Tag Archives: ginger

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

img_4033.jpg

We love chicken wings in our house. I mean, really, who doesn’t? And after spending so much money on them in restaurants I now continue to make them fresh at home. This way I will know exactly what ingredients are used and I prefer to bake them, rather than frying,  in my oven on convection roast. (I have a convection option on my oven) The flavors are endless. From the old standby “buffalo” flavor to the unique flavors of garlic/parmesan to teriyaki. I keep experimenting.

I used to buy the giant frozen bag of cooked buffalo chicken wings and go from there. Realizing they were almost as expensive as eating them in a restaurant I then moved onto the giant bags of frozen uncooked wings. Still too pricey and the wings they used in these bags are what we started calling mutant wings. Most of them were either too small or the machines that cut them severed the bones leaving too many sharp edges and mutant looking wing pieces. Searching the supermarkets for fresh wings became my next challenge. Have you ever priced fresh chicken wings? They can be very expensive as well. $3.99/lb and up in most places. We found a few stores would have sales at $2.99/lb which wasn’t bad but still not good enough for my budget. And then grocery gods smiled upon us and opened an Aldi store in my neighborhood. There was much rejoicing when I saw the prices of their fresh chicken wings. $1.99/lb! At that price, I now buy two packages. Each package usually has about 10 wings, uncut, which comes out to 20 when I cut them myself. So for about $5-$7 we get 20 wings! (and yes, I leave the wing tips on as well, gives you a little handle!) And an even better deal when they have a sale on them at $1.79/lb. I stock up big time! I live in south Florida so the prices may vary depending on where you live.

This recipe is a no sugar added teriyaki. We try to avoid sugars in foods if we can and I use sucralose as a substitute. But if you prefer, just use regular sugar.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 10 fresh chicken wings, cut into 20 pieces
  • Teriyaki sauce (recipe below)
  • sesame seeds
  • 2 scallions chopped

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to convection roast at 400ºF. (or bake)
  • Place plain wings on large rimmed cookie sheet. (I use a ceramic cookie sheet so I don’t need foil or anything, but if using a regular cookie sheet use foil or spray pan as they may stick)
  • Roast for about 20 minutes and turn wings over. Roast another 20 minutes.
  • By now the wings should be crisping up pretty good, remove them to a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce all over them to make sure they’re coated completely.
  • Return wings to the cookie sheet and roast another 5-10 minutes, watching they don’t burn with the sauce. 
  • Remove from oven and sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions. 
  • Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing and celery/carrot sticks.

img_4032-e1506189192118.jpg

Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sucralose (or sugar if you prefer)
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable/canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic minced

Directions

Mix all ingredients together.

Asian Style Quinoa

Once again I am looking for things to add to my yummy quinoa dishes. That is one of the great things about quinoa. It’s so versatile! Love it!! Anyway, I was making my Asian style pork chops for dinner and decided to have quinoa with it. So I came up with this quick and easy dish to go with it. This recipe used the plain white quinoa, only because I was out of the colorful ones. Use whichever you wish. I’m finding more and more recipes with quinoa and it’s getting easier to find in the regular supermarket which is fantastic! I still like to get mine from Whole Foods (when I take the trek there) because I can get it in bulk. Much better for me. Just look for it in your local grocery store with the rice and you’ll be happy you did!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 cups fat-free low-sodium chicken broth (gives it a better flavor)

3 scallions sliced, green and white parts

4-5 cloves garlic minced

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (it really does make a difference)

1 tablespoon soy sauce*

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the chicken broth and quinoa in a medium pot.

2. Bring the broth to a boil, lower to simmer, covered. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed.

3. When quinoa is done keep stove on low but add in the garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Mix well. Add the scallions and serve.

*If you want more soy sauce just add it. This is a conservative amount but feel free to add more.

Makes about 4 servings

Firecracker Coconut Dip

Ever have one of those “hump” days that make the “hump” seem like it’s Mt. Everest? Well today was that day for me. I also think I should have made my New Year resolution something other than exercising more. I think it should have been for me to do my blog in the MORNING!! Well today’s mess started yesterday morning. Took my half-and-half out of the fridge for my coffee and thought the container seemed a little on the warm side. Hmmm…Started checking other items. Same thing. Freezer check. Most still frozen but a few items were soft. Not a good sign. So I put thermometers in both places and my fridge was reading 60 degrees! Um that’s not right! And the freezer was almost 50! Also not a good thing. So I cranked the temperature to the highest it would go and by that night the fridge only dropped maybe 5 degrees. Same in the freezer. So I called the service dudes. They told me they’d be here sometime today between 8 and 5! As usual! And they’d call 30 minutes before they arrived! OMG! I was now trapped in the house all day. Afraid to go in the shower for fear the guy would of course show up without calling or something. Couldn’t do anything! Then later in the afternoon I get my delivery from Apple computers with my new iLife 11 software for my iMac. A third of the way through the installation it froze!!! OMG again! Now I’m on hold for tech support and of course the service guy beeps in! He’ll be there in 30 minutes! Yikes! Go back to Apple and they guy on the other end is saying Hello?? Ok so we shut down my iMac (Fiona, I name all my computers) and we try again. He stayed on the phone with me the entire time. All went well! Just a brain fart! It happens. I was scared to do anything for fear I’d erase my entire computer! (that is how you get when you have PCs for most of your computer using life and they always have issues) And for anyone who knows me I am totally attached at the hip to my computer. So as I am saying thank you and hanging up with Apple the repair guy shows up! 5:00! 40 minutes later my fridge is working. For now. Some defroster/heater or something. I needed a drink! So here I am, at 7:15pm finally doing the blog! And now that I’ve put you all to sleep with my ramblings…Here is today’s recipe.

