Ain’t No Thing But Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings

The first time I tried this recipe my friends and I were planning this BBQ party figuring it was going to be a nice and sunny day, but Mother Nature had other plans.   It rained like there was no tomorrow.  Since we had all these wings we decided to have an indoor BBQ instead.  I like this option a lot better since I think the clean up was easier.

Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings

Makes 2-3 Servings

12 pieces of chicken wings (combo of wings and drummettes are fine)

¼ cup of corn starch

Corn oil

1 cup of Store bought Smokey BBQ sauce

2 tablespoons of honey

1/2 cup of minced onions

2 tablespoons of minced garlic

½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Most supermarkets should sell the whole wings cut into sections already (with the wing and the drummette).  I usually buy the ones with just the winged section since that’s my favorite part, but choose which you like.   So you basically want start laying out your wings on a towel or paper towel and give them a pat dry.  In a bowl you want to put in your cornstarch with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Next, toss in your wings to have them evenly coated.  It should be a very light coating on the chicken.  The cornstarch is to absorb more of the wing moisture and give a light crispy coat when cooking.

Next you want to pour enough oil in a frying pan to cover about ¼” of the pan and set it over medium to high heat.  To test to make sure that the oil is hot enough you want to sprinkle very little of the cornstarch and see if it starts to sizzle.   If it doesn’t then you want to wait.  Once the oil is ready, slowly place in your wings one at a time (make sure you shook off any excess cornstarch beforehand).

Tip: To ensure minimal splashes of hot oil on yourself, lay the chicken wings away from you. Also, don’t overcrowd your pan. Overcrowding will cause your oil temp to drop and your chicken will be pretty greasy.

Depending on the size of the wings, you typically want to cook each side of the chicken wings for about 4-5 minutes.  Keep and eye out and make sure they are not browning too fast.  If they are, then turn down the heat a little.  Once they are all cooked sit them on a paper towel for any excess oil to drain off while you make your BBQ sauce.

The sauce is fairly easy to make.  I start off with a premade BBQ sauce from the supermarket.  I typically get the KC Masterpiece or Bulls Eye smokey BBQ sauce.   Just make sure you get the smoke flavor kind.  Don’t get the honey flavored one since we’re adding honey to the BBQ sauce.   So, combine the BBQ sauce, honey, onions, garlic and cayenne in a pot over low heat and stir until well incorporated.  Heat until the BBQ sauce is hot, but not simmering.   You don’t really need the salt and pepper, but somehow it makes the sauce taste just a little bit better.

Once the sauce is done, combine the sauce and wings in a bowl and toss.   Set the wings on a pan and put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes on each side so that the honey in the sauce caramelizes and makes this sugar crust on top of the wings.  You just need to make sure you don’t burn the minced garlic or you can have a bitter taste to them.

Tip:  If you are unsure your wings are fully cooked, instead of setting the oven to broil set the oven at 375 and half the wings cook for about 10-15 minutes instead.

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Frog Legs Anyone?

I’m pretty sure you heard everything tastes like chicken, right?  Well I have to say that frog legs do taste a little like chicken.  The texture of frog legs is a cross between dark meat chicken and a white meat fish like bass.  I think that frog legs are a good type of meat to work with.  It tastes good, absorbs flavor and it’s hard to overcook it.  Not only are they good to work with, but they are high in protein and low in fat.  You just need to get over the fact that it’s frog legs.

They way I am going to show is a Chinese stir fry that is simple and quick to make.  There are very few ingredients and very little prep time, but it has a lot of flavor.

Black Bean and Chili Frog Legs

Makes 2-3 servings

1 lb of frog legs

3 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of black bean paste

1 teaspoon of garlic

½ teaspoon hot chili garlic sauce

1/2 cup of julienned bell peppers

Start by heating up a little vegetable oil in a pan over high heat.  Once the oil is hot, toss in the frog legs, soy sauce, black bean sauce, garlic, hot chili garlic sauce and 3/4 cup of water in the pan.  Stir the ingredients together and leave to cook for about 2-3 minutes.  By this time the water should have pretty much evaporated.  Toss in the bell peppers and give all the ingredients a stir.  Make sure to evenly coat the frog legs with the sauce.  Cook for another 2 minutes and all should be done and ready to eat.

