Crispy Duck with Plum Chutney

Posted on December 30, 2011 by sparecake

Last post of the year, and it’s Jamie Oliver once again coming through with a pretty excellent bird. Kyle and I made this Christmas eve, and it was super good! The skin gets just as crispy as you’d hope, and I developed a minor obsession with the chutney.

For some reason, the supermarkets around here have duck (and a bunch of other birds) only for the holidays. Because plums are a summer fruit, it’s pretty difficult to get both a duck and a plum at the same time of year, but I found some canned plums and they worked fine, although I used a few more because they seemed tiny.

Ingredients:

Duck:

  • a small bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked, divided
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 duck
  • 1 orange, halved
  • 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 1 bulb of garlic, cloves separated and bashed

Chutney:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 a cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise (smells like Good & Plenty, but doesn’t make the chutney gross and licorice-y)
  • 6 large red ripe plums (or 8 canned), pitted and chopped
  • a strip of orange zest
  • a pinch of ground cumin
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Also!:

  • a small bunch of watercress, washed and dried  –  Man, this stuff is hard to find, goes off rapidly once you get it, and is just…not the most important thing. If you can find it, get it because it’s a nice leafy addition, but if not, your dish isn’t going to be ruined by any means.

Having a roommate around is ideal to do some of the boring the veggie chopping while you start preparing the duck. Oh, and speaking of duck preparation, just because a duck is smaller than a turkey doesn’t mean it defrosts fast. Ours had two days in the refrigerator and was still a block of ice when I took it out to cook, so be sure to plan ahead and defrost well!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a mortar and pestle, grind up 5 or 6 of the sage leaves with the 2 teaspoons of sea salt. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, get creative!

Rub your sage-y salt all over the skin of the duck, then shove the rest of the sage and both halves of the orange (make sure you got your strip of zest first!) in the cavity of the duck.

Put the chopped veggies in a roasting tray where they’ll fit snugly with the duck, then put the duck on top, breast side down.

Whoops, have to flip that duck!

Roast the duck for 2 hours, flipping every half hour or so and ending with it breast side up in the last half hour. An hour in, carefully pour most of the fat out of the dish.

While the duck cooks, you can make the chutney. Begin by pouring the sugar in a saucepan and adding just enough water to dissolve it. Place over high heat and add the cinnamon and star anise.

Bring to a boil, then simmer until it reduces significantly and the bubbles start to get large. (Just wait for it – if you’re not sure, it hasn’t happened yet.)  As soon as it begins to turn golden, add the chopped plums, orange zest, and cumin, and turn the heat down to low. The plums will add some moisture, then it will cook down to a thicker consistency. Remove from the heat, season with some salt and pepper, and set to the side until your duck’s ready. The chutney will be good warm or cool.

Soooo tasty!

At the end of the two hours of roasting, you’ll know the duck is done when you can pinch the leg meat and it feels like it will come easily off the bone.

Crispy!

Shred the meat onto plates, serve with a bit of watercress on top, and the plum chutney. I…may have taken the ‘shred’ instruction a bit too seriously, as I have horrible knife skills and everything got slippery in duck fat.

So arty.

The veggies in the bottom of the dish are also delicious, once you again pour out the duck fat, and fish out most of the garlic cloves. This would be a filling meal for 3 people, and was a good change to the traditional Christmas Chinese food.

Perfectly Cooked Crispy Duck with Spiced Plum Chutney

From Cook with Jamie (the greatest book I own??).

Duck:

  • a small bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked, divided
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 duck
  • 1 orange, halved
  • 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 1 bulb of garlic, cloves separated and bashed

Spiced Plum Chutney:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 a cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise
  • 6 large red ripe plums (or 8 canned), pitted and chopped
  • a strip of orange zest
  • a pinch of ground cumin
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • a small bunch of watercress, washed and dried

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a mortar and pestle, grind up 5 or 6 of the sage leaves with the 2 teaspoons of sea salt. Rub the sage/salt mixture all over the skin of the duck, then shove the rest of the sage and both halves of the orange in the cavity of the duck.

Put the chopped veggies in a roasting tray where they’ll fit snugly with the duck, then put the duck on top, breast side down.

Roast the duck for 2 hours, flipping every half hour or so and ending with it breast side up in the last half hour. Halfway through the cooking time, carefully pour most of the fat out of the dish.

