Sweet & Sour Meatballs

We had this last night over a bed of rice. They were yummy! Even N ate some.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
adapted from Lion House Recipes

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (you don't want the beef to be too high in fat because the fat will all pool at the bottom of the baking dish after baking - big time grody-ness in my book)
3/4 cup quick oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Form into about 12 balls, eacha bout 2 inches in diameter. Place in a casserole dish. Cover with sauce (below). Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Heat in a small saucepan until combined and sugar is dissolved and pour over meatballs.

Smoked Salmon Vodka Cream Pasta

Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Smoked-Salmon-Vodka-Cream-Sauce/Detail.aspx

This sauce is delicious and easy to modify depending on what you like!

• 2 servings of pasta. I've used all kinds, but like Whole Wheat penne
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon finely diced shallot
• 1/2 cup diced smoked salmon
• 2 fluid ounces vodka
• 1/2 cup whole milk
  
• 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons capers (We usually add lots more because we love them. Chopped up black olives would be good too)

1. Cook pasta according to package, maybe one minute less, so that when you mix it with the sauce the pasta sucks some up sauce.
2. In a large saucepan saute butter and shallot with smoked salmon. Once the pan begins to lightly smoke, pull saucepan away from heat source and add the Vodka.
3. When the Vodka has burned off, return the sauce to heat source and mix in the tomatoes, tomato sauce and heavy cream.
4. Season sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and chile pepper.
5. Reduce sauce to desired consistency.
6. Stir in capers .
   
7. Stir in drained cooked pasta. Let all the ingredients become friends in the pan for about 3-5 minutes. Enjoy!

Mocha Cupcakes with Kahlua Frosting

Recipe from Genesis of a Cook (asweetfantasy.blogspot.com)

Notes: I doubled this recipe for Cupcake Camp and it seemed to work fine. I didn't find the coffee flavor very strong in either the cake or the frosting. If I were to make the frosting again, I'd skip the cream cheese and substitute butter. I thought the cream cheese flavor overpowered the Kahlua. I also added at least a cup more icing sugar than called for (5 cups instead of the 4 required by doubling the recipe) and even then the icing could have been stiffer.

Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine the milk and brewed coffee. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined.

3. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Kahlua Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp. butter, room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp. Kahlua
2 cups powdered sugar


1. In a bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in Kahlua, then powdered sugar in one cup increments until frosting reaches desired consistency. Apply to cupcakes.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

This isn't a recipe really because I just used a mix but I thought the directions might be helpful anyway!

You will need:

Chocolate chip cupcakes (I used vanilla with mini chips)
Vanilla icing
Flaked coconut
Blue food coloring
White candy melts (I used the Wilton ones)
Chocolate chips
Chocolate chip cookies, cut in halves or thirds depending on size (I used Chips Ahoy)

1. Place coconut in a large ziplock bag. Add several (like 20) drops of blue food coloring and shake. A lot. Add as much food coloring as is needed to get a nice bright blue color.

2. Tint icing blue as well.

3. Melt about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in a small ziplock bag (30 second in the microwave should do it), cut a small hole in the bottom corner and pipe dark centers onto white candy melt. Allow to cool.

4. Ice each cupcake with a thin layer of blue icing. Add 1/2 chocolate chip cookie to one side of the cupcake and top with enough icing to round out the cookie monster head. Cover with blue coconut, pressing gently to make sure the head is round and the coconut sticks. be sure to get some on cookie monster's chin.

5. Top with a pair of eyes and you are done!

Fried Chicken with Buttermilk Crust

This is sooo yummy! I made it Friday night for friends and they could not stop telling me how delicious it was! I did not however, as the recipe calls for, buy two small Chickens to cut into serving pieces, I'm lazy like that so I just bought a pkg of breasts and legs. :0) I did up 10 pcs of chicken total and there was plenty of marinade for them all.

