Korean BBQ Wings - Flavor Forecast 2012

I have discovered this week:

*I'm slowly losing my resistance - it’s about time for me to get a smartphone…like one where you can actually whatsapp people the photos you've taken throughout the day or navigate yourself out of being lost in the city.

*Purple is so not in at the moment.  I have struggled like never before to find a purple bridesmaid dress!

*The last thing I want to do after a long day at work is to come home and sit in front of the computer…I feel terrible about the emails to be sent and comments to be replied...

*The very first frangipani flower appeared on our balcony...aloha!

*It’s now February…no more excuses for putting things off just because “it’s still the beginning of the year.”

*I am supposedly chronically allergic to peanut butter and milk (according to a recent blood test). I wonder if I’d puff up if I have a peanut butter milkshake!

*This flavour combo – Korean Pepper paste with Sesame, Asian pear and Garlic is kinda amazing on my palate.

Remember the McCormick Flavor Forecast I posted a few weeks back, where I told you how I really wanted to try this flavour combo?

It's garlicky, peppery, slightly hot, sweet...and juicy (from the pear!)

Totally Tuesday night kinda food as you repeatedly wonder why it's not even half way through the week yet. It sure feels like a Friday to me!

Just mix together the Korean pepper sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, soy sauce, and a bit of sesame oil into a bowl.

Toss the wings/drumsticks into the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes (the longer the better!)

(I'm feeling uneasy putting photos up of uncooked chicken as this is mostly a flour-butter-eggs-sugar kinda blog...)

Bake (then grill, which I didn't) and enjoy!

I can see why people love this flavour combo! The juicy sweetness from the pear along with the garlicky Korean pepper sauce causes some serious finger licking actions until you find yourself with an empty plate in front of you on a feels-like-a-Friday Tuesday night!

Hurry up weekend. Come already!

"Korean BBQ meets Buffalo wings. These succulent finger foods are served with crunchy Asian pear to create a unique flavor adventure."

Korean BBQ Wings

Flavor Forecast

Makes 12 appetizer servings.

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) Korean pepper paste (Gochujang)
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) soy sauce
• 1/4 cup (60 mL or 85 grams) honey
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL or 20 grams) minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL or 2 grams) McCormick® Ground Ginger
• 4 pounds (2 kilograms) chicken wing pieces (I used both drumsticks and wings)
• 1 Asian pear
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL or 7 grams) McCormick® Sesame Seed

1. Mix hot pepper paste, soy sauce, honey, garlic, sesame oil and ginger in medium bowl until well blended. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish. Add 1/2 cup (120 mL) of the marinade; toss to coat well. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Reserve remaining marinade.

2. Remove chicken from marinade. Discard any remaining marinade. Place chicken on shallow foil-lined large baking pan. Bake in preheated 375°F (190°C, Gas Mark 5) oven 30 minutes, turning chicken halfway through cooking.

3. Meanwhile, quarter and core the Asian pear. Cut each quarter into 3 pieces. Place pear slices in large bowl. Add cooked chicken and 1/2 of the reserved marinade; toss to coat well.

4. Grill chicken and pear slices over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until grill marks appear, turning occasionally. Toss chicken and pear slices with remaining reserved marinade in large bowl. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seed.

Test Kitchen Tips:

• Gochujang or Korean pepper paste is made from chile powder, glutinous rice powder, fermented soybeans and salt. It is used to flavor stews, soups and marinades, and as a condiment at the table. It is available in Asian markets and online specialty stores.

• Chicken wings may be grilled without prebaking. Grill marinated chicken over medium-high heat 15 to 18 minutes until cooked through, turning frequently. Grill pear slices as directed, brushing with 2 tablespoons of the reserved marinade. Continue as directed.
• 
  

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Curry Sweet Potato Fries

Remember my two little visitors from last week?

Here's some snapshots from our second encounter when I was on my way to the park...

There they were, hovering over a piece of bread and eating again. Completely unaware of the danger lurking around (not me!)

As the unfriendly intruder came to view and approached them, the couple looked up and were completely shaken by size of their enemy!

Errrr c'mon honey, let's get outta here before he chews us into pieces! *runs*

I imagined the magpie was gleefully thinking, mine mine mine, as he sprinted over to his dinner! 

Bullies are totally uncool, right?

Well, what happened next...to this day, I still don't understand.

Before my eyes, the couple bravely yet cautiously walked back to the bread and the magpie, seeing their return, took off without any fuss.

You know what I think?

They must've put a dumbing spell on the magpie. Or not. I know from previous experiences that magpies still adore carbs despite being meat lovers. Guess this will remain a mystery to me...unless someone knows anything about these strange behaviours!