Give this reipe a try.  Give frog legs a try.

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Left Overs

Left Overs

Sometimes you don’t have time to go to the supermarket to get things for lunch or dinner.  Sometimes you just have to work with what you have on hand.  This was my position on Sunday.  I was busy fixing my place up and I couldn’t get out, so I decided to work with what I had in my fridge.  Since I had sour cream, cheese and bacon from previous recipes along with other items, I decided to make a cheesy tuna orzo.  This recipe is nice and quick to make.  I actually did this a couple of times, but I used cream cheese instead of the mozzarella cheese to give it more of a rich flavor.  So if you have any cream cheese lying around sub it for the mozzarella cheese.

Cheesey Tuna Orzo

Makes 2-3 Servings

4 cups of cooked orzo (al dente)

3 oz can of tuna (keep the juice)

½ cup of milk

½ cup of mozzarella cheese

½ cup of diced onions

3 tablespoons of bacon bits

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of margarine

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 teaspoon of paprika

½ teaspoon of cayenne

Garlic salt and pepper to season

With cooking orzo, you need to be careful because it takes very little time for it to cook al dente.  Orzo typically doubles in size once it’s cooked so you would need roughly 2 cups of uncooked orzo to make 4 cups cooked.  You will know when the orzo is al dente when you take a bite into and you get a small dense chew in the center of it.  Don’t worry if you happen to under cook it.  You can always add a little more liquid later on.

So toss in the cooked orzo, the juice from the tuna and milk in a frying pan and cook on medium heat until you see a slight simmer.  Then turn the heat to low and add the diced onions, minced garlic, margarine, sour cream, parprika, cayenne and a small amount of salt and pepper.  Don’t add too much seasoning because it might become too salty once the bacon is added.  Have the mixture cook over low heat until the orzo is fully cooked about 4-5 minutes, turn off the heat and then add in the mozzarella (or cream cheese), bacon bits and tuna.  Stir all ingredients until well incorporated and the cheese is nice and melted.

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No More Powdered Potatoes

I don’t know anyone that has never eaten powdered potatoes. They’re easy to make and some are actually pretty good, but it seems you need to drench it in gravy for it to taste good. Well I’m going to show you a couple ways to prepare your potatoes where you can save the gravy for the meat. I will show you how to make sour cream and garlic mashed potatoes and a variation of that with twice baked potatoes.

I think the first time I started to make real mash potatoes when I was living with my parents in Minnesota. They would work six days out of the week, but Sundays were our family times. Most of those Sundays I would make my sour cream and garlic mashed potatoes. My sisters would hang around and dip their fingers in for a taste acting as they were my sous chefs.

Sour Cream and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Makes 2-3 Servings

2 large russet potatoes (2lbs total)

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 tablespoon of butter

¼ cup of milk

3 large cloves of garlic (marble size)

1 tablespoon of chopped chives (green onion is fine)

Garlic salt to season (table salt or kosher salt is fine)

What I typically would do is to peel the potatoes, quarter them and boil them in lightly seasoned water until they are fork tender, but since I will be reusing them for my twice baked potatoes I will show you a different method. Wrap the potatoes in foil and place them in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 30-45 mins or until you are able to stick a fork (or chopstick) into the potato and pull out easily. Another way you can cook the potatoes is to puncture the skin with a fork a few times, wrap the potatoes in a very damp towel and microwave them for roughly 5-7 minutes on each side. Do the test with the fork or chopstick to see if the potatoes are done. The reason for puncturing the skin is to have release points where the steam can come out of the potato.

While the potatoes are cooking you want to wrap the peeled garlic cloves in foil and place them in the oven for about half an hour or until tender. By cooking the garlic cloves the natural sugars of the garlic comes out and makes the garlic flavor less intense and brings out more of the sweetness. If you don’t have an oven, then don’t worry. Try to get a hold of garlic paste at your local supermarket. Substitute the garlic cloves for 1 teaspoon of the garlic paste.

