Lars had a great article recently released in one of his local papers - It’s good to see a dedicated chilehead getting some good press!

By Helen Yanulus
Pocono Record Writer
January 28, 2008

Lars Chigi likes it hot, hot, hot.

The freezer of his home kitchen in Blue Mountain Lakes is packed with such fiery chili varieties as bhut jolokia, naga morich, fatalii, Cayenne Super II Hybrid and rocoto.
“I eat chili peppers in some form every day in at least two of my meals,” Chigi said. “It’s like a drug addiction. Once you get a hankering for flavor and heat, you want more. It’s a healthy addiction.”

Chigi has turned his passionate quest for the ultimate burn into a gourmet food business. Csigi Gourmet — which uses the Hungarian spelling of his surname — has been in business since 2005. His products, which include three varieties of hot sauces, pasta sauce, salsa, barbecue sauce and a balsamic vinaigrette, have won several awards.

And it all started when he was a youngster growing up in Hunterdon County, N.J., where he marveled at how his grandmother made the best pasta sauce. “Every time she made it, it tasted the same though she never measured it,” said Chigi, who watched her grind fresh tomatoes and add spices in a specific order as well as meat for flavor. “I try to emulate what she did in her kitchen in my own way.” Read the entire article here

1 ½ C turkey stock
4 Tbl peanut butter
2 Tbl Huy Fong Sriracha sauce
1 tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl fish sauce
1 Tbl honey
1 tbl chopped scallions
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
¼ C crushed cashews
¼ C crushed peanuts
1 Tbl diced scallions

Preheat oven to 400o . Arrange wings in a small casserole dish lined with nonstick foil. Mix all other ingredients (except nuts and scallions ) in a small sauce pan over medium heat, simmer for about 10 minutes. Pour mixture over wings. Cook wings uncovered for 1 hour.

Allow to cool, cover and refrigerate overnight. Place casserole back in oven turn oven on broil. When sauce is re-liqufied remove wings pour liquid into a large nonstick skillet. Return wings to casserole and place back in oven turn as necessary to crisp skin. Transfer wings to skillet as they crisp. When all wings are in skillet, place skillet on stove top on medium high heat. Turn wings to coat thoroughly. Sprinkle ¾ of nuts over wings turn to coat.

Transfer wings to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle the rest of the nuts over top and garnish with scallions. These wings are very rich, they stand alone, but would be great with a bowl of white rice.

Ingredients:
1. Wings
2. CaJohn’s 10 Wing Sauce
3. Defcon Wing Sauce (3, 2, or 1. Your choice)
4. 12 pack PBR

Preparation:
This one’s a doozy, so pay close attention. Recipe is for a single serving. Multiply as needed for anyone with the nuts to join in. Make sure they bring extra PBR.

Step 1: Hit the Drive-Thru at your local Zaxby’s (any wing joint will do, preferebly one that deep fries their wings with no batter.) and order 20 wings, plain, no sauce. This step is more difficult than it sounds. It required me to repeat my order twice at the speaker, and then very slow enunciation when I received the wings and they were sauced (DOH!). A puzzled look by the drive-thru personnel is normal even when this step is completed perfectly the first time. An alternative to this step would be to just deep fry your own wings and continue to step 2.

Step 2: Mix equal parts Defcon Wing sauce and CaJohn’s 10 Wing sauce in large container. One with properly fitting lid would be preferrable, although not required. (see step 4)

Step 3: Add wings from step one while they are still hot from the fryer. Cooking your own will be a bonus here if the closest wing joint is two counties over, but using an extra large propeller on your air boat will work if you choose the preferred take out option.

Step 4: Shake container to completely coat wings with sauce mixture. Once shaken, retrieve them from the floor, counter, behind the microwave, etc. and apply lid to bowl to allow sauce to warm with the wings. Now you see why I said the lid was preferable in step 2. The wings can be eaten once shaken, but allowing the sauce to warm really brings out the flavor. After sitting for about 1 minute, proceed to step 5.

Step 5: Serve ‘em up, and eat ‘em up. But watch out, they’ve got quite a bite! Enjoy!

PS: If you have to ask what to do with the PBR, repeat step 1, but order with sauce instead of plain. Then just skip to step 5.