'food' Tagged Posts

Here is s re-publication of a popular blog post from 2009. Enjoy! It seems as though when I go both online and in the “real world,” whenever I mention the fact that I’m into chile peppers and hot sauce, there’s a good chance that the people I meet will drudge up a misconception, myth, or urban legend about the subject. To help clear the constant confusion, I’ve for the longest time wanted to make a blog post that would take…

The assimilation of spicy food into regular American and Canadian culture is in full swing. Led by popular trends such as the sriracha craze, fiery cuisine is completely unavoidable now. In all of this, there is one smaller trend in spicy foods that has seemingly come out of nowhere that, for a lot of foodies and chileheads, remains mysterious. And that is “Nashville Hot” or “Nashville Hot Chicken.” Nationwide restaurant chains such as KFC and O’Charley’s have picked up on…

Most every fiery foods fan knows that it is the chemical called Capsaicin that gives chile peppers a “hot” or “spicy” sensation and that the amount of Capsaicin present in chile pods (and other things like hot sauce) is measured on the Scoville Scale. A question I sometimes get asked is, “Scott, is there a way to measure the amount of “heat” or pungency in other “spicy” items like black pepper, ginger, horseradish, garlic, wasabi, mustard, garlic, cinnamon, and onions?…

Alright, you want hot? You got it! These are some hot wings! This super-hot buffalo wing sauce recipe is for serious chileheads only. If you’re a certifiable heat freak and are tired of other buffalo wing sauce recipes leaving your tongue disappointed with a flat heat level, then these scorchers should do the trick. First, you will need two things: 2-3 pounds of assorted chicken wings, both flats and drumettes. Approximately 1 quart of cooking oil. Regular Super-Hot Buffalo Sauce…

Are you a True BBQ Pitmaster? Do You Know Your Cuts of Pork? There is nothing on God’s green earth that quite compares to a perfectly cooked beef steak or grilled or smoked chicken.  But my favorite grilled or barbecued animal of choice? It is perhaps the pig. Pork is undeniably one of the most commonly consumed meats in the world. My preference for swine is due to the meat being sweet and juicy, almost to the point of being deliciously…

In cooking, consuming, and dealing with fiery cuisine, especially the liquid seasonings that give flavor and heat to dishes, you’re going to stumble upon dozens of interrelated names and terms. Some of their meanings may be obvious, but chances are good that if you’re newer to the world of spice you may get hung up on a few. For the novice foodies and beginner chileheads, I’ve given definitions of a lot of these words you’ll encounter. The following list is…

A tangy and spicy addition to fish tacos, or really anything with a Mexican flair. Here is a Sour Cream Taco Sauce Recipe! Sour Cream Taco Sauce Ingredients: 1/3 cup sour cream 1/3 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon taco seasoning (you can either use a store-bought packet, or this great homemade taco seasoning recipe I posted a while back). Juice of 1 lime Directions: In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over tacos as desired. Should last up…

Habaneros lend themselves beautifully to a vast assortment of things sweet, and they’re fantastic in these white chocolate chip cookies. I suppose you can make these with regular milk chocolate, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, but I opted for the smoother, more mild taste of white chocolate. With these chips, you get the full range of flavors without having anything be overpoweringly sweet. Made the right way, these cookies work perfectly if you’re hankerin’ a sweet and spicy treat. Take…

To millions of Van Halen fans, bass player Michael Anthony was not only the cucumber-cool glue that held the band together and provided their distinctive high harmonies, but was also the member of the band they could identify with the most; more specifically, a down-to-earth, real guy that you’d want to sit down and have a beer with. Unfortunately, in 2004, Michael was unceremoniously ousted from Van Halen to make room for Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang in the bassist…

If you’ve never had buffalo chicken dip and crackers, then you don’t know what you’ve been missing. This stuff is scrumptiously delicious and is guaranteed to be the hit of any party or get-together. Just imagine creamy, spreadable buffalo wings in bitesize form without the mess. Ingredients: 2 10 Oz. Cans of Chunk White Chicken, Drained 2 8 Oz. Packages of Cream Cheese, Softened 1 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese 1 Cup Ranch Dressing 3/4 Cup of Hot Pepper Sauce (Preferably…

Has it ever happened to you? It did with me a few weeks ago. It was National Taco Day (October 4th) and I didn’t find out until late that night before going to bed. If I’d-a-known about that fact in the morning, I would have prepared a righteous taco feast for my two boys and me. Well, maybe not, but it’s still cool to have prior knowledge of some sentimental favorites just in case you wish to partake in celebrating…

So you’re looking for a good taco seasoning recipe? Maybe a variation with some spicy chile pepper kick to it? Well, my fellow foodie and internet traveler, you’ve come to the right destination! How I came to creating this particular taco seasoning spice mix is as follows. Please bear with me. “Mexican night” around Casa Del Roberts is a frequently-occurring and much-anticipated occasion. Naturally, whether our main vessel of holding and consuming taco meat comes in the guise of crunchy…

What’s that? Do you mean haven’t tried chicken wing drumettes and flats “Missouri-style”? If you’re unfamiliar with this tiny little live-fire recipe twist on grilling these popular poultry pieces, it simply combines the best of grilling (hot and fast cooking) and true outdoor barbecuing (low n’ slow with a touch of wood smoke). The results are spectacular! And if you’re unlearned about grilling wings, period, and are just used to frying them indoors, you’re missing quite a treat. The great…

The secret to any great chili starts with an awesome basic chili powder recipe. A chili powder spice blend can be theoretically used to flavor up many different things (try mixing it in with some cuts of steak or chicken the next time you make burritos or fajitas!), but of course, its main usage will always be a good bowl of chili con carne. Pitmaster Jack Waiboer of GrateTV recently asked me for an all-around good recipe for chili powder,…

It doesn’t matter if it’s Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or in the thick of a blizzard-plagued winter…Millions of meat lovers across North America are now venturing outdoors to grill succulent pork, beef, chicken, and other delicious types of animal flesh. Mmmmm! The following is a list of handy tips to ensure your grilling and BBQ successes. BBQ and Grilling Tips and Tricks 1. Wash everything after handling raw meat, and don’t reuse the plate that you used for…

I love me some nacho cheese. The ooey, gooey, liquid nacho queso sauce you commonly find in fast food Mexican restaurants, at concession stands and snack bars, and on your grocery store shelves are a guilty pleasure of mine, but I recently found that you can create a much better nacho cheese product at home. So here is my nacho cheese sauce recipe. The consistency of this nacho queso will be a tiny bit more “stringy” and “stretchy” like melted…

Love in a pot…my personal, go-to chili recipe! Here is comes.  After several years of a baffling absence, I’ve finally decided to make public my very own, “top-secret”, personal, Roberts-family chili recipe. This is the delicious, spicy, hearty, chunky, “go-to” chili that I developed several years ago, and it is the chili I make on a regular basis throughout the year. Well, just to clarify, there’s probably nothing too secretive about my ultimate, number one, primary chili recipe. I haven’t been…

If you love it spicy, this Spicy Jambalaya Recipe will definitely leave you smiling! This one uses one of my favorite hot sauces, Intensity Academy‘s Hot Cubed, but if it’s too bold for you then, cut down on the amount of sauce you use by half. Ingredients: 2 packages (28 oz) of pre-cooked smoked Polish sausage (you can substitute andouille or chorizo sausage if you wish) 3 chicken breasts, chopped into small thumbnail-sized pieces 1 cup pre-cooked shrimp 2 cups…