Sriracha

aka Rooster Sauce

I was first introduced to this a few years back when my neighbor was moving out of the country and a half bottle was in the box of stuff she couldn't take with her when she left. One taste told me it was hot. Specifically it is an Asian red pepper sauce. I used it sparingly for quite some time, mostly as the heat component in pork and chicken stir frys.

I grew up in an environment where a dash of black pepper or a sprinkle of store brand chili powder made a dish instantly hot. As an adult I have been exposed to many hot items. I have learned to pick out the brown peppers in Asian dishes and avoid many other peppers such as Jalapenos, Habeneros, Tabasco branded hot sauces and similar stuff. I just do not handle spicy heat well but there are some that have some flavor. Sriracha is one of those, that used in moderation, I have learned to like. It is one of the items on the table at many Asian, mainly Vietnamese, restaurants that can be used to customize the flavor of many dishes.

Used in moderation it can be used to enhance the flavor of many dishes including Pho. To be sure I have over done it on a few occasions resulting in tears and a runny nose, not good in public. But I have also successfully used it in many occasions. In addition to stir frys I have mixed it with mayonnaise as a sandwich spread and for dipping artichoke leaves in. Most recently I have added it to a basic hummus. I think my next attempt to use it will be to replace the cayenne component in a basic Provencal Tapenade.

Simple chicken stew

Over the years I have made several versions of this and many have been much more complicated including frying regular chicken parts with bones and all and fresh vegetables and serving over rice. This is a much simplified version that only takes about an hour or so of cooking time and utilizes readily available stuff from the market that was not available a few decades ago.

The list of ingredients I used this time are:

1 package (5) boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 quart chicken or poultry stock
2 onions, diced
1 package frozen mixed vegetables
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package Fideo pasta (optional)
salt
pepper
ground garlic



Here is the chicken coated with salt, pepper and garlic.



Here are the two onions coarse diced



I cook the chicken on high for 10 minutes in the microwave.



This is the cooked chicken.



While the chicken is cooking I put the rest of the ingredients except the pasta in a pot with more salt, pepper and ground garlic to taste. At this point if you are going to add pasta and still want it fairly liquidy you might want to add a cup of water. Most times I choose not to but I have done it both ways.



After the chicken has cooled enough to handle dice it up and add it to the pot. Allow to simmer for at least a half hour for the flavors to blend.




Add the pasta if you choose and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes.



This is the bowl I had that night along with a sandwich. You can also serve it with cheese toast or corn bread.



And here is the 5 lunches left over.

Statistics

Ok, so I am a little vain and would like to think the whole world might be listening in to my blog. I know better. I currently am using both Sitemeter and Google stats. Sitemeter shows a lot more detail like where the viewer is from, what brought them there and a few other things. However it does not pick up views by readers unless they click through to the original post. It does however pick up folks just hitting the "next blog" button which I myself have used several times to find new blogs to follow. Many have been the times I wondered if anybody was reading my posts. Recently Google stats have come on line and it picks up many more hits, including those through Google reader. But it does not give much detail as to the identity and location of the person reading my posts.

I am pretty sure neither of these counters, either separately or together, give me a true reading of who and why is reading my blog but at least I know some one is. Most of the time when I can see the detail I can pretty much guess by location who it is. Probably the most intriguing is a regular reader in New York. The only person I have known there is a lady I went to school with, J, that I never got to date but I was welcome by her mom to stop by for baked goods any time I wanted. Last I heard, from her mom, she was in New York (many years ago) doing some kind of teaching for under privileged kids. Note this is my blog and I can dream all I want. :-)

I know a lot of folks give up on their blogs after they become active on Facebook but to me they are two separate means of expression, one for the the immediate and one for the permanent, and as long as still I enjoy writing it and folks still read it I intend to keep up both.