Sweet & salty chicken wings

Sweet & salty chicken wings

Chicken wings are one of my all-time favourite pub foods. I mean, mmm! So good. And I often go for the stickiest, sweetest ones on the menu. Honey garlic and teriyaki are some of my favourites, and this recipe is a combination of those two sauces.  

These chicken wings are sweet and salty with an Asian flavour theme. There's garlic in there, soy sauce, honey, plus a few other ingredients that make for an awesome wing sauce. Half the sauce is used as a marinade and the other half gets reduced in a saucepan and tossed with the crispy wings when they come out of the oven. That's mega chicken wing goodness!

Here's how I made them:

1 tbsp garlic, minced

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp ground ginger

3 lbs (approximately 3 dozen) chicken wings

1/4 cup liquid honey

1 green onion, chopped, for garnish

I stirred together the first five ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Just over half of the sauce was poured over the raw chicken wings in a large baking dish, and the remaining sauce was covered and set aside in the fridge. The marinating wings were covered and set in the fridge for 4 hours (feel free to marinate these overnight for extra yumminess!).

To cook, I set my oven to 375 degrees (F) and transferred the chicken wings to two parchment lined baking sheets, discarding the marinade. They baked for 45 minutes, turning once half-way through the cooking time. Meantime, I poured the reserved sauce into a small saucepan and added the honey. The sauce bubbled over medium-high heat, while stirring constantly, for 15 minutes before being pouring into a large heat-proof bowl. When the crispy and golden wings came out of the oven, I tossed them in the sauce and plated them with a sprinkling of green onion on top.

These were so good! I think I'll be making chicken wings again soon.

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Simple Sauces for Chicken

Chicken is the go-to protein for a light and healthy meal, but when you announce that you're having grilled chicken breasts for dinner, does anyone applaud or yell "great, I can't wait"?

What if you said you were having Grilled Chicken Breasts… with aCitrus-Infused Sauce?

And the crowd goes wild! 


Let's start with the chicken. I recommend one of these two easy cooking methods:

• Perfect Grilled Chicken
• Poached Chicken

Chicken is so versatile--I often call it the little black dress of lean proteins because you can dress it up or dress it down for any occasion--but it can be a bit bland on its own. With five to 10 extra minutes in the kitchen, you can flavor up all your chicken dishes, without reaching for a bottle of sauce loaded with salt and sugar. Here's how.
 
Use What is Left in the Pan

The next time you sauté chicken in a skillet remove the cooked meat and let the "fond" or crust left in the pan be a base for a quick sauce.  While the pan is still hot, pour red wine vinegar, stock, fruit juices, wine, or tomatoes into the pan.  Stir, scrape and swirl to pull up the flavor cooked in the bottom of the pan and reduce the liquid.  Finish by adding with Dijon mustard, fresh herbs, or sliced fruit to flavor the sauce.
 
Make a Reduction Sauce

Concentrated juices make great quick sauces.  Simply add your favorite juice (I like pomegranate, orange, apple, or cranberry juice) along with fresh herbs or spices to a sauce pan and cook over high heat 10 minutes until the mixture is thick and syrupy.
This same technique works well with balsamic vinegar.  
 
Vegetable Coulis

This sounds difficult but really simple to prepare. "Coulis" (pronounced KOO-lee) refers to a thick sauce of pureed vegetables and some flavorful liquid, with herbs and spices. Cook 1 pound chopped vegetables with 1 clove garlic over medium heat until the vegetables are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup tomato juice, vegetable juice, or stock.  Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender and season to taste.  My favorite two are Red Pepper Coulis with garlic and onions and Yellow or Tomato Coulis with garlic and onions flavored with chopped oregano and thyme.
 
Cool and Creamy Greek Yogurt Sauces
These are super quick. Just peel back the foil top and add your favorite chopped vegetable, condiment, spice or herb for a quick cold sauce. Spoon the cool sauce over chicken just before serving, or mix with shredded cold chicken for a quick salad. Here are some of my favorite combinations:

• Chopped fresh thyme, parsley, dill, chives, rosemary, oregano or basil
• Roasted red peppers (packed in brine) chopped
• Salt free spice blends
• Dijon mustard and honey
• Horseradish with Dijon mustard and  white wine vinegar
• Roosters or Sriracha sauce
• Segmented oranges and juice
• Pomegranate juice
• Chopped shallots
• Crumbled blue cheese with chopped chives
• Peeled and chopped cucumbers with dill
• Prepared barbeque sauce

 
Lighter Coconut Milk Sauces

Coconut adds richness and sweetness to your sauces.  A little goes a long way--1-2 tablespoons of sauce will be plenty for one serving.

