…if what they want is GOOD food.

My girlfriend and I made a trip to Marin Sun Farms just south of the West Marin town of Point Reyes and found that they were having a special on chicken. With the intention of taking advantage of discounted, pasture-raised, healthy chicken, we decided to grab a few pounds of thighs and legs.  While we debated about several complex recipes  on the car ride home, it was a simple and resourceful recipe from Nigel Slater’s, Real Food that ultimately, won us over.

With rapidly wilting basil in the refrigerator and a couple of extra chiles on hand, this satisfying dish came together in minutes and offered the comfort of traditional pan-roasted chicken, but with the refreshing zip of chiles, wine and lemon to cut through the delicious rendered fat. While we ended up eating ours with rice, Slater recommends serving the chicken among a bed of a few green salad leaves “to mop up the sticky, aromatic pan juices from the plate.” A nice baguette might also do the trick.

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Hot sauce, like mustard, is one of those condiments that you can never have too many varieties of in the refrigerator.  In fact, my friends and I have had several conversations discussing the best hot sauce application for various classic recipes. While one friend argues that eggs and home fries are naked without good old Tabasco, another will posture that southern fried chicken isn’t edible without a bottle of Crystal on hand.  I, too, am in the camp that believes every great hot sauce has its perfect gastronomic match, however, it is also my opinion that some hot sauce just works well with everything.  This might explain why my girlfriend and I go through a bottle of Tapatío and Sriracha each month!

It wasn’t until I embarked on a recent trip to Portland, Oregon that I came across another hot sauce that tastes great with everything: Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce. Touted as “a unique Caribbean/Tex-mex hybrid,” this sauce is dominated by the forward flavors of sweet carrots and the searing heat of habaneros. Believe me when I say, this stuff is good on everything. So good in fact, that I set out to find a clone recipe online so I wouldn’t have to keep rationing the stuff.  Below I’ve included a recipe that I found here on the recipe forums of eGullet.org.

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I love vinegar. In fact, it is the one pantry staple I would have the hardest time living without. Much to my girlfriend’s chagrin, I do my best to sneak it into every dish I can get away with, even those that might not call for the addition. Tangy and lively, vinegar, like lemon, has the ability to brighten up almost any flat-tasting dish. Though it must be used sparingly, I personally think a splash or two of vinegar to complete a dish goes a long way in enhancing flavors. Recently I had a friend over for dinner; while digging through my cupboards, I was able to unearth ten different varieties of vinegar. I have a reputation among my friends as being a bit food obsessed, and my vinegar collection only served to confirm this belief, or so said my friend’s baffled expression.

“Do you actually use all of those?” He asked

Yes, yes in fact I do. From the Spanish sherry variety and asian rice wine to Italy’s famed balsamic, all these vinegars play very specific roles in helping to make the dishes I cook that much more authentic to their place of origin. Today I’m featuring a very simple recipe for the southern table staple, Pepper Vinegar. While it’s a great condiment for almost anything, it’s especially good splashed on pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, eggs, and anything else that needs a little pick-me-up.

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