Birthday Bloody Mary

In the mix.

I've been slacking lately, kids.  This is a remnant of my birthday on Friday, January 13th.  Some coworkers (including CK, the woman who started it all) joined me for happy hour at Black Door.  CK wanted tequila with a Bloody Mary mix chaser.  Lo and behold, the bartender had this Tabasco mix.  Of course we got excited and told my tale, and the bartender had to have me sample it.  I wanted to try it without supplementals (save a splash of extra Tabasco) and it was good!  Next time I'd like to try it in an actual drink, though I'm more of a Bloody Maria kind of girl myself.

Meatball Sub from Eataly

Eat (legitimately) fresh.

Most things from Eataly are off the charts good, and this meatball sub is no exception.  Mmmman.  I suggest you haul ass to the Flatiron District, purchase one of these, and smother it in Tabasco sauce.  You will win at sandwiches forever.

Mama Zuma's Revenge

Habanero?  More like habazero.

These chips are supposedly made with habanero peppers, some of the hottest peppers around.  However, I didn't find them to be exceptionally spicy, though I guess they were spicy for chips.  Am I desensitized already?  Tabasco made them better for sure.  

Thanks to Paul R for sharing and Paul L for sampling!

Pappardelle with Prosciutto at the Manhattan Inn

Grazie.

Last night I had dinner at the Manhattan Inn, a cozy little piano bar in Greenpoint.  I had the pappardelle with prosciutto, blue cheese, and kale.  My dining companion ordered the same dish and we both thought it was out of control.  I didn't go crazy with the hot sauce on this one, but it did add a pleasant little kick.

Those of my dear readers who know me probably know that I also have quite the penchant for that other sauce.  Specifically, bourbon.  It's worth mentioning here that the old fashioneds at Manhattan Inn are fantastic.  On that note, I'd like to start thinking of some similar cocktails that would benefit from Tabasco.  This is on my agenda for the weekend.

Carnitas Burrito Bowl from Chipotle

Chipotle knows what's up.

Skipping breakfast today was a bad idea.  Devouring a burrito bowl from Chipotle was not.  I get mine with carnitas, peppers and onions, plenty of corn and tomato salsa, both black beans and pinto beans, cheese, sour cream, and just a little bit of rice (I'm not really a fan of the starchy stuff).  Load up on hot sauce and call it a day.  Tabasco appears to have a licensing deal with Chipotle anyway, so I was in good company.  Deeelish.

Serving suggestion.

Spaghetti Squash, Spaghetti Style

Good gourd!

Spaghetti squash has become a favorite this winter.  It's easy to make, and it's fun because you get to rip it to shreds in the end and make a fine mess of things.  I am fond of a gourd of destruction.  Plus it's a perfect substitute for pasta that doesn't leave you feeling heavy.  There's kind of a lot to love here.

I rubbed it with olive oil and a bunch of garlic and threw it in the oven for an hour at 375, with a little water in the dish.  That's it.  Then I heated up some mushroom marinara with oregano, salt, pepper, and my trusty Tabasco.  Poured marinara on the squash with some parmesan cheese and housed it.  Paul Newman would be proud.

Bear with me while I'm figuring out how to adjust the pictures, but can you tell that the first bottle's almost halfway gone?  Considering I only started a week ago and just began to take this bottle outside of my apartment, the project seems well under control so far...

Chicken Kebab and Hummus from Fava

My big fat Greek lunch.

Let's face it: grilled chicken is grilled chicken, "Mediterranean" or not.  So this chicken kebab (minus the actual kebab) was basically the equivalent of any other grilled chicken I could have had for lunch.  I was alright with that.  Throw some hot sauce on there.  Boom.  It was kind of great on the Greek salad too; the yogurt dressing cooled off the Tabasco and balanced things out, even if it did turn into this weird orange situation.  Still good to me!

One more quick note is in order.  While I realize I'll probably get more experimental down the line, I will not put hot sauce on things it clearly shouldn't be on.  Like hummus.  Slippery slope.

Chopped BBQ Chicken from The Smoke Joint

Bawrbekew sawrs.

So this was my first time busting out the bottle of Tabasco sauce in public.  I've begun to carry it around in my purse like the Classy Lady that I am, and I unveiled it during lunch today at The Smoke Joint in Fort Greene.  The waiter didn't seem to notice or mind.  Would I care if he did?  Allow me to quote the immortal Clay Davis.

Being from the South and all, I'm somewhat of a barbecue snob.  Smoke Joint isn't the best I've ever had, but it's a comfy little spot in my neighborhood that will do just fine if I have a hankering.  I ordered the chopped chicken and doused it liberally with hot sauce.  Smoke Joint's sauce is pretty mild so Tabasco was necessary.  I also sprinkled a little on my potato salad and my friend's collards that I sampled.  Both were pretty delightful.

Sara's Solidarity Jambalaya

LA wants to play too.

I didn't actually eat the food above, but I'm really excited to have my first suggestion from a friend.  This right here is my bestie Sara's solidarity jambalaya.  It comes to you all the way from Los Angeles in support of the Tabasco Fiasco.  Tear!  Not only is this a traditional dish straight out of Cajun country, but it's also healthy and tasty and a prime candidate for some Tabasco smotherin'.

Thanks for the love, Skrilla T!  I hope it was yummy.

Amy's Lentil Vegetable Soup

Ye olde standby.