So perhaps the moral of the story is this: Size does not matter. You can beat the Goliath in your life!

Bye bye Mr. Magpie!

He was pretty much in a trance-like state as he made an exit from the scene.

Happy at last with their dinner. 

Or so you think...

Apparently the lady wasn't impressed. She suspected that the boy cared more about the food than her so she left. 

And I don't think he even noticed!

Me gonna rip this piece 'o bread like a man!

Grrrrr....

Hang on, something doesn't seem right?

Ok, let me think...

Is someone missing? I'm pretty sure I didn't leave the nest alone this morning...

*looks around*

Oooops! Honeyyyy...where are you?

By the way, while I'm in no way claiming to be a mind-reader of these creatures with wings, I will however claim that these curry sweet potato fries I've been making will mostly likely have you hooked!

They have graced my dinner table at least a dozen times as there seems to be an overflowing supply of sweet potatoes in the fridge lately. And this is now one of our favourite ways to indulge this vitamin-A rich food in my home. Crunchy, spicy, sweet...yum!

Oh and learn from that silly lorikeet - don't forget to enjoy your food with your loved ones this week!

Baked Curry Sweet Potato Fries

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes 1 potatoes worth of fries. 

• 1 plump sweet potato/yam/orange-fleshed potato, peeled
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large egg white (I omitted this and used another tbsp of olive oil)
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

3. Peel sweet potato and slice off the top and bottom points of the potato. With potato positioned north to south, use a large knife to slice potato into 1/3-inch potato planks. Stack planks in two piles, and slice, north to south, into 1/3-inch sticks.

4. Place potato sticks onto prepared baking sheet and toss with olive oil. Set aside.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white until foamy and frothy (if using egg whites). Add curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and crushed red pepper flakes and whisk to incorporate. Pour the egg white mixture over the potato sticks and gentle toss to coat the potatoes.

6. Place in the oven and bake to desired doneness and crispiness, my fries took about 40 minutes. While the fries bake, stir together yogurt, cumin, olive oil and salt. Place in a small serving dish.

7. Remove fries from the oven and serve immediately.

Have a lovely week ahead!

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Pork and Shrimp Balls with Glutinous Rice

Of late, a lot of my conversation with Sister begins with...

Remember when...?

Those nostalgic flashbacks may be the result of seeing the city you grew up in destructed by an earthquake.

Remember when we jumped so high on the trampoline to wave at the neighbours over the fence?

Remember when our black-nosed friend was given away to this 'mean' girl who grabbed it by the legs?

Remember when we used to call that 'mean' girl, 'Boy', just because we associated those two words? (We were nasty, aye?)

Remember when Mother would make her famous cheesecake?

And remember those 'Pearl Balls'? Gee, they were tasty, weren't they?

Perhaps we subconsciously try to hold on to these precious memories in the fear that they may one day slip away from the mind like so many others have over the years?

So what are these 'Pearl Balls', you ask?

They are juicy minced pork and shrimp balls rolled in a layer of sticky rice. There are also loads of shallot and mushrooms in there...oh yes! And they are usually eaten with some soy sauce to dip on the side.

Should I add, since I am home in Sydney on a break, credit also goes to Sister who helped to re-create this childhood dish that has never departed our minds since those trampolining days.

What better time than now to re-visit childhood flavours with our tastebuds just as we have visited those old memories with our mind.

Pork and Shrimp Balls with Glutinous Rice
Serves 8

• 2 cups glutinous rice, rinsed, soaked for a day, drained
• 500g pork mince
• few cubes of silken tofu (optional: just because we needed to use it up!)
• 6 shiitake mushroom
• 300g fresh shrimp, deveined and chopped
• 1 bunch shallots
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• pinch sugar

1. Roughly chop the shallots and add to a food processor along with the mushrooms and garlic. Pulse until fine.

2. Place the pork mince and tofu (optional) in a big mixing bowl, and add the shallot/mushroom mixture as well as all the rest of the ingredients except the glutinous rice.

3. Mix together for a few minutes until all is well combined. I used my stand mixer with paddle attachment.

4. Divide and shape mixture into equal size balls (should be a bit smaller than a golf ball).

5. Roll mince balls in the glutinous rice to coat evenly.

6. Arrange coated balls in steamer basket and steam in a preheated steamer for 10 to 12 minutes, until cooked through.

Don't forget to dip it with some soy sauce on the side!

Hope you all had a good week...and are happily anticipating the weekend ahead as I am! 

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What's for dinner this week?

[HEART] gratefulness

[EYES] The King's Speech

[EARS] Vienna by Billy Joel

[HEAD] where to, for lunch?

