side to a spicy meal

I went to Wholefoods the other day and got the cabbage crunch salad and devoured it as my

little Tikito watched from the back seat. Obviously I liked it and wanted more. So I found a similar recipe on Donna Gregory's page on The Recipe Circus website. What a fantastic side to a spicy meal! Of course I added hotness to it to make it that much better :)

Ingredients:
15 cups shredded green cabbage (we used 2 medium heads, cleaned and cored)
1 teaspoon black or white toasted sesame seeds (we like the black for contrast)
1 bunch (about 8) scallions, finely sliced including some green stems
¾ cup sliced almonds, divided

Honey Dressing:
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Chili oil
Salt, to taste (I omitted the salt because i'm not a fan)

Recipe

To make salad: In a large mixing bowl, toss all ingredients together well. Refrigerate until ready to dress and serve.

To make dressing: Whisk together all ingredients until emulsified. Cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, whisk well and pour over salad; toss to coat. Makes 6 servings.

I had lots of leftovers so I poached a piece of chicken, shredded it, tossed it with just a tiny bit of Oriental dressing and mixed it in with the cabbage crunch for a yummy, healthy salad. Enjoy!

Hottie Tottie Guest ... Rita

This week my best friend Rita wanted to cook my husband and I dinner (she NEVER cooks) so we were delighted that she wanted to attempt a meal for the two of us (especially because my husband is SO PICKY!). Turns out, he loved every last bite... AND she topped off the night with my favorite Funfetti cake!!!!!!!!

On the menu:
Coconut shrimp with a sweet chili dip
Sweet soy salmon
Blue cheese walnut endive salad (or "very crunchy lettuce salad" as we told my husband)
Steamed rice
Steamed brussels sprouts (for the ladies, husband wouldn't touch)

Aunty Pearl's Coconut Shrimp
Beat 3 eggs and place in a small bowl, combine japanese panko with coconut flakes and place in another small bowl and fill a third small bowl with flour. Leaving the tails on, butterfly raw shrimp (as many as you want) and sprinkle with garlic salt. Heat a shallow pot with vegetable oil (not too hot or the flour panko will fall off). Dip each shrimp in the flour then the egg mixture and last into the panko and coconut. Cook them on each side for about 2 minutes. Serve with sweet chili sauce (We used a delicious one that my sister-in-law Kelly brought us from Singapore).

Meghan's Sweet Soy Salmon
Mix 1 tablespoon (per person eating) soy sauce with 1 tablespoon (per person eating) honey. Place wild salmon on a tin foil lined baking sheet. Pour sauce over salmon and broil for about 10 minutes or until done.

Rita's Blue Cheese Walnut Endive Salad
In a large bowl toss roughly chopped endives with blue cheese chunks, candied walnuts and El Torito's Cilantro Pepita Caesar dressing.

Serve hot and enjoy with Sriracha and Hawaiian Habanero Heat from Kauai :)

PF Chang's Secret Sauce

I wanted to share a new secret I found out while dining at PF Chang's over the weekend. The waiter at the Santa Monica restaurant makes his own special "Texas" hot sauce for you if you ask nicely :) He said it consisted of: garlic, green onion, chili peppers, soy sauce and chili paste. It was way beyond the silly "hot sauce" they prepare on your table.

I dumped this all over my meal and it was delicioso! But I have to admit that we were all sweating by the end of dinner... a success!

Widow Maker... I Love You!

I LOVE DAN'S PRIME WIDOW MAKER! Obsessed actually and I am having the hardest time finding it again. I originally bought it at various Whole Foods until I came to the terrible realization that they were all sold out and not re-ordering. AAAAAHHHH! What to do?

It is so good on pizza, pasta, chicken, steamed vegetables and just about everything else on the planet. 

If you love it too let me know so we can demand it return to our local markets (or let me in on where I can get it)! Dan you were definitely in your "prime" when you made this one, now make some more!

Tabasco Zucchini Pizza Crust

So the other night we had "homemade pizza night"... I ALWAYS have guilt after eating pizza (even though it's oh so good), but I remembered coming across a Zucchini Pizza Crust recipe on Pinterest from Your Lighter Side blog and thought it would take away my guilt while still participating in Pizza night. Verdict: FANTASTIC! Of course I added hot sauce to the recipe to make it above and beyond. Try it out, it's divine.

Zucchini Pizza Crust:


1 large raw zucchini, shredded (about 1.5-2 cups)
2 eggs
2 cups shredded mozzarella
10 dashes of tabasco




Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet (I used parchment paper).  Shred the zucchini and squeeze in your hand to get rid of excess water.  Mix together first three ingredients. Spread the dough on the pan evenly (watch to distribute evenly, the middle of the crust can be too thick, causing edges to brown and the center to remain thick).  Dash the tabasco evenly over the crust.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is cooked (mine was a bit soft, make sure it gets really well done).

Let cool, rest. Makes a 14" pizza; I used half the recipe to make a 7" pizza for myself :) Next I flipped the dough over onto greased tin foil and then started to "dress" it. 

I dressed mine with tomato sauce, red pepper chili flakes, Italian herb mix, then added a few carmelized onions, mushrooms and a little bit of a shredded three cheese blend. Topped it off with some fresh basil ( I reccommend putting the basil on AFTER it is grilled) and put that baby on the pizza stone on the grill. To avoid a mess I kept the pizza on the tin foil. Let it grill for about 5-7 minutes. And last but not least, I added Tabasco Mexico's Tabanero Hot Sauce Picante to every bite YUM!

 

Hottie Chicken Soup

Lately I have been making a lot of my husband's favorite thing... chicken soup. But more importantly I've found that adding my number one favorite hot sauce, Sriracha, brings a whole new dimension to it. Since I don't like to cook with much salt, the Sriracha adds just that extra flavor and spiciness that it needs. I'm not gonna lie, this takes forever to make! But it is so worth it in the end. I ALWAYS make a whole batch and freeze most of it for a rainy day...

Ingredients:
1 (3.5 pound) whole chicken
3 quarts low sodium chicken broth
6 carrots, peeled
3 stalks celery, ends trimmed
3 medium sweet onions, peeled 
8 black peppercorns
1 clove garlic, crushed
10 sprigs parsley
8 sprigs thyme
1 large bay leaf
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 leeks, root ends and most of the green tops removed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
.25 cup Sriracha hot sauce


First you have to make the stock. 
In a large pot over medium heat, add the whole chicken and broth, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, and 1 onion. Next add in the peppercorns, garlic, 2 sprigs of parsley, 4 sprigs of thyme, bay leaf and enough water to just cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer about 1.25 hours or until the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken and place into a bowl. Strain the broth into a large clean bowl and discard the veggies. 


Next your ready to make your soup.
Slice the remaining carrots, celery, onions and leeks into 1/4 inch pieces. Remove and discard the skin, fat and bones from the chicken; shred the pieces into bite size. Chop the remaining parsley leaves. Melt the butter in a large dutch oven ( I use the same pot as the broth), add the vegetables and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken, broth, Sriracha, salt and pepper. Simmer the soup until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. Stir in the remaining parsley and thyme. Serve HOT & enjoy!!!