Once the potatoes are cooked, peel off the skin and roughly chop them up. Next, using a potato smasher or fork combine all the ingredients including the garlic. I like to leave the consistency smooth with small potato bits in there just so people know these are freshly made and not powdered.

Make sure you don’t overwork the potatoes. By overworking the potatoes you can actually turn them gooey. If you want to go even fancier, cook up some bacon bits and sprinkle them on top with more of the chives for a nice look.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Makes 2 Servings

2 large russet potatoes (2lbs total)

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 tablespoon of butter

¼ cup of milk

3 large cloves of garlic (marble size)

1 tablespoon of chopped chives (green onion is fine)

3 tablespoons of bacon bits

½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Garlic salt to season (table salt or kosher salt is fine)

Take the potatoes and wash thoroughly. Next, cook the potatoes in the oven or microwave the same way as the mashed potatoes. Once done, lay the potatoes flat and cut off about 1/8” off the top. Then you want to scoop out insides of the potatoes leaving a ¼” wall. You want to make sure you don’t take out too much or you will lose shape of the potato. Next rub olive oil (canola or vegetable oil will work) on the skin of the potatoes and season lightly with garlic salt and set aside on a baking sheet pan.

With the insides of the potatoes, combine the rest of the ingredients (sour cream, butter, milk, garlic, chive, bacon bits and cheese) together and combine like the mashed potatoes. Once all is well incorporated, it’s time to fill the potato shells. Scoop back the potato mixture back into the potatoes or how I usually put them back in is with a piping bag for a better look. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can always use a freezer bag. Simply fill in one corner of the freezer bag with the potato mixture snip of 1/2” of the tip and squeeze into the potato shell.

Place the potatoes in the oven for about 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees or until the top is nice and golden brown.

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Hand Knife Positioning

I was at the food section on sfgate.com when I came across a video showing how to cut an onion.  Curious on what their method was I clicked on the link.  As this woman was cutting the onion I noticed she was holding the knife improperly.  To me I didn’t think that was the best way to cut an onion.  On top of that she didn’t position her other hand to hold on to the onion.  She could have potentially sliced her fingers.

I am not going to claim that there is one exact way to cutting and all the other ways are wrong, but I will show you the benefits how holding a knife the proper way versus the others.  I will you how to position your other hand so you won’t have any more cuts on your fingers.

The Index Finger Grip – I see a good amount of people using this grip.  And with most of them I notice they tend to use this sawing action to cut.  This grip would be good if you’re sitting at dinner cutting at your steak, but with chopping and prepping your foods it would take a lot more effort than needed.  By sticking out the index finger, more strain is placed on the wrist and you limit your strength.  That is why people tend to saw at the food to compensate for the loss of strength.  Not only do you lose strength, but you do no have side to side control.  Say you are cutting something larger like a watermelon and you push down with all your might to cut through it.  Since most knives have a smooth handle and there is nothing stopping the blade from going left or right , the blade can turn on you and could potentially cut your other hand or harm.  I’m not trying to scare anyone, but this could and probably happened before.

The Full Handle Grip

This is another grip that I also see people using and this was the grip was used by the woman in the onion video.  This grip is better than the finger index grip since you have more power.  The downside that I see with this grip is the side to side action control.  If your hands were wet or oily and was holding an all metal knife like the one pictured you will not be able to control the side to side movement.

The Proper Grip

By just moving up your grip towards the blade you have accomplished the proper grip.  With your thumb and index finger pinching the base of the blade you will the have side to side control (even with wet or oily hands).  You will be able to maximize your strength without the worry of slipping and cutting yourself.

With the knife grip shown, I show you how to position your other hand to minimize other potential cuts.  In this section, I will say there is a wrong way and a right way to position your hand.

The Wrong Way

Some people tend to forget when chopping or prepping that you need to watch out for your other hand especially when you are in a rush.  Having your fingers extended out you could potentially nip the tips of your fingers.

The Right Way

Instead of extending out your fingers, make your hand like a tiger claw.  You will notice that the furthest parts of your fingers that is sticking out are your knuckles.  Your knuckles will also act as a guide for your knife.  Make sure that the blade of the knife does not go higher than the your knuckles and you should be fine.