From Williams Sonoma Cookbook - The essential recipe collection for today's Home cook

- 2 c (500ml) buttermilk
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed through a press
- 1 tsp crumbled rosemary
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 small chickens, 3lb (1.5kg) each, cut into serving pcs
- 2 1/2 c all purpose plain flour
Canola Oil for frying

In a large bowl, stir together the buttermilk, garlic 1 1/2 tsp salt, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme, and cayenne. Add the chicken and turn to coat well. Cover and refridgerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. (I let it marinade for 4hrs)

Put the flour in a bowl. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk mixture and , one piece at a time, roll the chicken in the flour to coat and place it on baking sheet. Let the coated chicken stand for 30 minutes to se the crust.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a large, heavy frying pan over high heat, pour in enough oil to reach a depth of 1/2"(I used my fryer bc I had N running around). Heat to 375 F (190 C) on a deep frying thermometer. In 2 or 3 batches without crowding, fry th chicken, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the browned chicken to a baking sheet. Maintain a temperature of at least 325 F while frying and allow the temperature to return to 375 between batches.

Transfer the baking sheet with the chicken to the oven and bake the chicken until there is no sign of pink when the thickest parts are cut into near the bone, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack set over paper towels to drain. Serve within 2 hours of cooking.

It was super yummy the next day too!

Creme Brulee Cupcakes

From I Heart Cuppycakes.

This made 24 easily for me. The burnt sugar topping is a MUST, in my opinion. I tried it with the icing, due to a short hunt for the misplaced-in-the-move kitchen torch, but it's really better with the burnt sugar. Otherwise, it tastes like a brown sugar/caramel type cupcake. Never a bad thing, but the burnt sugar kicks it up a notch.

Probably a bit more work than actual Creme Brulee, but it was fun to make at least once!

For the cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt (plus a pinch for egg whites)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 cup milk

3 tbsp caramel syrup (like ice cream topping or whatever)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately beat in dry ingredients and milk.

Add caramel syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl (I wish I had had two KitchenAid bowls for this!), beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff (and not dry). Gently fold into batter. Pour into cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for 15-20 mins.

Frosting/Filling (dubbed by the blog, "Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream")

1 cup brown sugar

4 egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

Put sugar, egg whites and salt on top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water.

Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees, if you care to check).

Pour mixture into bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 mins.

Switch to paddle attachment and with mixer on med-low speed, add butter slowly, about 2 tbsp at a time. Increase speed to med-high and beat until thick (about 3 mins).

Reduce speed to low and beat 1 min to reduce air bubbles.

To assemble cupcakes:

Cone the middle, fill with frosting. Push it down with a spoon if you remember. I forgot to do this on half of them, so they had dome tops. Sprinkle with white, brown, or raw sugar, and torch away!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

These are the cupcakes I made for Calgary's (private) Cupcake Camp... chocolate cake with strawberries, and a strawberry buttercream topped with a strawberry slice and dark chocolate shavings. The cupcakes were adapted from a family chocolate cake recipe.

Cupcakes

1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1 egg
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped strawberries
boiling water
heaping spoonful of flour

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg (beaten). Put the cocoa in a liquid measuring cup, and add enough boiling water to make 1 cup of liquid. Mix well and add to the sugar/butter/egg mixture. Mix the baking soda with another 1/2 cup boiling water and add that in. Mix 1 cup of flour and baking powder and mix that in. Mix the strawberries with the spoonful of flour. This shold keep the berries from all sinking to the bottom; so if there's not enough flour, add a little more so they're pretty well coated. Fold them in. Divide into 12 paper-lined cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes at 350^oF.

(The original recipe left out the strawberries and the flour covering them; use a greased and floured 9x9" cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.)

Icing

1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup butter or margarine
icing sugar

Start by mixing the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it cook down a little (10 minutes or so). Put this into a food processor or blender and mix until no large chunks remain. Let the strawberry sauce cool (I stuck mine in the fridge or freezer if I was in a hurry).

