A few weeks ago I ripped out my carpets, and since then I've been working on resanding the lovely hardwood floors that were hiding underneath. I've been so deep in dust, it's been hard to think about cooking anything, but today it was a beautiful day and sooner a later, a girl misses her kitchen, and a girl wants to eat a home-cooked meal instead of pizza, hot dogs and take-out Chinese.
And so, with a beautiful Saturday — perhaps the last suitable for barbecuing outside — I decided to play hooky from the renovation project.
Time for some fun in the kitchen!
A few weeks ago the lovely #letslunch bunch challenged us to come up with a scary food idea. Even though I couldn't participate this time, the wheels in my head went to work any way.
My idea? Faux bat wings made from chicken wings.
This idea really turned out beautifully. I know I will be adjusting the spice mixture down the line, but my first stab at it was really pretty good.
Here's what I did:
First, I marinated the chicken wings in some lemon juice, soy sauce, shaoxing wine and cilantro for a few hours. Overnight wouldn't have hurt, but I didn't want to wait that long!
While the wings were making nice with the marinade, I prepared a black spice paste using 1/2 cup or so of black sesame seeds, the juice of one-half a lemon, a capful of sushi rice vinegar, some mushroom soy sauce, a little molasses.
Taste as you go of course. How else will you know how it's going to turn out?
I pounded some garlic and cilantro to add to the mixture. Tasted it and added some sesame oil until it seemed like a paste that would spread reasonably well.
Add some heat if you like. Some sichuan pepper wouldn't be out of bounds. I added a teaspoon. I think some smoked chipotle peppers would be fantastic too — anything really, that's a favorite. And the hotter the better, if you ask me. After all it is supposed to be scary food ... so turn up the heat!
Spread the spice paste over the wings like so:
Then skewer them so that they are all in an extended position. I found it easiest to do this by folding them up in their usual position, skewering and then extending the wing on the skewer.
Smoke or grill, as you prefer, and then sit back and enjoy. You've certainly earned it!
Here are links to all the other #letslunch scary food ideas. Some cool party ideas in here. Have a great Halloween, all!
Lisa’s Pretzel fingers at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Lucy’s fabulously spooky Halloween cakes at A Cook and Her Books
Annabelle’s Halloween Spice Cookies at A Glass of Fancy
Linda’s Pumpkin Spiced Flan at Spicebox Travels
Rashda’s Spooktacular Stuffed Pumpkin at Hot Curries & Cold Beer
And so, with a beautiful Saturday — perhaps the last suitable for barbecuing outside — I decided to play hooky from the renovation project.
Time for some fun in the kitchen!
A few weeks ago the lovely #letslunch bunch challenged us to come up with a scary food idea. Even though I couldn't participate this time, the wheels in my head went to work any way.
My idea? Faux bat wings made from chicken wings.
This idea really turned out beautifully. I know I will be adjusting the spice mixture down the line, but my first stab at it was really pretty good.
Here's what I did:
First, I marinated the chicken wings in some lemon juice, soy sauce, shaoxing wine and cilantro for a few hours. Overnight wouldn't have hurt, but I didn't want to wait that long!
While the wings were making nice with the marinade, I prepared a black spice paste using 1/2 cup or so of black sesame seeds, the juice of one-half a lemon, a capful of sushi rice vinegar, some mushroom soy sauce, a little molasses.
Taste as you go of course. How else will you know how it's going to turn out?
I pounded some garlic and cilantro to add to the mixture. Tasted it and added some sesame oil until it seemed like a paste that would spread reasonably well.
Add some heat if you like. Some sichuan pepper wouldn't be out of bounds. I added a teaspoon. I think some smoked chipotle peppers would be fantastic too — anything really, that's a favorite. And the hotter the better, if you ask me. After all it is supposed to be scary food ... so turn up the heat!
Spread the spice paste over the wings like so:
Then skewer them so that they are all in an extended position. I found it easiest to do this by folding them up in their usual position, skewering and then extending the wing on the skewer.
Smoke or grill, as you prefer, and then sit back and enjoy. You've certainly earned it!
Here are links to all the other #letslunch scary food ideas. Some cool party ideas in here. Have a great Halloween, all!
Lisa’s Pretzel fingers at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Lucy’s fabulously spooky Halloween cakes at A Cook and Her Books
Annabelle’s Halloween Spice Cookies at A Glass of Fancy
Linda’s Pumpkin Spiced Flan at Spicebox Travels
Rashda’s Spooktacular Stuffed Pumpkin at Hot Curries & Cold Beer
Fantastic you encourage folks to 'taste' when adjusting seasonings, it's how I cook and teach! I LOVE these 'bat wings' idea, have to try them, they look crispy and slurp worthy! Sorry with the exclamation marks, when I like something or want to make a statement, they're so useful.
ReplyDeleteThey were pretty good I think, it's a recipe in progress. I might have used more lemon juice and garlic next time, I think, because after cooking that flavor wasn't very prominent. Otoh they were still good. Be wary of the sesame seed paste btw, it will stain your hands a bit. :)
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