Kids love peanut sauce over chicken and noodles too.  Combine 1/4 cup coconut milk with 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 1 garlic clove, 1 lime zested and juiced with 1/2 cup warm water over low heat.  Stir and simmer 3-4 minutes.  Switch up the sauce and omit the peanut butter, add red or green curry paste with some added grated ginger.  Opt for a two ingredient sauce with just coconut milk and prepared mango chutney or fruit preserves for a sweet sauce.  Combine 2 tablespoons chutney with 1/2 cup coconut milk, then warm. 

Sauces don't need to be fussy or complicated.  The goal is to simply add flavor and moisture to the dish which will in turn wow the crowd or better yet your family.

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Slightly Sweet and Salty Asian Sauce

Slightly Sweet and Salty Asian Sauce

Lately I have been using a lot of spiralized zucchini. It makes such a filling and low calorie substitute for pasta I can’t seem to get enough of it. I was chatting with Courtney about different spaghetti recipes to make raw and when she mentioned lo mein I knew that needed to be the first recipe I worked on. Here is the sauce I made today for lunch:

Slightly Sweet and Salty Asian Sauce
Makes enough for 4 big salads

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons liquid aminos
3 tablespoons raw sesame seeds
¼ cup golden raisins
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon mirin
water to thin the marinade (I probably used about 1 ½ tablespoons)

Directions:

Combine the marinade ingredients in your blender and process until smooth. Add as much water as you need to obtain the consistency you desire.

Nutritional information (for the entire recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 272.36
Calories From Fat (39%) - 105.02

Total Fat - 13.61g
Saturated Fat - 1.94g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium - 2890.02mg
Potassium - 524.48mg
Total Carbohydrates - 42.83g
Fiber - 4.74g
Sugar - 21.6g
Protein - 6.24g

Comment:

This sauce has a little something for everyone; it is salty, sweet and a bit spicy from the ginger. This recipe makes enough for 4 servings of salad today for us. Our salad included spiralized zucchini as a base, red bell pepper strips, julienned radish, sliced sugar snap peas, cucumber cut into thin half moos, julienned carrot, shredded romaine, avocado, marinated oyster mushrooms and pine nuts. It was a very tasty and filling salad. Even my father enjoyed this one. This sauce is good enough that you may see a repeat of it soon. I liked this quite a bit.

Unrelated note:

Since Dan is not going to the office this weekend (minor miracle), I have no idea what we are going to do. I didn’t make plans expecting him to need to work. However it is very nice to have him home.

Sometime this weekend he wants to check out the health food store and café that Ian mentioned. We will also go to the farmers’ market tomorrow.

However, the weather is supposed to return to the usual Baltimore summer tomorrow, hot and humid. With temperatures in the upper 90s and/or low 100s I don’t see us spending much time outside this weekend. Whatever we decide to get into I will let you all know.

For now I need to run. I will be back later to let you know what we have for dinner.

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 Peanut Butter Sauce

 

Makes about 2 cups

Recipe by Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia, PA

Photograph by Matt Duckor

Ingredients

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup peanut oil
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

• Purée all ingredients in a food processor, scraping down sides, until smooth.

• nutritional information

  2 tablespoons per serving. One serving contains:
  Calories (kcal) 130
  Fat (g) 12
  Saturated Fat (g) 2
  Cholesterol (mg) 0
  Carbohydrates (g) 4
  Dietary Fiber (g) 1
  Total Sugars (g) 1
  Protein (g) 4
  Sodium (mg) 60

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Lemon-Caramel Sauce

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The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to three days. Gently reheat it just before serving.

Martha Stewart Living

• YieldMakes about 1 1/4 cup

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon limoncello, (Italian lemon flavored liqueur; optional)
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

1. Heat sugar and 1/4 cup water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved and syrup is clear. Continue to cook, without stirring, until syrup comes to a boil, occasionally washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Let syrup boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until dark amber.
2. Remove from heat; whisk in lemon juice, liqueur (if desired), butter, and 2 tablespoons water. (Caramel will steam and spatter.) Serve warm.

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