Meanwhile, start prepping the icing base. Cream the butter together with 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 tbsp. of the (cooled!) strawberry sauce, mix it in and add 1 more cup of icing sugar. Add 1-2 tbsp. more strawberry sauce to thin it to spreading consistency. (Note: This should be about enough for a dozen cupcakes... if you're doing more, just keep adding 2 tbsp. of sauce alternating with 1 cup of icing sugar until you've got enough icing.)

Frost the cupcakes and top with some chocolate shavings and some strawberry!

I wouldn't do strawberry slices again; they dry out too quickly and start to look funny. The first time I made these I used quartered strawberries and they last much longer. I think the perfect garnish would actually be the tiny whole strawberries you buy at farmer's markets in the summer... they would last much better and wouldn't leak juice on the icing.

Lemon Coconut Snowballs

From the book Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

Makes 12 Regular Cupcakes (I dbl the recipe and it still worked out well, in hindsight I did not need to dbl the lemon filling and did not dbl the frosting)

1 1/3c Cake flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
6 Tbsp Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Almond Extract
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 C Sugar
6 Large Egg Whites
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 C Lemon Filling

Lemon Sauce and Filling
Makes 1 Cup (I dbl'd it since I could freeze it to use for when I make these cupcakes again)

1/4 c (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp cornstart, dissolved in 1/4 c water
1 tsp grated lemon zest

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and lemon juice over medium heat until the butter melts and th emixutre is hot, about 130 F on a thermometer.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together to blend them, then whisk in the dissolved cornstarch. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot butter and lemon juice into the yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a large spoon, just until it comes to a boil and thickens; it will take about 6 minutes. Which thickened, the sauce will leave a path on the back of the spoon if you draw your finger across it and look clear rather then cloudy. Immediately remove from the heat, strain into a small bowl, and stir in lemon zest. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the sauce, use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the plastic wrap to let the steam escape, and refridgerate until cold. The sauce will thicken further as it chills.

The sauce can be refridgerated for up to 3 days or leaving at least an inch of space in the top of the container, press plastic wrap onto the surface, seal tightly and freeze up to 3 months. It does not freeze solid so it's easy to just take it out of the freeze and spoon out what you need w/o having to defrost it.


Frosting:

3 C. shredded sweetened coconut
Seven Minute Frosting

Seven Minute Frosting:

1 1/4 C. sugar
1/3 c. water
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla exract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Put the sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler with at least 2 qt capacity and beat with a handheld electric mixer on high speed until opaque, white, and foamy, about 1 minute. Put the bowl over, but not touching , a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). The top container should sit firmly over the pan of hot water; be sure to keep the cord of the electric mixer away from the burner. Beat on high speed until the frosting forms a soft peak that standsd straight up if you stop the beaters and lift them up, about 7 minutes. The frosting should register 160 F on the thermometer. Remove the container of frosting from the water, add vanilla and almond extracts, and continute beating for 2 minutes to further thicken the frosting.


Make the cupcakes. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Pre-heat to 350 F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, stir the milk and vanilla and almond extracts together.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in colour, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until each addition is incorporated before adding the next, set aside.

In another large bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves, about 1 minute. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-third of the whipped egg whites into the batter, then fold in the reamining whites until no streaks of egg white reamin.

Fill each paper liner with 1/3c of batter, to about 1/4" below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs clinging to it, about 23 mins (mine were done at around 18-20 mins). The tops should remain pale or barely brown just on the edges. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove cupcakes and cool completely on the wire rack.

Fill the cupcakes. Remove the paper liners. Cut a cone-shaped peice, about 1" across and 1" deep, out of th emiddle of the top of each cupcake; set the peices aside. Spoon 1 tbsp of lemon filling into each hole. Replace the cone-shaped pcs of cupcake. Immediately frost the cupcakes.

Frost the cupcakes. Spread the coconut on a plate or piece of wax paper. Holding the cupcake in the palm of your hand, use a small metal spatula to spread about 1/2c of frosting over the top and sides, cover it completely. Sprinkle coconut generously over the frosting, letting any extra fall onto the plate to be recycled onto another cupcake. Place on the serving plate and continue frosting the remaining cupcakes.