Lazy dinner: heating up a can of Amy's lentil veggie soup on the stove.  I got the low sodium kind, so this soup definitely needed some something.  Tabasco did the trick.

Banh Mi from Luu's Baguette

Yes please.

For lunch on Friday I had Banh Mi from Luu's Baguette.  This place is sort of new and I'd had lunch here once before, right around the time when they first opened.  Things were still a bit up in the air then, so I was curious to see if it was starting to settle down.  I was happy to find that the sammy was pretty great: soft bread, super fresh ingredients, just the right amount of everything.

I love hot sauce in all forms, and my usual go-to for Vietnamese would probably be Sriracha.  (The big squeeze bottle with the rooster or even the garlic kind... mmm.  Yes, I have both in my fridge.  But I digress.)  Surprisingly, Tabasco was kind of incredible on Banh Mi, and I will totally do this again in the future.

Next time I'm asking for extra cilantro.  Can't get enough of that funky stuff.

Shepherd's Pie

The inaugural meal of my experiment was a homemade shepherd's pie.  Shepherd's pie is quite possibly my favorite comfort food in the chilly winter months.  It's surprisingly easy to make and incredibly satisfying.  What's not to love about meat and potatoes (and peas and carrots)?

The recipe I used (and I'll provide these whenever possible) is here.

Shepherd's pie isn't something I'd normally put hot sauce on, but it worked out really well.  I'd made it the night before, and it's definitely one of those foods that improves the next day and tastes better as leftovers.  The richness of the lamb went well with the tangy Tabasco.

Survey says: delicious.  First meal down!

Fine wintery fun.

The Great Tabasco Experiment of 2012

This year for Christmas I was given a gallon jug of Tabasco sauce.  It is a prized possession and easily the best food-related item I've ever owned. 

The sauce.

I'm a southern girl.  I was born and raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which is right across the Mississippi River from Louisiana.  A number of my aunts, uncles, and cousins lived in New Orleans when I was a kid and my family spent a lot of time there, so I grew up eating tons of spicy southern and Creole food.  Tabasco sauce flows in my veins.

To this day I put hot sauce on pretty much everything, and I always have a bottle handy.  At every job I've always kept a bottle of Tabasco in my desk.  You never know when you might need some, and I will not be denied.

One day a few months after I'd started my new job last year, our CMO ordered an omelet for breakfast.  CK came up short looking for hot sauce in the kitchen, so I offered her my personal stash.  I guess I was quiet in the early days and since she didn't know much about me, she was really tickled to learn that I keep Tabasco on my person at all times.  I think I joked that I have a holster for it (which isn't far from the truth).  Apparently this was so memorable/weird/funny to her that when she was chosen as my secret Santa, there was no question about what to get me.

The inscription.

CK ordered a personalized gallon bottle of hot sauce that was signed by the CEO of Tabasco.  When she gave it to me at our company's holiday party, I was floored.  It was one of the funniest, most thoughtful gifts I'd ever received.  And I could not wait to tap into that bad boy.

Throughout the rest of the night I kept bumping into her and gushing about how much I loved it.  We were both a little, um... festive... that evening and had the following exchange several times, in slight variations:

CK: "OMG YOU SAID YOU HATE GAG GIFTS AND I WAS WORRIED YOU WOULDN'T LIKE IT."

me: "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU REMEMBERED AND THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT EVERRRR."

And so on and so forth.

I had to leave the Tabasco at CK's house after the party because it was too big and heavy to get it home to Brooklyn.  She brought it to me at work this week and I lugged it home on the subway in my grocery bag.  When I got to my apartment and set this larger-than-life jug of Tabasco sauce on my kitchen counter, the gears in my head started spinning.  Even though this bottle was freaking MASSIVE, wouldn't it be a tragedy if it went to waste?  One thought led to another and I put pencil to paper.  I found that:

1 gallon = 128 ounces, and

1 regular bottle of Tabasco = 5 ounces, meaning

1 gallon = 25.5 regular bottles of Tabasco

So to use the entire jug before its expiration date in October 2012, I'd have to kill two and a half regular-sized bottles every month.  

Can I do it?  You bet your britches I can.  

And so My Tabasco Fiasco was born.  That night I emptied an old bottle of Tabasco and funneled five ounces of goodness into it.  This bottle will be refilled as necessary, and it will come with me everywhere I go.  This blog will document everything I season with Tabasco between now and whenever the jug is empty.  Hopefully this project will not diminish my love of hot sauce, but given my track record it seems highly unlikely.

After a bit of discussion with some trusted friends and colleagues about this Very Serious Matter, I've established a couple of ground rules:

1.  Finishing the gallon of Tabasco is my project, so no one else is allowed to help or use my supply.  Get your own.

2.  The only exception will be when I use Tabasco in a recipe and share my cooking with others.  That's just basic southern hospitality.

Feel free to send me recipes and ideas!  I love to cook and to eat, and I'm really looking forward to trying new recipes and putting hot sauce on things I wouldn't ordinarily put it on.  I'm fortunate to live in New York, where there are some of the best restaurants in the world, and I will have no shortage of options or inspiration over the next 10 months.  I'm open to all suggestions and have no dietary restrictions.  (Except avocados.  I hate avocados.  Sorry.)

Finally, if you're not familiar with this humble blog's namesake (thanks to Ian for that stroke of genius!) please read about it here.  I am a sucker for a Venn diagram and hope to incorporate one someday.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to bring you lots of spicy adventures!