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Happy Seis De Mayo

I know this is a day late, but better late than never. In the spirit of Cindo De Mayo I wanted to share my take on an easy way to make a mexican pizza. It’s nice, quick and you can serve a large group at a low cost. There’s no need get pizza dough or the premade (not so great) Boboli pizza crusts. These can be made in advance and ready to pop in the oven when ready.

Mexican Pizza
Makes 1-2 Servings
(Note the measurements are based on using tortilla bread)

1 tortilla bread
1-1/2 tablespoons of store bought salsa verde (Herdez Brand is really good)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoons of sliced olives
1 tablespoon of sliced jalapenos (optional. amount varies depending on level heat desired)
1 tablespoon of diced red bell peppers (If you can’t get red, then green is also fine)
1 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoons of lime juice
1/4 lb ground beef (20/80 is good)
2 tablespoons of diced onions
1 teaspoon of packaged taco seasoning
water
Sliced green onions (to garnish)

The first thing you want to do is cook the ground beef. Heat the pan on high heat and toss in the ground beef, diced onions and taco seasoning. Cook the beef until it is fully cooked. Make sure you break up the beef too. You want to have pieces the size of small beads. Next drain off the fat and set the beef aside.

Next grab your tortilla bread and spread on the salsa verde making sure you cover the whole top. Once the top is entirely covered, sprinkle three quarters of the mozzarella and cheddar over the tortilla bread. Then start layering the olives, jalapenos, bell peppers and your cooked beef over the tortilla bread evenly distributing all the ingredients. Last, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Then place the pizza on a cooking tray and cook in the oven preheated at 375 degrees. If you don’t have an oven, hopefully you have a large enough toaster oven to fit the pizza in. Since there are no ingredients that needs to be fully cooked, it should take roughly 15-20 minutes to cook. Just make sure that the top is nice and melted and the bottom of the tortilla is crunchy. If the base is still soft, you can always place the pizza on a pan and heat the bottom on medium heat for a few minutes and that should crisp up the bottom.

While the pizza is cooking in the oven mix the sour cream and lime juice together. You want a smooth consistency like ranch dressing so you can drizzle over the pizza once it is done. If you think that the sour cream still looks thick you can add a small amount of water. Also, sprinkle some sliced green onions for garnish.

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Revival of Living Room Chef

I was sitting at work waiting for lunch time to come around when I had the urge to look up frittata recipes online. I found a couple that sounded good, but then I thought a cheesy potato au gratin base would sound so good (recipe to come). Since there were no recipes close to what I saw I thought why don’t I write one up? So here we are.

I have decided to take over an existing blog that I started with a friend. So bare with me on the changes of the format as it may be different. I hope through my posts that I can take the fear out of cooking and put the fun into it through my simple yet creative ideas that anyone can do. Along with cooking, I will put in my tips and tricks of the trade that I have learned through my cooking experiences.

FYI on the update of my kitchen, it has been completed. I finally had the energy to complete my kitchen remodel. It looks great and I look forward to show you dishes created in it, but as said before don’t let your limitations stop you from cooking. Let me know how I can help.

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Steamed Whole Chicken w/ Scallion-Ginger Sauce

This is a signature dish that Bruce has been making for us for years now – in or out of the kitchen! It’s healthy and always hits the spot – whether we eat it on a warm summer evening or in the brisk winter season.

I think the greatest thing about this chicken, aside from the moist and tenderness, is the delicious scallion-ginger sauce. The flavors are fresh and vibrant with just enough spice and seasoning – it makes a great topper over the chicken and rice.

My stomach is grumbling just writing about this! Try making this dish this weekend, you won’t be sorry!

Steamed Chicken with Scallion-Ginger Sauce
Makes 6 servings

Steamed Chicken
2-3 lb Chicken (whole)
About 1/4 cup of salt

Scallion-Ginger Sauce
10-12 stalks of green onion (super finely minced)
2 teaspoons of ginger (super finely minced or grated)
1/2 – 1 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
Salt to season

Place a metal rack in the cooker so you can have the chicken suspended a couple of inches off from the bottom of the pot. Add about an inch of water to the pot. Place the chicken on the rack and heavily season the chicken with salt. For a 3 lb chicken, we used a little less than a 1/4 of a cup of salt. Don’t worry about over salting the chicken; the steam will dissolve most of it.

