Tag: hot sauce

The ultimate deviled egg recipe.

~ SA Otey

If a menu includes deviled eggs, they will be automatically ordered. It may seem like food to pass over (not to be confused with Passover food), but there is so much goodness in food so devilish. They are simple to make as well. The best recipe I’ve found is Ron Swanson’s Deviled Eggs. I’m unsure if he made them since he’s a fictional character, but they are good with a few modifications. Swap out the mayo for Miracle Whip, the cayenne with Reaper dust, and top each with a piece of nice, crispy bacon. The Reaper dust is so you don’t have to share.

6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced in half
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
2 dashes Chipotle Tabasco
2 slices of bacon
2 large scallions, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne or Reaper Dust

But are they evil? Christians, particularly those in the American South and Midwest, often call deviled eggs by alternative names like “Dressed Eggs,” “Salad Eggs,” “Mimosa Eggs,” or “Angel Eggs” to avoid the “devil” association, with some devout families, like the Duggars, even coining unique terms like “Yellow Pocket Angel Eggs” for church potlucks. The term “deviled” historically referred to spicy foods (like mustard or pepper), not evil, but many prefer gentler, faith-based names for religious gatherings

How hot is too hot?

~ SA Otey
IMG_0459
Wall of Sauce at Heaven on 7th in Chicago

There are sauces that are hot and full of flavor and there are sauces that are so hot they are just full of hatred. I’ve tasted some mighty hot sauces in my day but there comes a point when you’ve got to put your pride aside and try to enjoy some flavor rather than just pure heat.

My latest encounter with heat was with Hattie B’s “Shut the cluck up” hot chicken. It was full of flavor but the heat was almost unbearable potentially ruining the meal. There’s a fine line between heat and taste. You want to tiptoe the line to know what causes hiccups or a vomit reflex. But you want enough heat to induce sweating and a slight watering of the eyes.

Here are my top hottest things ever that have left a scar on my memory, in no particular order.

  • I ate a Tabasco pepper from the bottle at Po’Folks restaurant when I was a kid, the first time ever tried anything hot. I was hooked!
  • Hattie B’s Chicken, it might have been a while since I ate something this hot so I must have lost some of the tolerance
  • Grilled Red Jalapeno at a family cookout. I can’t remember if it was a Jalapeno or Habanero, but I just picked it up and ate it. I ate the whole thing at once and it really hurt my face and body.
  • First taste of viscous viper hot sauce. I was eating at a restaurant in Hardy Arkansas and put too much on my food.
  • Braveheart Wings from Wild Wing Cafe in Charleston, SC. I ordered six of them and ate them all, and regretted it after the first bite. The next day was even worse.
  • Bushido’s level 10 Sushi roll. I had to sign a release form.

If we are being honest, the whole point of heating hot food is so you don’t have to share it with your family.