While the duck cooks, prepare the chutney. Pouring the sugar in a saucepan and add just enough water to dissolve it. Place over high heat and add the cinnamon and star anise. Bring to a boil, then simmer until it reduces significantly and the bubbles start to get large. As soon as it begins to turn golden, add the chopped plums the orange zest, and the cumin and turn the heat down to low. Cook until it thickens. Remove from the heat, season with some salt and pepper, and set to the side until the duck is ready.

At the end of the two hours of roasting, the duck is done when you can pinch the leg meat and it feels like it will come easily off the bone.

Shred the meat onto plates, serve with a bit of watercress on top, the plum chutney, and the vegetables, once again carefully drained of duck fat.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Char Siu Bao

Posted on December 28, 2011 by sparecake

This recipe is a quite delightful way you can use up your char siu. They’re baked, not steamed, pork buns, which I think I prefer, texture-wise. They’re like the best little Chinese Hot Pocket you could ever have! One recipe of char siu makes enough for two batches of these buns, or one batch and some pork leftover to eat while you cook.

Ingredients:

Filling:

  • 12 ounces (about 1/2 recipe) char siu
  • 2 green onions/spring onions (finely diced)
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Buns:

  • 1 packet of dried yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • egg wash: 1 egg beaten with a dash of water

To prepare the dough, first combine the sugar and water in a large bowl. Add the yeast, and let it sit 10 or so minutes until the yeast has activated. Add the flour, egg, oil, and salt, and stir together.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead for ten minutes until smooth and elastic. Put in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise somewhere warm and draft free until doubled, about an hour.

While the dough rises, dice the the char siu.

Stir together the chicken stock and cornstarch and set aside.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or pan on the stove. Add the diced meat and green onions and cook for one minute.

Add the hoisin and soy sauces and the sesame oil and cook a further minute. Add the chicken stock mixture and continue cooking until the mixture thickens, another several minutes. Remove from the heat and put in a bowl to cool until ready to use.

This smells FABULOUS.

When the dough has risen, knock it back down and divide it into twelve even balls. Preheat the oven to 390 degrees.

Roll each ball out to about 2 inches wide. I actually found it easiest to just squash it between my hands. Then use your fingers to press the outside edges of the dough thinner, until the circle reaches about 3 inches across. This way, the middle of the dough is thicker and won’t burst while they bake.

Put a big spoonful of the filling in the middle of each piece of dough.

Pinch the edges of the dough shut around the filling.

Put each bun on a baking sheet, seam-side down. Brush with the egg wash.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

YUM!

I’m really happy I tried these, it wasn’t hard and it’s sooo good! I’ll be submitting it to yeastspotting.

Alex recording his meal=P

Char Siu Bao

Adapted from The Daring Kitchen.

Filling:

  • 12 ounces (about 1/2 recipe) char siu
  • 2 green onions/spring onions (finely diced)
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Buns:

  • 1 packet of dried yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • egg wash: 1 egg beaten with a dash of water

To prepare the dough, first combine the sugar and water in a large bowl. Add the yeast, and let sit 10 to 15 minutes until the yeast has activated and is bubbling. Add the flour, egg, oil, and salt, and stir together.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead for ten minutes until smooth and elastic. Put in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise somewhere warm and draft free until doubled, about an hour.

While the dough rises, prepare the filling.  Dice the the char siu. Stir together the chicken stock and cornstarch and set aside.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or pan on the stove. Add the diced meat and green onions and cook for one minute.

Add the hoisin and soy sauces and the sesame oil and cook a further minute. Add the chicken stock and continue cooking until the mixture thickens, another several minutes. Remove from the heat and put in a bowl to cool until ready to use.

When the dough has risen, knock it back down and divide it into twelve even balls. Preheat the oven to 390 degrees.

Roll each ball out to about 2 inches wide. Use your fingers to press the outside edges of the dough thinner, until the circle reaches about 3 inches across.

Put a big spoonful of the filling in the middle of each piece of dough. Pinch the edges of the dough shut around the filling. Put the buns on a baking sheet, seam-side down. Brush with the egg wash.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Char Siu

Posted on December 26, 2011 by sparecake

This recipe has nothing to do with recently observed holidays, but I don’t celebrate Christmas anyway, so…here’s some pork! I’ve made this recipe a few times, and it’s super easy and delicious. Kyle and Alex hadn’t had it before, and both thought it was restaurant-good. It’s pretty much that red pork you get at Chinese restaurants, but without the food coloring.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 pounds pork butt
  • 3/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup rice wine/dry sherry
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

Cut the pork into 1/2 inch thick strips. I asked the man at the meat counter to do this, which was a tremendously good idea – so much simpler!

Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Add the meat and make sure each slice has gotten covered in the sauce.

Marinade in the fridge for 2 to 24 hours the longer the better. Pouring it all into a ziplock, squeezing out the air, and sealing is a pretty convenient way to keep it for the time. That way, you can flip it a time or two during the day to make sure it’s all evenly coated.

Grill over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes on each side.

This is great as-is, maybe with some fried rice or something, or you can make it into bao (buns), like so.

Hope you got all the presents you hoped for and/or nice time with your families.

Char Siu

Adapted from whats4eats.

  • 2 1/2 pounds pork butt
  • 3/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup rice wine/dry sherry
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

Cut pork into 1/2 inch thick strips.

Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Add the meat and turn to coat. Marinate 2 -24 hours in the refrigerator.

Grill over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes on each side.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Parmesan Herb Bread

Posted on December 23, 2011 by sparecake

I’ve had this bread bookmarked for ages, but it’s supposed to be cooked in a dutch oven, which I didn’t have. My roommate Alex brought one home recently, so I was finally able to check it out. This particular dutch oven is a huge, heavy, cast iron beast, so it was a bit of a challenge to swing in and out of a hot oven, but the bread was worth it! Other than heaving a huge pot around (and you may have a lighter, enameled version…), it’s super simple – doesn’t even require kneading, and it smells and tastes great.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Stir everything together until even. It won’t be a smooth dough at this point, but that’s fine.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours.

Thickly dust a kitchen towel with flour. After the rest, the dough will be wetter and sticky. Wet your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Set the dough seam-side down on the towel. Fold the towel over the dough and let it rise another 2 hours.

With 30 minutes left in the rise, place a five quart dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

I was in the middle of making tons of cake when I did this, so I preheated the dutch oven on the stove. This worked fine until I was ready to put the dutch oven into the oven, and realized I hadn’t taken out the oven racks, so I had super hot things all over the kitchen. Oops!

When the rise is over and your dutch oven is hot, pull out the dutch oven and flip the dough off the towel into the dutch oven. Shake briefly to even the dough out, then cover and put back in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove the bread from the hot dutch oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Delicious!

I’m looking forward to trying more dutch oven recipes! I’ll be posting this one to yeastspotting. (I won a bagel miter, which I hadn’t even known existed before then, from yeastspotting recently. Woo!)

Parmesan Herb Bread

From What’s Cookin’ Chicago?

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir everything together until evenly mixed but still shaggy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours.

Dust a kitchen towel well with flour. Wet your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Set the dough seam-side down on the towel. Fold the towel over the dough and let it rise another 2 hours.

With 30 minutes left in the rise, place a five quart dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

When the rise is over and your dutch oven is hot, pull the dutch oven out of the oven and flip the dough off the towel into the dutch oven. Shake briefly to even the dough out, then cover and put back in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove the bread from both ovens and cool on a wire rack.

Posted in Bread | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Brownie Muffins

Posted on December 21, 2011 by sparecake

I was wandering around mrbreakfast.com again recently, and saw a review of one recipe that called the food an “[e]xcellent source of chocolate.” Can’t turn that down! Brownie muffins are exactly what they sound like – they taste like brownies, and are somewhere between brownie and muffin in texture. Not light and fluffy, but not overly thick and chewy either. A lovely breakfast-dessert!

I got ten muffins out of this recipe. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of nuts, which I left out. I think if you added the nuts, you’d make it to an 11th muffin, but they’d be awful tiny if you divided the batter into 12 muffins.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans – chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs – lightly beaten
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I only used half)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • additional 2 or 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips for topping
  • additional 1 or 2 Tablespoons chopped nuts for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line on grease a muffin pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a small pan, melt the butter on the stove over low heat. Stir in the cocoa and chocolate chips and continue stirring until the chocolate melts. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, sugar, and vanilla.

Add the flour and chocolate mixtures to the large bowl, and the nuts too if you’re using them, and stir everything together until just mixed. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin, filling each about 3/4ths full.

Sprinkle some extra chocolate chips and nuts on top. Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for five or so minutes, then remove to a rack to cool the rest of the way. Or, yknow, eat for breakfast!

No breakfast is complete without some chocolate!

Brownie Muffins

From Mr. Breakfast.

