Part of the fun of cooking is creating a dish that can take your guests and their taste buds on an adventure to other lands. I have been blessed to travel many places around this world in my lifetime just as my culinary cohort Chef Jill McCoy has as well.

One thing that both Jill and I agree on is that the food of another country, culture, and creative process is almost as interesting as the sites you will see along the way. Today I asked Jill to take us to the East. Not east like Atlanta east but the Orient and Southeast Asia. Today's recipe is a Jill McCoy adaptation of a classic Thai dish.

As you read Jill's recipe from her personal food blog by clicking the red button above you will see she tamed this recipe down. A lot of true South Louisiana pepper enthusiast might want to go with the original Thai Bird Chilies. These are the kind of chilies that give you a double burn, once going in and another about twenty four hours later coming out. I'm glad the Chef was wanting to prevent any post digestion burn.

I think it's brilliant that in addition to the freshly grown basil Chef Jill substituted the heat by using Sriracha Sauce. It's a delicious Asian based sauce that adds a delicious heat and flavor to any dish you care to use it in.

I think if you're looking for a dish that allows ease of preparation and basically one pot cooking that means easier clean up you're going to love this dish. I also love Chef Jill's suggestion to go with a brown rice instead of the traditional white rice. The brown rice adds a nutty flavor and helps mediate the heat of the Sriracha. It also adds fiber which makes this dish very filling so a little bit will feed many guests.

**Jill McCoy is a former announcer at 97.3 The Dawg who has turned her focus to cooking. She is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. She is currently employed in the kitchen of an international hotel in Austin Texas. Jill also maintains her own food and lifestyle blog, Salt and Pepper 2 Taste. Her blog work has been recognized by the Austin Texas Food Blogger Alliance.   She is a regular contributor to 97.3 The Dawg every Friday**

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