Give Me One Reason to Stay Here

Hot Sauce Chicken 

I've come to embrace the ease of this one pan chicken idea.  Vegetables, grains, chicken and then any type of seasoning spin works every time.  As long as you brown the chicken first, then add all else, bring to a boil and stick in the oven with tight fitting lid for an hour or so from 375 to 425.  

This time I used bell peppers and onions, tons of garlic, Mexican oregano, wild rice and a heaping cup of my homemade hot sauce, with enough chicken stock to cover.  

Tangy, zesty and spicy.  It's comfort with a kick. You can leave it until the chicken is falling off the bone, as I like it or with a little give.  You can put the chicken skin up and on top of all other ingredients if you like or bury it deep in all the juices.  Its versatile.  

Chilaquiles in Red Hottest Sauce for me

Castro's Breakfast Chorizo Tacos

That morning we headed to Castro's Mexican Restaurant for breakfast and I sweated out my angst with the hottest sauce on my chilaquiles.  The breakfast tacos, although very tasty, needed some accutroments on that stark white plate.  I'm thinking a little pico de gallo drizzled across the three would have cost nothing and improved the look triplefold.

Even though the service is questionable, I like this place because it's old timey and that's hard to find anymore in the neighborhood.  All the post COVID shut down restaurants are being taken over by high end establishments.  Two precious pizza restaurants serving martinis featured a standing host , an oyster bar, a pasta factory (no objection to this gem).  Two women opened an exclusive looking foofy eatery replacing the longtime Academy Diner and it serves scallops and beets with pistachio and horseradish.  I get that food is more expensive and restaurateurs need to fish for the people with big bucks, but this is a neighborhood that could also use affordable take out options.