This is a low-calorie dip and so refreshing and different from your usual ranch veggie dips or whatever else is out there. I love making my own dips, I know what is in them and I know what isn’t! You can even serve this dip with grilled shrimp or pork or put it on a burger! Versatility is a wonderful thing! And the “firecracker” is the explosion of flavor you will get from the wasabi or horseradish. If you don’t like it too “hot” put less in. But its sooo good!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 package (8oz.) light cream cheese, softened

1 carton (8oz.) light sour cream

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk or light cream of coconut

1-2 tablespoons wasabi paste (you can also use 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel

3 tablespoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium mixing bowl beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Beat in the sour cream, coconut milk or cream of coconut, wasabi paste, ginger, lime peel and lime juice until smooth. Chill for at least an hour. Always better to let dips sit and mellow out.

2. Serve with carrots, sugar snap peas, celery, peppers or any other vegetables you like!

Makes about 2½ cups

Debbie’s Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Thanksgiving was a great day. We spent it with some wonderful friends, ate, drank and played bocci ball! Living in Florida has its advantages! Our wonderful host Debbie made a delicious butternut squash soup that I had to have the recipe for. It was spicy but not “hot” spicy. Just enough of a bite to it to make the flavors pop! The main spice blend she used in this is Garam Masala. I had never heard of it before so I looked it up. It’s just a basic blend of ground spices that are common in Indian and South Asian foods. I looked up a recipe about making it myself. Lots of whole seeds and roasting and so on. But then I figured I will just buy it premade, otherwise I will have so many whole spices just hanging around my pantry. The basic mix includes cumin, coriander, cardamom, black peppercorns, cinnamon, whole cloves, nutmeg and saffron. LOTS of different spices! So I will just buy a jar of it already made.

The recipe was originally adapted from a recipe from Ina Garten and then Debbie made her own changes and made it her own! The recipe called for 3 granny smith apples but she only had two. She did have a pear, so she added that! Delish! I brought some of the leftovers home and can’t wait to have another bowl! This recipe makes 8-10 servings so feel free to cut it in half if you don’t want to make so much! And for best results make the soup a day ahead of time for the flavors to blend!

My photo is of the leftovers I brought home. I will swap out the pic once I make it on my own.

INGREDIENTS:

5-6 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded

2 yellow onions

3 granny smith apples (or 2 apples and 1 pear), peeled and cored

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Garam Masala

½ teaspoon ground ginger

4-6 cups of chicken broth (you can substitute 1-2 cups of Thai Curry flavored broth from College Inn for 1-2 cups of the chicken broth)

4-5 sage leaves, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Cut the squash, apples/pears, and onions into 1″ chunks and mix in a large bowl with the olive oil until well blended.

2. Spread the squash veggie mixture onto 2 cookie sheets lined with foil (you can spray the foil with cooking spray). There should be a single layer of the mixture.

3. Sprinkle the Garam Masala and ground ginger over the squash mixture; salt and pepper as desired.

4. Roast 40-45 minutes until tender.

5. Heat 4 cups of broth in a large pot. When squash mixture is finished roasting, add it to the pot of broth and cook for 20-25 minutes. Add the chopped sage in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

6. Working in batches, purée the veggie/broth mixture using a food processor, blender or immersion blender. Put back in pot and adjust the broth amount to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Can be served with parmesan cheese as well! (You know we will have it for sure!)

Serves 8-10

Pumpkin Pie Spice

As promised here is my recipe for making your own pumpkin pie spice at home. It’s so much cheaper than buying the pre-made stuff in the stores too and at least you will know what is in it! I’ve been making quite a bit of my own seasoning mixes these days. Anyway I can save a little money is a good thing! This recipe will make almost ½ a cup. There are many versions of this recipe around but I found this combination to work well. Some call for ground mace also. Which is actually part of the nutmeg seed before you get to the nutmeg. Some call for sugar. If there is a spice you want to add to it go ahead, experiment!

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup cinnamon

cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger

ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cloves

ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients and store in a tightly closed container. Keep in a dark, cool place with the rest of your spices!

Cruise Ship Recipes at Home

How do I Make That?

Rachael Ray

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Joanne Eats Well With Others

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Garlic Girl

It's Not Just Popcorn!

BuzzFeed - Tasty

It's Not Just Popcorn!

An Edible Mosaic™

It's Not Just Popcorn!

StephenKing.com - Latest News

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Food52

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Big Bear's Wife

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice

It's Not Just Popcorn!

The Weekend Gourmet

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Skinnytaste

It's Not Just Popcorn!

What's Cooking at the Genua's?

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Chef in Training

A great place to find easy, delicious and family friendly recipes.

The Pioneer Woman

Plowing through Life in the Country...One Calf Nut at a Time

Simply Recipes

It's Not Just Popcorn!

It's Not Just Popcorn!

overdeepblueseas

OVER DEEP BLUE SEAS BLOG @ WordPress.com

Sluggo's Escapades

What's Sluggo up to today?

RavieNomNoms

A Girl, Her Blog, and Lots of Food Pictures!

%d bloggers like this: