Indian spiced wings

Indian Spiced Wings:

2 lb chicken wings
3/4 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (optional, it's for color)
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
5 cloves garlic, grated, diced, or mashed
1 inch piece ginger, diced or grated
1 cup plain yogurt

1. The night before, mix all of the ingredients together and marinate overnight. If you can, roast 2 tablespoons of whole garam masala spices in a pan for 2 minutes, then grind. However, you can also use ground garama masala and use that.

2. Place the top rack of the oven on the 2nd row to the top. Set the oven to broil. Broil turns on the heat only on the top of the oven and is used when you want to brown the top of whatever is cooking.  Broil the wings for about 15-20 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 10-15 minutes until the other side is browned and you have some blackened spots. Yum.

I also made crispy potatoes and roasted broccoli with my chicken wings. If you want to make those too, follow these directions.

Crispy potatoes:

5 potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 3/4 teaspoons fresh)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Cut your potatoes into thirds, lengthwise. Then take each slice, cut those into thirds, lengthwise, then slice into small cubes (about 1/2 inch).
2. Place the potato cubes into a baking pan or dish, add the oil and seasonings, and mix well.


Roasted broccoli:
1 head broccoli
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cut the florets off of the stem and into uniform pieces, about 1 inch. You can also roast the stems too. Peel the thick skin off of the stem, it doesn't have to be perfect. Then cut the stems into 1/2 inch cubes.
2. Place the broccoli into a baking dish or pan. Add the oil and seasonings, and mix well.


Place the top rack on the 2nd row to the top, and the 2nd rack one row below that one. Heat oven to broil. Set the veggies on the top rack and the wings on the bottom rack. After 5 minutes, the broccoli should have some browned (but not blackened!) spots on it. Now place the broccoli on the bottom rack and the wings on the top rack next to the potatoes. Stir the potatoes around but keep them on the top rack.  After 15-20 minutes, the wings should be browned so flip the wings over. Stir the potatoes again and add more oil if they are looking dry. If you broil heats unevenly, you may have to rotate the pans so that the back doesn't burn before the front browns all the way. Broil for another 10-15 minutes until the wings are done.

Potato Latkes

During my stay in St. Louis, I helped Rachel make potato latkes for Hanakkuh.

1/2 - 1 small onion, depending on your preference
4 large potatoes
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper

1. Peel your potatoes if you want (we didn't). Coarsely grate the potatoes and onions together. Get ready for a crying fest. I wear contacts and chopping onions have never bothered me.


2. Use your bare hands to squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated onions and potatoes. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the egg, flour, salt and pepper. As it sits, more moisture will get drawn out from the potatoes.


3. Heat a pan with 1/2 centimeter layer of vegetable oil. Olive oil isn't good because it has a lower smoke point and may burn. Form patties in your hands and squeeze even more moisture out from the potatoes. Cook on medium-high heat for about a minute or until it's dark brown. Then, flip over and cook the other side. When both sides are nice and browned, transfer to something to drain the oil. You can put them on a plate with paper towels. We didn't have paper towels, and when Rachel didn't like my newspaper idea, she made a rack station with dinner napkins underneath.


Yummo! Makes about 10 palm-sized latkes.

Potato Hash

This was one of those days when I was using miscellaneous food items to make a meal. This is what I had in the fridge and freezer:

6 potatoes, cooked
4 strips bacon
2 eggs
1/2 onion
3 stalks green onion
1/4 pound ground turkey
8 large mushrooms

1. Cut the onions into wedges. Cook in a pan on medium heat with some oil until browned. Remove the onions from the pan.
2. Slice or chop the mushrooms, however you want to do it. Cook until browned. I didn't need to add more oil here. Remove from the pan.
3. Cook the ground turkey until browned, and remove from heat.
4. Cut the bacon into smaller pieces. Cook the bacon to whatever crispness you like. Leave the fat in the pan but take out the bacon.
5. Cube your potatoes. Cook the potatoes on high heat with the bacon fat. You make need to cook the potatoes in two batches. Just put enough potatoes to make one layer, so that each side of the cubes can brown. When the potatoes are close to done, add the green onions.
6. When the potatoes are browned, crack your eggs on top of the potatoes and scramble them.
7. Add all of the ingredients back in. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cheddar cheese would be good too, but optional.



Makes about 6 servings. Enjoy!