  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans – chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs – lightly beaten
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • additional 2 or 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips for topping
  • additional 1 or 2 Tablespoons chopped nuts for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin plan.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat. Stir in cocoa and chocolate chips and continue to stir until chocolate is melted. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, sugar and vanilla extract. Add the chocolate mixture, the flour mixture, and the chopped pecans. Stir until just blended. Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling each cup 3/4 full.

Sprinkle each muffin with a few chocolate chips and a pinch of chopped nuts. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Cranberry Glazed Pork Ribs

Posted on December 19, 2011 by sparecake

Alex’s mom gave him some herb and spice kit at some point, and he recently decided he wanted to use one of the cinnamon sticks that came in it. A brief search of AllRecipes, and bam! Delicious dinner!

There's a lot going on in this picture...

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs

Stir together the cranberry sauce, cinnamon stick, mustard, and orange zest in a small pot. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Not the single greatest looking stage, but it already smells grand!

Send your roommate outside to preheat the grill until the coals are medium hot.

Brush the sauce over the ribs and send your roommate back out to put the ribs on the grill. It’s cold out there!

Cover the grill and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Go out several times (2 or 3) to brush on additional sauce. Cook until ribs are tender but no longer pink. We didn’t flip them at all.

Heat the remaining sauce until bubbling again to kill any pork-germs that got in when you were brushing the pork, pull out and toss the cinnamon stick, and serve the extra sauce with the ribs.

The ribs came off the grill and there was a panicked "oh wait what do we eat with this??"

These were good. Really, very very good. It makes enough for 2ish people hungry people, who will soon be happy people!

Cranberry Glazed Pork Ribs

From AllRecipes.

  • 1 (8 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs

Stir together the cranberry sauce, cinnamon stick, mustard, and orange zest in a small pot. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Preheat the grill until the coals are medium hot. Brush the sauce over the ribs and put them on the grill. Cover the grill and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Go out several times (2 or 3) to brush on additional sauce. Cook until ribs are tender but no longer pink.

Heat the remaining sauce until bubbling again, pull out and toss the cinnamon stick, and serve the extra sauce with the ribs.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Homemade Funfetti

Posted on December 16, 2011 by sparecake

Who wants to have a good time?

BAM! Party accomplished.

When I first read this recipe, I noticed that the person who wrote it wanted a slightly butterier flavored cake, but used vanilla and almond extracts. I was pretty pleased to find somewhere to use the butter extract I bought a while ago on a whim at Whole Foods to fix that problem.

Daaaang this smells good!

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 cup milk, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 8 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
  • 1/3 cup multi-colored sprinkles

Frosting:

  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 sticks softened unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons milk
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9″ cake pans. I also lined mine with parchment and greased the parchment as well.

In a small bowl, mix the egg whites, 1/4 cup of the milk, and the extracts. Whisk together briefly with a fork and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir together well. Add the butter and shortening and mix for thirty seconds, until well combined.

Add the remaining milk and mix for about three minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg mixture in 3 or 4 batches, mixing between each. Mix another minute.

Gently fold in the sprinkles.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pans 5 minutes, then turn out to cool completely on wire racks.

Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth, and frost cake.

That’s purdy!

Mine got a bit more ridiculous here, as I made 3 more batches of cake batter, and two of marshmallow fondant. Practice wedding cake!

The dots only went halfway, it was an experiment. A success, I think.

Homemade Funfetti

Lightly adapted from The Kitchn.

Cake:

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 cup milk, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 8 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
  • 1/3 cup multi-colored sprinkles

Frosting:

  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 sticks softened unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons milk
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9″ cake pans.

In a small bowl, combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup of the milk, and the extracts. Whisk together briefly with a fork and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir together well. Add the butter and shortening and mix for thirty seconds, until well combined. Add the remaining milk and mix for about three minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg mixture in 3 or 4 batches, mixing between each. Mix another minute. Gently fold in the sprinkles.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pans 5 minutes, then turn out to cool completely on wire racks.

Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth, and frost cake.

Posted in Dessert, Party! | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Crock Pot Chicken Wings

Posted on December 14, 2011 by sparecake

Wooo crockpots, you make life so easy! These wings are super simple, tasty, and tender. I like ’em!

Ingredients:

  • 12 to 18 chicken wings
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 green onions minced
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons oil

Really all you do is combine everything but the chicken in the crock pot, stir it about for a second, then throw in the chicken as well. Toss for a second to coat, then leave them alone to cool for 6-8 hours on low.