[HANDS] playing Angry Bird

Excuse me for the longish period of silence on this space (and thanks especially for your thoughtful e-mails/comments asking my whereabouts!)

I've been blogging telepathically (and rather often too!) just because I thought we have that connection between us by now. Uh... no? So it was just me then!

So I have been re-prioritising my life. It's almost a full-time job.

Not that I didn't know my priorities were before.

But it's one thing to know...and another thing to do. Don't you think so too? I'm learning. Head knowledge is nothing when there's no heart knowledge. Oui?

On the kitchen front, making dinner obviously takes priority over my love of baking.

Since I live by myself most of the time, people often ask me...

What do you cook for yourself each night? 

To which I reply...I cook whatever I'm in the mood for. If I am craving cereal and peanut butter sandwiches, please don't deprive me of that for dinner! :)

Last week, I had a thing for Italian (or rather, my take on Italian)...

I know that I rarely post about dinner (it has mostly been...desserts, something sweet and oh, more desserts!) - but I'm learning to be a better cook these days so I thought it'd be good to document and share those recipes here.

Here are the three recipes I've cooked in the past week:

• Spaghetti Bolognese - this is a great recipe and it's perfect to store the sauce in the freezer in individual portions for those unforeseen lazy days ahead.
• Brie, Chorizo, Caramelised onion and Apple Pizza - Love homemade pizza like no other. I ran out of apples one night so made another version with juicy mangoes and tomato slices! I love the flavour combination of sweet, tangy and salty.
• Thyme, lemon and mushroom pasta - Simple yet flavoursome...good recipe for a meatless day!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Adapted from DaintyBaker

Serves 4-6

• 3 Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp extra
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 sprigs Thyme - remove leaves off the stem
• handful of Basil leaves
• handful of Oregano leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can (800g) whole tomatoes
• 500g pork and veal mince
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium pot with onions, garlic and bay leaves until onions turn translucent.

2. Add the can of tomatoes to the pot and break up the whole tomatoes with the back of a fork, bring to the boil.

3. Once it has reached boiling point reduce heat, let simmer for about 40 mins - 1 hr until it is reduced. At this point, throw in your herbs, chilli (if using - you can turn the heat up or down to your liking by adding more or less chilli flakes) and wine and simmer for about another 15 mins. Remove bay leaves.

4. Whilst your sauce is simmering, heat the extra 1 Tbsp oil in a fry pan. Cook the mince until browned all over. Add the sauce to the meat and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Spaghetti with mushrooms in a lemon, cream and thyme sauce
Adapted from CheekyChilli
Serves 3-4

• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 1/2 red onion 
• 1 tbsp thyme 
• Lemon zest of 1 lemon
• Lemon juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup porcini or wild mushrooms
• 1/2 cup cream 
• 2 sausage (optional), diced (I omitted this)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I omitted this)
• 1/2 tsp orange flower honey  (use regular honey if you don’t have this)
• Dried Spaghetti to serve 3-4 people
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan for grating over

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti into the pot. Boil pasta as per directions on box.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a shallow pan on medium low. Add the garlic and fry until slightly brown.

3.  Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the thyme.

4.  Roughly chop the mushrooms and add to the pan. Mix to incorporate, then bring to a boil.

5. Add the lemon juice and zest and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the cream.

6. Reduce heat and simmer the sauce for a bit and let reduce slightly. Add the honey and mix it in.

7. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sauce and toss together to coat the strands of pasta.

8. Serve with a fresh grating of Parmesan over each dish, along with some fresh ground pepper.

Apple, Brie, Chorizo and Caramelised onion Pizza

Serves 1-2 

Note: For the pizza base, either make it from scratch or if you're short on time like I was, make sure you buy it fresh (made daily) from a good pasta/pizza stall in your local market. You can freeze them too - just need to thaw for around 5-10 minutes.

• 1 fresh pizza base 
• 1 apple, sliced thinly (I used fuji) or 1 small mango, sliced
• 100 gram double brie
• 1 link chorizo
• 1 onion, sliced
• ~2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ~1 tbsp honey
• handful of salad greens

1. Preheat oven to 220C (or 430F)

2. Cut apple (or mango) into thin slices. Layer onto pizza.

3. Cook onion in a pan until soft and slightly browned. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar and honey to taste. Layer onto pizza.

4. Add the brie slices onto the pizza on top of the onion.

5. Cook the chorizo in the same pan as the onion. Once cooked through, cut into many slices. Or alternatively, remove sausage from it's casing. Cook in a the pan, crumbling it up using a spatula, until it is crisp and browned. Sprinkle over the brie layer.

6. Put in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until bottom of dough is starting to get brown.

7. Scatter the greens over the cooked pizza! Enjoy!

So, what have you been craving for this week?

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