Honey Lime Lemongrass Chicken Wings Experience makes you stronger

For Mom - who tried so hard for me.

Mom took piano lessons in order to help me learn piano.  She learned so she knew what the notes were, understood the basic rhythms and could support me in the early stages of piano.  And once she established me at the piano, and had the sense that I was on my way and understood what was going on, she moved on to Brother.

Once Brother began his violin lessons (with Mom taking up the violin as well), I was free to practice on my own.  The way our piano room was set up was it was completely isolated from the rest of the house.  I could close doors, lock myself in the living room, and no one could see what was going on inside, unless they opened the door.

By the time I was 11 years old, I was practicing on my own in that room.  And some days, when I felt that practice was going to be exceptionally tedious and long, I would grab whatever book I was reading and bring it into my room and quietly shut the door.  And I would practice, from muscle memory, as my eyes and my mind were elsewhere.   My fingers would play songs over and over as I devoured whatever book it was that I was reading.

Needless to say, this did not improve my piano playing.  And I remember this, because it makes me pause and think about how I want to make sure Daughters #1 and #2 practice.  Dont get me wrong - Im not about having them practice for several hours on end, like they are preparing for some master competition - theyre only 6 and 8.  But I do expect them to practice mindfully, even if they only practice for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. (But yes, sometimes they practice twice a day.)

When they go into their practice, which incidentally is in a totally open space with no doors to close and right next to the kitchen, I make sure they walk in with nothing in their hands.  I make sure theyre seated at the bench, correct positions, hands at the ready and thoughtful in their practice.  They get to get away with a lot less because I know what I did when I was little.  My little shortcuts and shortcomings of my childhood are not tolerated and not allowed in them.

Thats the curse of having a mom with a good memory of her own mischief in childhood.

But dont feel badly for Daughters (or Son) because also on top of this, they are continually bombarded with new dishes, new flavors, and new ideas in the kitchen.  They arent allowed to get comfortable with their old dishes, because Im constantly giving them new ones.  Id like to think that theyve tasted more new things that average children their age, so Im assuming that in this way, theyll be stronger.

They responded well to these chicken wings, with the hints of lemongrass and lime.  Daughter #2, who is a certified wing fanatic, really loved the flavors and made a point of eating 5 wings, on her own. Son is now eating vegetarian (dont know why) and I couldnt cajole or trick him into eating a single bite, but Daughter #1 also took down a few herself.  They are not spicy, have a subtle perfume of curry and other flavors, but everything blends together so it isnt one flavor that hits you all at once.

Dont let the long list of ingredients stop you from making this - its simply mixing it all together in a bowl, and marinating the chicken, removing chicken from marinade and cooking them in the oven until they are brown and caramelized.

Honey Lime Lemongrass Chicken Wings
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
2 ½ lbs chicken wings and/or drummettes, skin on

3 tablespoons minced lemongrass
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons curry powder

Method
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients EXCEPT wings. Once marinade is fully mixed, add wings, ensuring that each wing gets a nice covering of the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a roasting pan with foil (easier clean up). Lift chicken from marinade and place on roasting pan. Roast wings on one side, until wings are golden, about 20 minutes. Turn wings over, and cook on the other side for an additional 20 minutes.

Serve with lots of napkins.

Printable recipe

Read More..

Dry Brined Fried Chicken Wings On pushing through

Because of my work with young writers for nearly 20 years, I know how hard it can be for some students to write.  Sometimes the thought of writing overwhelms, intimidates, or causes such stress that students act out in ways that are less than attractive.  However, Im ready for such behaviors and attitudes and more often than not, I expect them.

Today I walked into another hour of volunteering with a group of 3rd graders.  The teacher is a wonderful writing instructor and appreciates that I can help students focus on their writing and she pretty much allows me to wander and help as I see fit.  Today I walked around for a bit offering some advice, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a student whose head was buried under his hands on his desk and clearly was off task.  I walked over and sat down next to him.  He moved away.  I waited patiently for him to lift his head, and when he finally did (about 3 minutes later) he said, "Go away."

     "But Im here to help you.  Let me see what you have so far," I said gently.
     "Go away.  I dont like this."
     "Come on.  At least show me what youve got," I cajoled.  I waited a bit longer and he finally sat up and glared at me.
     "Sit up straight and show me what you have," I told him.
     "Im tooooo tired!" and he proceeded to yawn like a lion ready to settle down for a long nap.

I waited some more.  After a long few minutes of struggle and cajoling and working with him, we had a basic plan for his writing.  I asked him to start.  He once again put his head under his desk.  I asked him to start again.  His body slumped more and I kept on waiting.