The Famed Pizza Potatoes

This recipe is thanks to my mom. I have no idea where she found it but ever since I was a little kid it was a treat. This also makes a GREAT recipe for camping, since it is kind of like a fancy version of hash. It is also a riff on a twice baked potato. And well I already know the girls from school love them just as much. So here it goes:

Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
3 russet (the big brown ones) potatoes
1 lb uncooked Italian sausage
3-4 tablespoons of tomato paste
1/2 cup of milk
red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and oregano to taste
1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

First use the microwave to bake your potatoes as it saves time. Wash your potatoes and then pierce them with a fork about 5-10 times all over. Place them in a bowl and press the baked potato button on the microwave and then the amount of potatoes. Or just cook the potatoes in the microwave for about 8 minutes to start. The potatoes are considered "baked" when they are soft to the touch. Don't actually touch them since they will be hot, but push down on the skin with a fork. If it doesn't budge microwave the potatoes longer. If the potato is kind of squishy then they are done. Put them to the side and let them cool a little bit.



In the mean time, preheat the oven to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Put a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Then squeeze your sausage out of the casing and into the pan. Use the spoon to break up the sausage into smaller pieces. As the sausage cooks slice your potatoes in half length-wise. Then begin to scoop out the potato trying not to break the skin. You will end up with potato on a plate/in a bowl, and then halves of potato skins with about 1/4 inch of potato left on them. Arrange the potato skins in a 13X9 inch baking pan



Once the sausage is cooked add the scooped out potato to the pan. Then add the tomato paste, milk and 2/3 cup of mozzarella. Stir until everything is slightly red and then season to your taste with the seasonings I listed. Then scoop the potato mixture back into the potatoes skins, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top including the Parmesan cheese. Place the potato in the oven and bake for 5 minutes so the cheese melts.


Once the cheese is starting to brown take the potatoes out and serve.



Oh and Lien you can make these too if they sound good. All you need to do is follow the recipe up to the baking part. You don't have to bake them because everything is cooked already by the time you put them in the oven. So you can just sprinkle more cheese on top and eat it like fancy mashed potatoes, or you could put it back in the potato skins and then sprinkle some cheese on top and zap it in the microwave for like 30 seconds to a minute to melt the cheese. Then it will be just the same. :D

Rachel's Made up Chicken and Potatoes

Well, Katie and I decided to have dinner with Chris and Sean one night this summer since Chris was coming to visit before he went off to Japan with Sean and Kevin. So on Katie and mine's traditional "date night" (Wednesday) I decided to cook since we still had left overs from our 4th of July bbq. And this recipe is pretty much what ensued after I got the ingredients to make something completely different. :D

Potatoes:
2 brown russet potatoes (or since I don't know what kind of potatoes you will have access to Lien, it does not really matter what kind of potatoes they are just get as many as you would like to eat)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (3-4 cloves whole garlic)
4 teaspoons olive oil
seasonings (I used Cajun seasoning this time, carne asada seasoning the last time, and Lien I know you will just want salt and pepper)

Chicken:
1 head of garlic
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion
4 teaspoons of olive oil
2-3 chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup cream
seasoning as you like (I used bay leave, chili powder, pepper corns, and parsley this time)

Vegetable of your choice

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Take your head of garlic and chop off the top of it, so that you are starting see the tops of the raw garlic (the ones in the middle that is). Then place in the center of a square of aluminum foil and begin to bring the foil up around the garlic. Then add the 3 teaspoons of olive oil. Crumple up the foil at the top so you have foil covered head of garlic. Place in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. You can tell the garlic is ready when you can really smell it and also the tops of the garlic cloves are rather squishy when you touch them. It will look like this:



Then slice the potatoes into about 1 inch or a little smaller cubes and place into a baking pan.



Add the 4 teaspoons of olive oil to the potatoes and then your seasoning choice. Then mix it around with your hands to coat the potatoes and place in the oven (still at 450) for about 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork quite easily. The garlic should also be out of the oven by now. Potatoes in the oven will look like :



Take the garlic out of their skins and place in a pan with another 4 teaspoons of olive oil. Turn the skillet on to medium heat to get the flavors to start blending. Here is the garlic out of its skins and what the skins will look like after you've taken the garlic out (you don't want to skin Lien!).




While the garlic flavors are mingling slice the onion into strips and add to the skillet.




Cook the onions until they are starting to get clear. Then take the chicken and slice it in half or smaller, as smaller pieces will cook faster. Place the chicken in the skillet with the onions. Then season the top side of the chicken with salt and pepper and cook until the bottoms begin to brown. About 5 minutes at least.





Cook the chicken for another 5 minutes on its other side so both sides are browned. Lastly add the chicken broth, cream, and other seasonings. Then cook for another 10 minutes (this is with the chicken cut in halves) or until the chicken is full cooked through (so not pink or clearish in the middle).



Then take everything and serve. (oh yeah make your veggies too!)






Enjoy!