Siracha vs. Tabasco vs. Tiger Sauce

I love spicy food, however I like being in control of how much spice I get. Thank the food gods that someone invented these three sauces.
There is the Thai sauce, Siracha also known as "rooster sauce". It is great with any Thai food or just Asian food. It's spicy spicy spicy, but delicious, especially in Pho, a Vietnamese soup dish.
Then there is Tabasco sauce. I love Tabasco on eggs, but my favorite "flavor" is smoked Tabasco. It's has a BBQ taste to it. I love using it in my Mexican dishes, especially on my Chipotle burrito. I make spicy-veggie rice (recipe later) with the smoked Tabasco.
Last, but not least, Tiger sauce. I'm sure many of you haven't heard of it, but it is one of the greatest sauces ever. Go to the store, go in the sauce aisle, and it should be by specialty sauces, it has a tiger on it, obviously, buy it buy it. It can go on anything! Steak, fish, potatoes, breakfast, noodles, anything. My family is obsessed with it. It was the first sauce I really like when I was little.
All of these sauces are great go-to sauces from the fridge. Forget A1. Yuck!
Picking a favorite is hard. I like specific sauces on specific dishes. Try each if you haven't, your taste buds will thank you.

Ok this is my special Spicy Veggie Rice! I love having it with baked chicken.

Ingredients:
-3 cups of rice
-4 and a half cups of water
-2 Roma tomatoes, diced
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-Smoked Tabasco

Directions:
Add water and rice together in a pot and bring to a boil uncovered. Once it comes to a boil, turn heat to low and cover. Wait 7 minutes and add veggies, don't stir. Cover. Check in 7 more minutes. When water is gone, test rice. If it is still crunchy, add a tablespoon of water and check in 5 minutes. Stir. When water is gone and rice is done, add Smoked Tabasco. Shake it a few times. Stir. No pepper, no salt. If you want it really spicy, go nuts! Serve and enjoy.

"In the orchestra of a great kitchen, the sauce chef is the soloist."
-Fernand Point

Chicken-Broccoli-Rice Casserole

This past weekend, I made my mom's chicken-broccoli-rice casserole, and it was to die for! Afterward, I made brownies from a box with Matthew! It was a wonderful dinner! This recipe is so good, I have to share it with everyone! I hope you don't mind, Mom.

Ingredients:
-2 to 3 Chicken Breasts, cubed
-4 tablespoons of butter
-1 whole small onion, or half a medium onion, diced
-1 cup or 4 stalks of celery, medium diced
-2 cans of cream of chicken soup
-2 cups of chicken broth
-2 cups of cheese, preferably cheddar
-3 cups of cooked rice
-Frozen bag of broccoli
-4 slices of bread, preferably whole wheat, cut into cubes (croutons)
-Pepper, no salt!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add cubed chicken. In a large pot or deep skillet melt about 2 tablespoons of butter and add onions and celery. After both veggies have been sauteed, add in cream of chicken and only a cup of chicken broth to start out with. Add all the cheese, and cooked rice. To have less pots to clean, I just buy three packs of Uncle Ben's microwavable rice. When chicken is done cooking in boiled water add to mixture. Microwave broccoli for about a minute, just to thaw it out a little, then add to mixture. Add pepper for taste. If mixture is too thick, add more chicken broth. You want it thick and not soupy. Remember, it's a casserole, not soup. Transfer mixture to a 9x13 casserole dish. Melt remaining butter in a skillet and add bread cubes. Once those are lightly toasted, place on top of the casserole. They will toast more in the oven and give a great crunchy texture to this meal. Don't mix! Place the casserole in the oven for 30 minutes. That should be plenty of time for all of the flavors to ooze together. Serve in a bowl, and to add a kick, it is great with Tiger sauce, located in sauce/dressing aisle. Bon Appétit!

"Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable."
-Ina Garten

Foodie

Last night, I had the hardest time falling asleep. I wasn't stressed or worried about anything. My mind kept thinking about food. Eating it, writing about it, cooking it, shopping for it, playing with it, being creative with it, on and on and on. I think now I am an official "Foodie". When the thought of food comes into my mind, which is almost every second, I obsess over it. So now since I am obsessing over it, I think I can now say I am an official "Foodie". Just in case you aren't sure what a "Foodie" is, let me explain. The dictionary say that a "Foodie" is "someone who has an ardent or refined interest in food". They can't just like food. They have to be interested in learning about it and knowing many aspects of it, such as the history, production, seasonal, science, how to prepare, varieties, and so on. I am interested in everything there is to know about food to kitchen appliances. There is so much to know. The world of food has endless knowledge. I am going to school for culinary arts and I've worked in some restaurants and I don't know everything, and I know one day that I won't know everything about it, but I am looking forward to learning about food as much as I possibly can. I love making people happy and smile. Cooking for someone is a way for me to express myself to whoever it may be. I love spending money on food, not in the sense of dining out, but in a market, like Sunflower Market across the street from me. The produce from there is incredible! I wish the truck would come stop by my little apartment and give me big giant heirloom tomatoes and basil and some California artichokes! Sigh, if only.
Being a "Foodie", you also write about food. So in this blog, I am TRYING to write about all these experiences I have. I feel like I am writing it more for me than anything because in ten years I want to look back and see what impact food had on me. However, is anyone out there reading this? Maybe?

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience."
-James Beard

Eggs

I love eggs! Scrambled or over easy is the best. However, my favorite way to enjoy eggs is a country scramble. Never heard of it? Get ready to taste something exhilarating, egg style.
First, butter. Butter is your friend and is they to help with your eggs. Do about a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and coat the pan. Add whatever you want to it! Onions, tomatoes, peppers, ham, bacon, jalapenos, sausage, whatever you have on hand. I like just veggies in it. So saute your ingredients until they are just about done. Crack two eggs into a bowl. I learned that if you crack an egg on a flat surface it will crack easier and won't get egg shell into the bowl. Do not whisk your eggs! I repeat, do not whisk your eggs! Otherwise, it will not be a country scramble. Add the two eggs to the pan. Let the egg whites cook. When they are halfway cooked add whatever cheese you want, pepper jack and cheddar are usually best. Then poke, with your spatula, the eggs yolks, and scramble the eggs. Cook it til how runny or overdone you like your eggs. On top you can put avocados. The best way to enjoy this is to put smoked Tabasco on top. Serve and enjoy! It's simply delicious!
Last night, I went to my friend, Mackenzie's, house. We were watching Julie and Julia, and got a huge craving for eggs after the scene when she cooks eggs. So we paused the movie, and I made us this delicious country scramble. We didn't have much in it, but it was perfect. We added onions, pepper jack cheese, avocado on top, and smoked Tabasco. It was bliss! All this blogging about it is making me hungry.

"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."
-Author Unknown

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash. Yum! A few weeks ago I bought a baby butternut squash. It sat in my fridge for a week, waiting for me. I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it. So I decided to do a mock mini Thanksgiving dinner for myself. I baked some chicken, made a frozen bag of mashed potatoes, and I cubed that butternut squash. With it I put maple syrup, melted butter, half an onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and for a kick, crushed red pepper. Cooked it at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Usually, people put brown sugar or marshmallows on squash, but I love maple syrup on fish and mashed potatoes, so I decided to try something new. It was perfect. Crunchy on the outside and soft and mushy in the middle! I was so excited about this recipe, I wanted to make it for my family. For my birthday my mother bought a London broil and marinated it in honey and garlic. As a side I wanted real mashed potatoes and of course, butternut squash. I cooked the sides. Hey, if you want something done right, do it yourself. So I was pretty excited about everyone trying the squash. I kept checking it and checking it and it wasn't exactly caramelizing like I wanted it to and it was really sweet. However, it was cooked all the way through and it was scrumptious. All night and the next morning I couldn't figure out why it didn't caramelize like the way I wanted it to. Was it the altitude? No. Different oven? No. Did I forget to add something? YES I DID! The melted butter and garlic! How could I forget that?! It didn't turn into a beautiful golden brown because I forgot the butter and it was sweeter than last time. Melted butter and garlic. How on earth could I forget those two key ingredients? Anyway, my family still liked it, though it was just like eating melted sugar, in my opinion. Next time, I'll remember the butter.

Recipe for Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
- 1 to 2 baby butternut squashes, cubed
- Half an onion, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- One cup of syrup, or until completely coated
- 1 Tbsp of garlic, minced
- Half a stick of butter
- Crushed red pepper, optional
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish, or deep cookie sheet.
- Stir with hands, of course!
- Cook in oven for 35 minutes.
- Check tenderness. Remember crunchiness on the outside, soft on the inside.
- Enjoy! Oh and don't forget the butter!


"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts!" -James Beard

Julia Child

Last night I watched the movie Julie and Julia. Such a wonderful movie! When I saw it in August for the first time, I went out the next day and bought the books Julie and Julia and My Life in France. I also looked all over for her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I couldn't find it anywhere! Every book store said they wouldn't get any for a couple of months! So one night I went to Williams Sonoma for a new knife, and when I was there a couple months before I had seen the books, Volume One and Two! No other book store had both of them. I asked the saleswoman if they had any, and of course they were out. Another saleswoman overheard and said she saw it out of the corner of her eye! It had been behind the other cookbooks! I went home with both volumes and eager to cook a French meal. However, I have not had time to do so. So after watching the movie again with my family, I am pleased to say that I will making Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon sometime this week!

Watching how hard she tried to get her book published is an inspiration to me. I have decided that I will be starting my own cookbook.
Difficult? Maybe. Long? Hopefully. Delicious? Of course!
Over the next couple of months I will be testing recipes and writing them down. Thank you Julia, thank you very much for inspiring.
She showed us that burning your food, salt caps coming off, losing your omelet, overcooking your steak, and using tons of butter is ok. It's ok to make mistakes. It's a kitchen. It's food. You're not perfect, I'm not perfect, so why is our food always going to be perfect. Food is an expression. Remember that.

"It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it." -Julia Child

Soup

Ok soup. What does it make you think of? I think of snow, warmth, hearty, runny nose, and chunky. I love soup! Any soup. My favorite is the traditional chicken noodle, but the only time I really it is when my mother makes it from scratch with corn on the cob and egg noodles! Yum. I remember coming home from school on snowy days and the house smelt like the soup. It was so comforting. Though soup is so basic, is makes us feel these warm feelings. Which makes me think, that the simplest things in life are the best things, is true. I know around winter we will be consuming a lot of soup! And why not? It warms our chilled bones and makes us feel better if we are a bit under the weather.
I know my youngest sister, Isabelle, is obsessed with soup. She is a "soup connoisseur" as we like to say in our family. Every time we go out she is always getting a cup of soup. Chicken tortilla, chicken noodle, broccoli cheddar, corn chowder, french onion, etc. When I was in Florida last week, we stopped at a Perkins (gross, I know) on our way home from the beach. Isabelle ordered a kids chocolate chip pancakes, and of course a cup of chicken noodle soup! Now is it just me, or do these two things not really go well together? Oh well, she is ten, and hopefully she will grow out of it.
My favorite thing about soup is the "accessory" or side. Like a warm piece of french bread or a grilled cheese with tomato soup. Bread to me is an extra utensil used to wipe the bowl so you can get every last drop of that delicious soup. Oh, and I have to say that bread bowls are soup's greatest invention. It just sucks it all up and when you are all done eating all the soup, the bread bowl still has that great flavor.
I'm excited about winter and making more soups. I don't make soup too often, unfortunately, but I want to make more and maybe give some to families, neighbors, and friends. The holiday season is here and it is all about giving back to those you love, and soup gives warmth, and nothing is better during winter then to feel warm.

I have a great recipe for a quick Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. Don't forget the grilled cheese!

Ingredients:
-Non-flavored oil, like a salad oil
-One shallot, minced
-Dy, chopped basil
-24 oz of tomato sauce
-3 tablespoons of tomato paste
-1 cup of half and half
-1 cup of chicken stock
-Season with salt and pepper to taste
-One bunch fresh basil, chiffonade

Directions:
Heat a pot on medium heat with oil. When oil is hot, add shallot and dry basil. When the shallot is translucent add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir. Add the half and half and the chicken stock! If you want it creamier add more half and half, and if you want it thinner add more stock. Salt and pepper to your taste. Now with the fresh basil, you can add it to the soup, or as a garnish on top of the soup, either way it taste great! Bon Appétit!

"There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get you soup in a can."
-Laurie Colwin