     "Why wont you go away?" he asked, voice muffled, from his face down position.
     "Because Im here to help you and I want to see you get your thoughts on paper," I reminded him.
     "But I dont WANT your help," he said.
     "I know.  But Im here anyways."
     "Can you PLEASE just go away?" he begged.
      "Not until youre sitting straight at your desk and you try to do what weve planned out."
      Across the desk, his classmate kept muttering under her breath, "You should give up.  Hes not going to do it. Youre making him do something he cant do.  Youre being mean to him.  Hes always like this."

Some stubborn teacher gene in me kept at the activity, despite the peanut gallery commentary across the desk.  I spent more than 20 minutes with him, and finally at the end of the 20 minutes, he began to write.  He even wrote on the three things that we had agreed upon.  He even asked me how to spell "ferris" (as in wheel) which he had misspelled "ferres."  He even managed to put in his periods and capitalize the beginning of every sentence.

Was it the worlds most deep and profound piece of writing?  Or course not.  Not in 20 minutes from a 3rd grader.  But I felt good afterwards because he finally pushed through to the end, albeit with the most protracted protests ever.  I learned a lot from my 20 minutes with him that sometimes you just have to push through.  He had to push through, if only to get rid of my annoying presence.  I had to push through to just finish something that I had started.  And sometimes, just pushing through means you get to the other side and you can look back upon what youve accomplished.

When I think about cooking chicken wings, I often find myself daunted.  There is the oil, the flour, all the dredging, the mess, the smells, the overwhelming extra of all that STUFF.  This means I dont fry often and if I do choose to fry, I like to fry for many people if Im going through the motions anyways.  I had these dry brined chicken wings in my head, ever since I saw a recipe in my BonApetit magazine that talked about dry brining fried chicken.  I finally decided to push through and go ahead and make the recipe that was sitting in my head in hopes of something great.  I was not disappointed.  The chicken was juicy, flavorful with the lightest flour coating to make things a little bit crispy.  If youre looking for a wing with a thick, super crunchy coating, this is not the wing for you.  But if you like the light, crispy, golden taste of fried chicken - well then - push on through and make these.

Dry-Brined Fried Chicken Wings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 to 4 lbs chicken wings, wing tips removed, drummettes and wings separated

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Method 
Whisk 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 tsp. black pepper, paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over chicken wings and mix well, making sure all chicken receives some of the spicy mixture.  Place chicken in a medium bowl, cover, and chill overnight.

When ready to fry, let chicken stand covered at room temperature for 1 hour before frying.. Whisk flour, salt, pepper in a bowl.

Heat oil in a large heavy pan (or cast iron skillet if youre lucky to have one.)   Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°. Meanwhile, set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet to allow chicken wings to drain after frying.

Dip chicken, one at a time into flour mixture, lightly coating the entire wing in flour.  Carefully add 10 to 12 wings into the hot oil and cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Using tongs, remove chicken from skillet/pot, allowing excess oil to drip back into pan; transfer chicken to prepared rack.

Repeat with remaining chicken pieces; let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Printable recipe

Read More..

Sake Chicken Wings Building community

In recent days, my normally quiet, peaceful, child-friendly community has been shaken up.  One of our own community members has perpetrated crimes against others of our community and the neighborhood, community and city have been shocked and outraged by the incidents.

It hasnt been an easy week as somehow I have found myself midst much of the dialogue about the crimes as well as conversations about how to proceed after the crimes.   Because of the very nature of the incidents, it has become clear in the past week that our community has to get to know one another.  This week I met so many new faces, even though they are old people of the neighborhood; I have shaken hands with as many people as possible and most likely have failed at putting the proper name with each face that I have seen. Ive met people that Ive only heard about and have even gotten to know fairly quickly people that were not known to me even a week ago.  It has been a week filled with anger, outrage, discourse, conversation, and unfortunately much disagreement.

Our community is in the process of recovery and healing after the crimes and dealing with lots of anger and frustration.  As we begin the process of trying to build up our community and getting to know one another, I find myself turning to the words of Atticus Finch, in Harper Lees novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.  In this particular passage, Scout, Atticus daughter comes home, completely frustrated from a day at school.  Her day at school leads to anger towards her nanny which just puts her in an awful mood. At the end of the day, when shes in her arms of her father venting her frustration, he gives her some advice.   "...if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, youll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.  You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 33).   In order for me to manage being a part of this community, it will help me immensely if I can just understand individual people and where they are coming from.  I need to know from where they are coming, where they are going, and where theyve been.  I need to stop thinking about how people are so different from me, and instead focus on how I can understand them better.