It seems like very little sauce for the amount of chicken, but you can get a thin coating on all the wings at the start, and as they cook moisture comes out of the wings which helps each piece get flavored. I cooked mine for 7 hours and they were soft enough to fall off the bone.

Easy and delicious! These would be popular at a party, I have no doubt.

Crock Pot Wings

From About.com.

  • 12 to 18 chicken wings
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 green onions minced
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons oil

Combine all ingredients except wings in crock pot and stir together. Add wings and toss to coat. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Posted in Dinner, Party! | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

No Commitment Sourdough

Posted on December 12, 2011 by sparecake

I don’t know about you, but the idea of having sourdough starter in my fridge for the rest of forever seems like way too much commitment to me. I’d much rather just have a Tamagotchi or something. Because I like delicious things, though, I am definitely willing to leave a bowl of stuff around for just two days when necessary for some pretty delicious sourdough bread.

I considered not sharing this recipe, as my bread came out weirdly flat, but my coworkers thought it was super delicious, and it worked well to eat pizza dip on, so if nothing else, they might want this recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), divided
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal

In a large plastic or glass bowl combine the yeast with two cups of the warm water. Let it stand for five minutes. Add two cups of flour and stir until smooth.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and place somewhere warm – in the oven with the oven light on is perfect. Let it stand for 48 hours, stirring several times a day. When you wake up, get home from work, and go to bed should be enough. Liquid will separate out and it’ll smell tangy, but just stir the liquid back in and put it back in the oven – it’s fine.

Stir in the milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, the remaining cup and a half of water, and 4 cups of flour. Stir in as much of the remaining cup of flour as necessary to make a soft dough – I put it all in.

Cover and let rise in a warm place (back in the oven’s good!) until doubled, about an hour and a half. Mine rose all the way to fill that bowl.

Heavily grease two baking sheets, then sprinkle them with cornmeal.

Punch down the risen dough, then knead briefly to get out any remaining air. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Put each on one of the prepared pans. Mine was sort of more of a gloop than a dough, so ball was out of the question.

Cover and let rise another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread is risen, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with cold water, then back a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

I’m not sure why mine was so flat (I think I made this a few years ago and didn’t have that issue?) but thinly sliced it was good for dip or appetizers!

Sourdough Bread

From allrecipes.

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), divided
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal

In a large plastic or glass bowl combine the yeast with two cups of the warm water. Let stand for five minutes then stir in two cups of flour until smooth.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and place somewhere warm to stand for 48 hours. Stir several times a day.

Stir in the milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, remaining  water, and 4 cups of flour. Stir in as much of the remaining cup of flour as necessary to make a soft dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour and a half.

Heavily grease two baking sheets and sprinkle them with cornmeal.

Punch down the risen dough, then knead briefly to get out any remaining air. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Put each on one of the prepared pans.

Cover and let rise another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread is risen, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with cold water, then back a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

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Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Posted on December 9, 2011 by sparecake

Sure I posted a pizza recipe Wednesday, but this is pizza dip, which is totally different! It’s great for parties, or to bring to work if you’re looking to feed some coworkers.

Ingredients:

  • 1 6 ounce package of pepperoni
  • 1 15 ounce can pizza sauce
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 1/4 ounce can sliced black olives, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 4 ounces softened cream cheese
  • a 14.5 ounce can diced, peeled tomatoes, drained a bit
  • a big handful of shredded parmesan

Start off by blending roughly half the pepperoni and the drained can of diced tomatoes together in the blender.

Slice the remaining pepperoni into small slices and finely chop the green onions.

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat on the stove. Cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream cheese is melted and everything is well mixed.

Serve with chips or thinly sliced bread, maybe even celery sticks?

Jeremy made sandwiches with it

Viet enjoyed it!

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Adapted from Noble Pig. (I love that blog, by the way!)

  • 1 6 ounce package of pepperoni
  • 1 15 ounce can pizza sauce
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 1/4 ounce can sliced black olives, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 4 ounces softened cream cheese
  • a 14.5 ounce can diced, peeled tomatoes, partially drained
  • a big handful of shredded parmesan

Blend half the pepperoni and the drained can of diced tomatoes together in the blender.

Slice the remaining pepperoni into small slices and finely chop the green onions.

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat on the stove. Cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream cheese is melted and everything is well mixed.

Serve with chips or thinly sliced bread.

Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Party! | Tagged , | 6 Comments