Serve or cover carefully and refridgerate to serve cold. Cupcakes can be refridgerated up to 2 days.

Chocolate Swirl Brownies

Source: An old Toronto Mount Sinai Hospital fundraising cookbook, probably from the 1980's. I wonder if they still make these, it's a really great cookbook!

• 6 squares semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 brick (1 cup) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease 9" (23cm) square baking pan
3. In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter.
4. Remove saucepan from heat. With wooden spoon beat in 2 eggs and 1/2 cup sugar until well blended. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder.
5. Pour batter into baking and set aside.
6. In a small bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese, vanilla, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 egg until smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
7. Spoon cream cheese mixture over batter in baking pan. With fork cut and twist through batter a few times to obtain swirled effect.
8. Bake brownies 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean
9. Cool brownies in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes 20 brownies. Calories per brownies: 190

Blue Cheese Burgers

Adapted from Pinch My Salt

This is an absolutely amazing blue cheese-filled burger. I used Danish Blue, but you could easily use whatever blue cheese strikes your fancy. These burgers are a little bigger than indicated in the source blog - I used the Tupperware burger press to form my patties, and found that the suggested 2oz balls weren't enough to make the patties big or thick enough to hold up. The extra ounce makes a big difference! These patties also freeze beautifully, so you can make them ahead and enjoy them at a moment's notice!

2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbsp dried parsley
salt and pepper
1.5 lbs lean ground beef

Mash together cream cheese and blue cheese in a small bowl. Mix in herbs and spices, and some salt and pepper to taste.

Break your ground beef into about 8 3oz portions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, roll into balls and flatten into thin patties all about the same size. Tip: form the patties on waxed paper, it will be easier to move them!

On 4 of your patties, spread about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture. Be generous, but leave about a half inch around the edge of the patty so you can seal your burgers. Carefully place one of the non-cheesed patties over top, and gently press the edges to seal.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill!

Because the blue cheese is such a strong flavour, condiments are best kept to a minimum. Our tastiest burgers yet involved a little ketchup, some mayo, sliced avocado and bacon. Just enough to accent without overpowering. Yum!

Rockin' Moroccan Stew

This is from one of the Looney Spoons cookbooks and is a favorite of ours. I thought it would be yummy with Sam's Moroccan Couscous :)

2 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup each diced celery and chopped green bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable stock
3 cups peeled, cubed sweet potatoes (I use yams)
1 can (19 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp each ground cumin, curry powder, ground coriander, and chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp each peanut butter and chopped, fresh cilantro

Heat olive oil in large saucepan or pot over med-high heat. Add onions, celery, green pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add all remaining ingredients, except raisins, peanut butter and cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes.

Stir in raisins, peanut butter and cilantro. Mix well. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Moroccan-Style Couscous

This dish was inspired by a meal I had at a local Moroccan restaurant. By itself, couscous is rather blah, but this is a delicious side that can easily be adapted to suit your own palate. This will serve four easily as a side, two as a main (more if you add lots of vegetables to it!)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp butter
2 cups uncooked couscous

3 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion until almost translucent, then add garlic at the very end. Add spices, stir for 30 seconds, and remove from heat. Set aside.

Bring water and butter to a boil. Add couscous, stir, cover with a lid and remove from heat. Let sit 5 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.

Fluff couscous with a fork, and fold in onions, parsley, salt, lemon juice, olive oil and chickpeas. Adjust seasonings to taste.

To make this side into a full meal, add sauteed or roasted vegetables such as zucchini, carrots, eggplant, peppers, cherry tomatoes, etc. Roasted or grilled chicken or lamb would also make a great meat addition, either mixed in or on the side.

Pub-Style Chicken Wings - Baked or Fried, You Decide!