I wont lie.  It really hasnt been easy at all.  Ive suffered many sleepless nights this past week, and the sleeplessness has less to do with the crimes themselves and more to do with the rebuilding of this space in which my family and I live.  But I keep hearing Atticus telling me, in his ever-so-gentle, matter-of-fact way (by the way - if youve not read the book - you MUST), that I too, must climb into anothers skin and walk around in it.

Ive been preoccupied and unwilling to cook this week, but this dish of sake chicken wings, I did manage to make.  It is the ease and mindlessness of prep that allowed me to put this dish together, and with steamed rice and a bit of ginger sauce, Children gobbled them up with little complaint and discussion.   It was nice, just to think about something else, however brief.

Sake Chicken Wings with Ginger Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 ½ to 2 lbs chicken wings, sectioned off into wings and drummettes (or if you’re lucky only the one part that you like)
½ cup sake
½ cup soy sauce

2 inches ginger root, peeled finely chopped (I use my mini food processor)
1 scallion, finely chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon salt

Method
Mix sake and soy sauce in a container where you will marinate the chicken. Add the chicken. Cover and marinate - at least 4 hours, if not overnight.

Make ginger sauce by mixing together finely chopped ginger root, scallion, oil and salt in a bowl. Mix and set aside.

After chicken has marinated, prepare to cook. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a roasting pan or baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drain marinade (throw it away) and carefully lay chicken wings in a single layer on a baking pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until wings are dark golden, much fat has rendered, and the skin is crispy.

Serve hot with ginger sauce.

Printable recipe

Im thinking the next time I invite a few neighbors over, Ill be making these.

Read More..

Balsamic Honey Barbecue Wings Reasons why summer is so great

As I am now in week 3 of official summer break, I find myself enjoying things I never thought I would have said a few years back.  Im compiling them in a short list for my own personal amusement.

Top 10 Reasons Why Summer Break Is Great

10.  No more dropping kids off at three different times to different locations.

9.  No packing of lunches.

8.  Later wake-ups (for both Children and ME)

7.  Fewer layers to wear, to organize and to take off

6.  Fewer work hours

5.  Better lighting for better pictures for food blog

4.  Fewer activities for Children

3.  More hours to get Children involved in the maintenance of the house and to get them to throw away their own junk

2. More leisurely bathroom time, since Im not rushing somewhere else

1.  No more homework for me to stress over, get over, make sure its over each week.

You got that right.  Its the lack of homework from school that just gets me excited.  Children can do their activity, sit down and do their extra math sheets with me, and play and we dont stress about homework. I dont check their homework, confirm their homework and sign off on their homework.  Its the most liberating feeling ever.

The other thing that makes me happy is food that Children gobble down.  Meals are more leisurely as were not in a rush to go to the next activity, and instead we have more time to lick our fingers and enjoy our food.  This chicken dish made the kids happy as they love anything with a sauce and the chicken was a little bit crispy and wonderful.

Balsamic Honey Barbecue Sauce Wings
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 lbs Chicken wings, separated into wings and drummettes, tips discarded

Barbecue sauce
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Method
In a saucepan, mix together balsamic vinegar, tomato ketchup, honey, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. Stir until mixture is incorporated and smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by a ? about 15 minutes. Once mixture has reduced, set aside.

Preheat oven to 400. Line roasting pan with foil and if you have it available, use a roasting rack on the inside of the pan. This allows more fat to render off of the wing and a crispier exterior. Lay wings neatly on rack and drizzle olive oil over the wing, and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes, and then turn wings over and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Once wings have cooked, then brush barbecue sauce all over one side of wing. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, turn over, brush more barbecue sauce and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve warm.

Printable recipe

To the great days of summer

Read More..

Korean Twice Cooked Chicken Wings Understanding my child

I know that the blog post have literally dwindled down to the tiniest trickle of almost non-existence.  Ive been going through a bit of emotional upheaval and stress and it seems that I am under-qualified for motherhood.

My latest stress has been over Daughter #2 and her true nature - an introvert.  In my mind she is this confident, well-spoken, audacious student, but who she really is is quiet, internal, introspective, and introverted.  She spent the first three years of preschool only nodding her head yes or no when asked a question.  She began coming out of her shell her final year of preschool, thanks to the lovely teachers (J and Y) at her school and in kindergarten I began seeing some hints that perhaps she might come out of her shell.

But she hasnt really.  I havent given up hope and sometimes that hope pushes me to force her into situations that I shouldnt be pushing her.  Our most recent situation was the Bible Verse Memorization Festival that we held at our church.  It was our first time hosting it and I didnt give it much thought.  I assumed Daughters (Son is too young) would just do it and it would be no big deal.

