Nitrous Nostrils

Wings On The Hill - Memphis, TN
http://www.urbanspoon.com

My brother and I went to a hot wing restaurant in East Memphis today for lunch, enjoying the day off from work. Wings On The Hill is on Kirby, about a mile south of 385, and has been on my list of places to visit for quite some time now. Good things come to those who wait. Due to the late lunch hour, we walked in as their only dine-in customers at the time. It's New Years Eve and they were preparing for a good gathering later in the evening. This gave us the opportunity to talk to the friendly staff and the owner, Chico, who is clearly a Dallas Cowboys fan due to the memorabilia around the establishment. It's a pretty good-sized restaurant that used to be a bar/club in the past.

We took a seat at the bar and placed our orders. I asked for a 12 piece of the hottest they have, which are simply called "Nitrous". I was told they were extremely hot, so I was excited. A beer later, they arrived with a large basket of fries that were sprinkled with an excellent Italian-like seasoning. The wings were skinny but fairly large, coated very heavily with sauce. I could see red pepper flake in this very appealing sauce that looked delicious. We dove in and I was very impressed with the flavor. On a Burn My Mouth scale, however, they weren't as hot as they appeared. My sinuses were cleared after the 12th wing, but not a lot of burn with the awesome flavor. A notch up or two on the heat and I this would be one of the best sauces I have come across.

Another impressive thing about Wings On The Hill was the quantity of food we received. The portions were large, wings coming in multiples of 6, and that made my large appetite happy. A 12 piece and fries came to $10 which was very fair for the experience. You can also find gift certificates on restaurant.com. They have a unique menu which includes huge grilled fish filets, fried okra and a spaghetti that Chico puts his wing sauce in. He let us try a sample and we were impressed. The large section of the shopping center that Wings on The Hill occupies could house a lot of people eager to see a good football game, eat some wings and drink some beers. Just expect a loud Cowboys crowd if they happen to be playing that day!

Fire Out The Hole!

Hot Pepper Dudes, LLC
http://hotpepperdudes.com

I recently ran across another sauce maker on the interwebs who goes by the name "Hot Pepper Dudes". I'm quite the hot pepper dude myself so this was a familiar encounter. Not only do they offer a few sauces for sale on their website, they also have tips for growing your own plants and also give a brief tutorial to making your own hot sauce. I'm always seeking to learn new methods to the chili pepper madness so this interested me as well as seeing what their sauces were all about.

I placed my order, getting both available sauces: "Fire Out The Hole" ghost pepper sauce and their Carolina BBQ sauce called "Ghost Of Carolina". They arrived quickly and I anxiously tried them out. The ghost pepper sauce comes at you with a sweet flavor first, then the flavor of fresh peppers. The ghost peppers kick in about 10 seconds later, giving quite a punch but not overwhelmingly powerful. The sweetness comes from the honey that's added. There are also bell peppers in the mixture which give it a salsa-like flavor. I instantly pictured using it on some tacos and got the opportunity to try it with a homemade Mexican feast just days later. Since it comes off like salsa, I tried it on a few tortilla chips and found it to be very warm, too much for an actual dipping salsa. A little dab on a taco set it off perfectly. Many others tried it that night and we all really enjoyed this sauce, giving the same opinion to the sweetness and heat levels. Luckily for me, however, the sauce didn't live up to its name that following day! ;) All jokes aside, I think Fire Out The Hole would be a great addition to several dishes and sandwiches and I don't foresee this bottle lasting very long in my house.

I smoked 2 10 pound Boston pork butts a few weeks ago and it came out excellent, pulling perfectly for sandwiches. Some friends gathered for the BBQ and we finished off all but 4 sandwiches worth. 4 sandwiches = 2 lunches for me so when the sauce came in the mail a few days later, I was able to try it out on my very own masterpiece. Living in Memphis, if we want a Carolina-style BBQ sauce, we have to make it ourselves. It's rare to find any in the store around town so that made the Ghost Of Carolina an even better experience. The vinegar base gives the sauce a really thin texture so it poured over the pulled pork with ease. Not as powerful of a kick as the Fire Out The Hole hot sauce. Instead, it gives pork an amazing flavor of vinegar and spices which were not too sweet nor too spicy. A hint of mustard lead me to think that it would be an excellent sauce with chicken as well, maybe even as a hot wing sauce.

I was very impressed with both sauces. They each add their own uniqueness to my collection and stand out among all the other sauces I have. If you're interested in trying something new, wanting to learn some pepper-growing tips or looking to start making your own sauce, then give the Hot Pepper Dudes a look. Maybe a twist is needed in your chili pepper crave, too.