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Post by Clipper on Aug 5, 2014 14:21:53 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 16:22:15 GMT -5
I always use the jarred sweet cherry peppers since I can't eat the hot one's like I used to. It is the vinegar taste that is important. Can't figure out though why the sweet ones are more expensive than the hot jarred variety. Having riggies on Saturday's menu in my crib.
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Post by Clipper on Aug 5, 2014 19:47:26 GMT -5
We had chicken riggies at a little get together in the Blessed Sacrament basement in Mohawk after Kathy's Uncle's graveside service. They were delicious. I think that just a few cherry peppers, when used sparingly, add just a little subtle heat to the dish that makes it mildly spicy and robust.
I too have lost my ability to tolerate hot peppers Alan. I used to eat jalepenos like candy right out of the jar. When I lived in California while in the Navy, I used to sit on the front stoop of our apartment building at night and split a quart jar of hot cherry peppers with a Mexican neighbor, washed down with 3 or 4 sixteen ounce cans of Lucky Lager or Olympia beer. I always enjoyed the long hots at Joe's in East Utica, and the long hots on a keilbasa sandwich at Tiny's back when it was just a working man's bar. That sort of spicy stuff would kill me today, or at least leave me wishing I were dead, lol. Camacho's bar on Huntington Street used to have hot meatballs behind the bar in a jar, that they served with a slice or two of Italian bread on the side. They were laced with crushed red pepper when they were baked, and they would cause sweat to break out on your forehead. Can't eat those anymore either. Tried one of those a couple years ago when we were home and I was up half the night with heartburn, gobbling Tums like M&Ms.
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Post by kit on Aug 6, 2014 7:48:50 GMT -5
There are almost as many recipes for Chicken Riggies as there are restaurants in the Utica-Rome-Mohawk Valley area, and more if you consider those made at home. Most all of them start the same and are tailored to someone's particular taste.
Cherry peppers, sweet or hot, have a different taste than bell peppers and in my estimation are essential when making Chicken Riggies. Although I love the taste of bell peppers, they just don't cut it in this dish. Cherry peppers are necessary.
To counteract the 'heat' of the cherry peppers, some recipes include a dollop of butter or include a splash of heavy cream. In both cases, it's the oils that 'calm the savage beast' of the capsaicin in the peppers. If one's mouth burns from the heat of the peppers, it's much better to have a sip of milk or a bite of buttered bread, rather than taking a sip of water, beer or soda.
Alan brought up an interesting point about vinegar playing an important part in the Chicken Riggie recipe. The wife of a chef that I knew confided to me that the secret of their restaurant's dish is the addition of a bit of the brine included in the cherry pepper jar. I tried it once and have been making it with some brine ever since.
However you make them, or whichever restaurant you prefer, enjoy Chicken Riggies.
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Post by Clipper on Aug 6, 2014 11:00:28 GMT -5
My experience with chicken riggies is limited. I have had them at Teddy's in Rome, Mr. McGill's, and at the Chesterfield, as well as the latest experience with those catered at Kathy's Uncle's funeral. ALL of those riggies recipes included a combo of heavy cream and tomato in the sauce. I didn't realize that there were places that served them with strictly a tomato based sauce. I would imagine that would change the dish drastically and it would be much more acidic and spicy. I bet that the sauce is greatly enhanced by just a small splash of the brine from the pickled cherry peppers. Sounds great. We have never made chicken riggies at home. I suppose that we should give it a try, although we probably would be disappointed with the results. There is always that "secret ingredient" or measurement in most restaurant recipes, that make their dish unique and delicious and are hard or impossible to replicate.
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