Set the rice cooker to cook and steam the chicken for 75 minutes. Periodically check the amount of water in the cooker to make sure you maintain an inch of water in the cooker at all times.

While the chicken is steaming, prepare the sauce. Combine the scallions, ginger, oil and soy sauce a bowl; mix well. Add salt to taste.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, set aside and let it rest to room temperature. When cool, halve the chicken and then chop into large, bite-sized sections. Serve with rice and top with Scallion-Ginger Sauce.

Note: If your cooker can’t fit a whole chicken, you can use half of a chicken or even cut the chicken into quarters and set them in a steam rack if need be. Also, the left over water used to steam the chicken makes great rice. The fat along with the salt seasons the rice nicely.

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Thai Stuffed Chicken Lollipop

For me, it’s really fun to see what kinds of complicated dishes Bruce can make without his completed kitchen. For this recipe, it was quite a feat to pull of something that needed to be deep-fried as well as baked in a traditional oven.

Bruce used his electric roasting pan to fry the chicken — not fully immersed in the oil but enough to be able to pan fry the lollipops on either side. Once he achieved a nice golden brown coat, the chicken was finished in the toaster oven (in small batches) with a foil cover so that the bread crumbs don’t burn.

And in case you’re wondering how Bruce preps all his food without a counter? Simple. He uses his coffee table, of course!

Thai Stuffed Chicken Lollipop w/ Sweet Chili Sauce
Makes 8 servings

Stuffing
1/2 lb of ground pork
1/4 cup of medium minced water chestnuts
1/4 cup of medium minced shitake or oyster mushrooms
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 teaspoons of minced ginger
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
Salt and pepper to season

Chicken
8 good sized (center part of) chicken wings
Rice Flour
Eggs Wash (egg and water)
Panko Bread Crumbs
Salt and pepper to season

Sweet Chili Sauce
Your choice of a good Asian sweet chili sauce
We like the Mae Ploy brand you can get at Safeway, or your local grocery store.

Start putting the stuffing together so it can marinate will you are prepping the chicken for stuffing. In a bowl, toss in all stuffing ingredients and make sure it is well incorporated. Be careful of how much salt you add because the fish sauce already has a strong salty taste. Once fully mixed, set aside to marinate.

Prepping the chicken for stuffing is a little tedious, but rewarding at the end when finished. With a sharp knife you want to score around one tip of the chicken wing so that the skin is loosened from the bone. With a knife, start scraping down the meat (keeping it intact) to the other end of the wing. Then pull out the small bone. After all the steps are done you should be left with the meat pocket hanging off the thicker bone. Season the chicken lollipop with salt and pepper.

After the wing lollipop has been prepped, stuff the wing with a good amount of the stuffing. Once all the wings have been stuffed, you want to coat them with flour, then in an egg wash and last in the panko bread crumbs. Make sure the chicken is well coated. Repeat the process if needed.

On medium heat, add a good amount of oil to the pan. Add the chicken lollipops to cook and brown. Once fully cooked, serve over rice with a dollop of sweet chili sauce.

Note: You want to make sure oil is hot enough to fry the chicken and not soak up most of the oil, but at the same time you want to make sure it is not too hot or the panko bread crumbs will brown before the pork stuffing is cooked. If this happens, you can place the lollipops in the oven lightly covered with foil to finish.

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Kitchen Nightmares

Bruce and his girlfriend were sorting through some old pictures and found a couple of shots of the kitchen when it was completed gutted out.

As you can see, there are no walls, cabinets, counters – nada. With it being that way for over a year, Bruce has finally whipped his own arse into shape and (as of today) has cabinets and granite counter tops installed. Next up – the floors.

Stay tuned for more yummy recipes that are definitely not made in that kitchen as well as updates on the remodeling progress