It's been a long time since I've been able to go out to a local pub for chicken wings. Since the birth of my darling daughter, actually. Such liquor-serving establishments tend to frown upon the accompaniment of minors, and given that babysitting s at a premium for us, I wanted to figure out a way to enjoy those delicious, mouth-watering wings, but without having to find a babysitter.

Below are two different cooking techniques - the pub-style deep-fry, and a more kitchen-friendly baked version. The fried ones are more authentic, cook a little faster (though in smaller batches, so perhaps it evens out for large amounts), and are a little more greasy. Baked are still quite good (especially when you're coating them in copious amounts of sauce), and less greasy. Regardless of which method you choose, the prep is pretty much the same up until you apply the heat. I made these wings in a 3-lb batch, but this recipe is easily scaled for more or less. Measurements are approximate anyway, and seasonings are to my taste, so feel free to adjust for your own liking.

You will need:
- 3 lbs chicken wings, split and tips discarded (you can buy frozen, pre-split wings in large boxes if you so desire!)
- 1 cup flour
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika

Step 1: Choose your cooking method. If you are baking, preheat your oven to 425, get an appropriately-sized pan and spray it with cooking oil. If you are frying, get a good, wide pot and heat a light oil (canola is good) to about 375 over medium to medium-high heat. Keep an eye on it with a candy/frying thermometer - it is essential that you not overheat your oil. Or, use a deep-fryer set to 375 (or thereabouts).

Steps 2 through 4 are the same, no matter what cooking method you use.

Step 2: Boil your chicken wings. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and drop 'em on in (still frozen is fine!). Bring back to a boil, turn heat down so you don't get chicken-water all over your stove, and boil for 10 minutes or so. Do this in batches if necessary, just strain out the wings, bring it back to a boil and add more. Drain, and set aside.

Step 3: In a large bowl, combine flour and desired spices. Toss with a fork to combine.

Step 4: Dredge chicken wings in seasoned flour. Toss in 6 or so, toss the bowl around to make sure they're coated. Pick them out, shake off the excess, and proceed to your desired cooking method. (If you are frying, dredge your wings just before you drop them into the oil, to avoid them getting soggy while you are frying a previous batch).

Baking

Step 5: Arrange your dredged chicken wings on a greased baking sheet. Spray with Pam (or other such spray oil) to get a light coating - this little bit of oil will help the flour coating crisp up nicely.

Step 6: Bake at 425 for 40-50 minutes, until crispy and golden and delicious! Skip ahead past the frying directions for seasoning.

Frying

Step 5: Gently lower your dredged wings into the hot oil. I suggest frying in small batches - too much at once will lower the temperature of your oil quickly and result in overly-greasy wings. Be careful if using the open-pot method - the oil will bubble up with each addition. Add wings a couple at a time until you are comfortable with how many are in there. Let fry for 10 minutes or so, until wings are golden and crispy.

Step 6: Skim out the cooked wings, lay on a paper-toweled baking sheet and pop in the oven at 200-250 to keep warm while the rest of your wings cook. Repeat this until you are done.

Now, the following steps are for seasoning all your wings, both baked and fried!

Step 7: For dry-seasoned wings (salt & pepper, lemon pepper, etc), sprinkle your wings liberally with your seasoning of choice. For saucy wings, put your cooked wings in a bowl (with a lid is better), add a splash of your sauce of choice, and toss 'til evenly coated.

Step 8: Serve, with ranch or blue cheese dressings to dip, and enjoy with your beverage of choice!

Fiesta Shrimp

This is one of my mom's recipes and I have no idea where it came from. It's damn good though!

2 pounds cooked shrimp
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons snipped cilantro or parsley
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a heavy plastic bag set in a medium bowl combine garlic, lime peel, lime juice, olive oil, onion, cayenne pepper, cilantro or parsley, sugar, salt, and pepper; mix well. Place cooked shrimp in the bag; seal bag. Turn bag to coat shrimp with marinade mixture. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

To serve, drain the shrimp, discarding the marinade.

Slow Cooker Korean Ribs

Adapted from Daily Unadventures in Cooking.

This is a favourite slow-cooker recipe in our home now. We buy ribs in giant packs at Costco, and half a pack is about perfect for this! Leftovers are delicious, too.

3 -4 pounds pork or beef ribs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into single ribs
½ cup soy sauce
1 cup + a couple Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp ginger, grated
2 tsp hot chili flakes
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp corn starch mixed w/ cold water, as needed.
Sesame seeds & chopped green onions (garnish)

The night before:
Place a large saute pan over medium heat add ribs and cook for 15-20 minutes until browned on all sides. Remove from pan to a plate to cool, and use a couple tbsp of orange juice to deglaze the yummy sticky bits off the bottom of the pan. Reserve these delicious juices.

Transfer ribs to a container and refrigerate.

In a bowl, combine the reserved juices, soy sauce, juice, vinegar, ginger, garlic, chili, oil and honey and mix well. Refrigerate.

The next day:
Transfer ribs to slow cooker and pour sauce over top. Cook on low for about 8 hours or until meat is very tender. If you would like a sauce, remove the ribs from the slow cooker, and add cornstarch & cold water (mixed together) to thicken.

To serve arrange on a platter and pour sauce over top, garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Cucur Udang (Prawn Fritters)

Adapted from Seasaltwithfood.

This is a delicious, simple Malaysian fritter recipe that doesn't look like much before it's cooked, but comes out crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and oh so tasty! These are simple to make small for appies, or a little bigger as a side dish with a lovely soup. I got about 12 big (about palm-sized) fritters out of this!

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 cup water (maybe a little more)

1/2 cup green onions, roughly chopped (you could also use chives, or shallots!)

2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed well (really, really well!) and shaken dry

1/4 to 1/3 lb raw prawns, shelled and chopped roughly (or whole, if you prefer!)

Oil for frying

Combine the flour, baking powder, turmeric and salt into a mixing bowl. Add water and mix it with a spoon to make a fairly thick batter. Stir in the chives, bean sprouts and prawns. Add more water if the batter seems too thick - it should be smooth, but not like a chunk of dough. The consistency should be like a really thick pancake batter.

Heat about an inch of oil in a frying pan to about 375 degrees.

Using a large spoon, take a scoop of batter, and gently drop it into the oil. Repeat. Cook 3-4 minutes until golden brown, and flip to cook the other side, another 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

Drain fritters on paper towel. Cool for 5-10 minutes, and then dig in! These are excellent served with a seasoned mayonnaise dip - we made ours with mayo, chile paste and a little chopped cilantro. These are also really delicious several hours later at room temperature! Next time I make some, I'm making extras to snack on after dinner!

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

This was posted on a message board and it is too yummy not to share!

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
* 1/2 large onion - chopped
* 4 cloves garlic - minced
* 1 cup water chestnuts - finely chopped
* 1 large head butter lettuce
* 2 carrots
* 5 green onions - chopped

Special Sauce

* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup water
* 2 tbsp. hoisin
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
* 2 tablespoons ketchup
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
* 1/2 to 2 tsp red chile paste based on how spicy you like things
* 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water

Stir Fry Sauce

* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons hoisin
* 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions

Bring 1 tbsp. oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Saute turkey, onions and garlic until browned. Add water chestnuts and saute over high heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Add brown sugar, soy, hoisin, and vinegar for the stir fry sauce. Saute and stir for a few more minutes until combined.

While the turkey is browning, make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small pot over medium heat. Add hoisin, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, sesame oil, and hot chili sauce to your taste. Bring to a boil, stir in cornstarch mixture to thicken, and turn off heat.

To Serve:

- On a plate place separated lettuce leaves (cut in half if really large), ribboned carrot (use your peeler), and chopped green onion. Place warm turkey in a serving bowl, and special sauce in a separate serving bowl. Everyone makes their own. Lettuce, chicken, carrots, green onion, and then a drizzle of sauce. Wrap and then enjoy.