Upon receiving their assigned verses, both Daughters flopped into the minivan and on our way home from church adamantly declared that they were NOT going to do it. Daughter #1 was very vocal and protested vehemently.  Daughter #2, I could see in the rear view mirror, was completely withdrawn and in another place.  I just quietly reminded the girls that yes, they needed to do this and they could do it with enough practice.

Daughter #2 proceeded to have four meltdowns for unexplained reasons the rest of that evening, and it became clear to me that something was really bothering her.  I pulled her aside and asked what was wrong and she declared that she didnt want to perform the Bible verse in front of an audience.  I told her I needed time to think about what the right thing to do and would get back to her an answer.

I took a step back and slowly thought about the situation.  I thought of what my objective was and what the desired outcome would be.  I considered long and hard and came up with two disparate objectives.

#1.  Get her to do the required task.

#2.  Help her to learn to do the required task.

They seem similar but they really arent.  #1 really focuses on the outcome of the actual performance.  #2 focuses on the idea that the process of learning is more important than the actual performance.  The tiger mom in me (ROAR) wanted to push #1.  "You will memorize this verse; you will get up in front of people, and you will do it."  But the teacher in me, which generally doesnt turn on around Children, spoke up.  "You know your child.  You know she doesnt easily get up in front of people.  How is forcing her to do it right off the bat going to teach her anything?"

In the end I went with #2, despite the fact that many around me (including Husband initially) felt that forcing her to do it would teach her to do it in the future.  I explained that I saw her doing it in the future, but it just didnt have to be in four weeks. Her road could be a little bit longer to get to the end result.

I explained to Daughter #2 that she did not have to get up on stage and perform her memorization.  She did, however, HAVE to memorize it.  "The only people who are going to care whether you learn it or not are Mommy and God.  Youll have to do it for the two of us.  I will however, give the entrance fee to the festival, and SHOULD YOU decide that you want to recite it on that day, you may.  If you choose not to do it, it will not be because you didnt memorize it, but instead because you choose not to perform in front of others."   Despite giving Daughter #2 an expectation that I knew she could manage (she memorized Psalm 23 in less than two days and recited it for me) her moods were erratic and unpredictable for the four weeks leading up to the festival. There were lots of spontaneous tears, shrieks of anger, a time when I was playing piano for church service only to see a little girl bolt down the aisle and land in my lap as I played, and a variety of unexpected unusual behavior.  I didnt know what was bothering her.

Turns out, it was Big Sister.  Daughter #1 informed Daughter #2, that no matter what, in two years, she would in fact HAVE to perform the Bible memory verse as a 3rd grader.  This two year future event plagued the psyche of Daughter #2 and made her nuts.  I suggested to her that we focus on simply just making it through this year before worrying about two years in the future.  It didnt help.  The only thing that appeased her was the same offer I made for her this current year.

On the day of the festival itself, I still had some hope that Daughter #2 might overcome her fear and get up and try.  Her verse was memorized perfectly and I even found her saying timidly to me, "I think I might want to do it."  She changed her mind several times over the course of the morning, and I tried not to react too much either way.  I clarified that she had fulfilled her end of the bargain and that whatever she chose to do at the festival was up to her.

In the end, she chose not to do it. Truthfully I was a little bit frustrated that she didnt, because other kids made it up there to do it, and you could see the fear in their eyes, but they got up and tried.  And I give much kudos and admiration for that.  I kept on hoping that she would see others pushing through and she would as well.  But I did watch her, silently observing, calculating, and measuring the risks and rewards.  I saw her carefully examine each participants face, and I saw her measuring the looks of pride and joy on the parents faces as their own child performed.  Watching her carefully looking at others gave me reassurance that she in fact did fulfill objective #2, learning to do the required tasks.

Im hoping that after she observed other participants not being eaten up by alligators, not bursting into spontaneous flames, not turning into pumpkins, and not bawling their eyes out, her own worst fears about performance will begin to be alleviated and she too, can get up and try.  Maybe not this next time, but soon.

Daughter #2s favorite thing to eat?  Chicken wings.  She particularly loves this new creation I came up last week and it appeased her for a long while and kept her occupied preventing a couple of meltdowns.  The mix of two types of cooking, roasting and braising, yields a really wonderful texture and flavor.   Its not difficult to make (the roasting part is just merely sticking it the oven) and it can be made ahead by roasting the chicken first and just doing the braising portion right before serving.   Daughter #1 said, "THIS is my favorite chicken." Daughter #2 showed me it was the best chicken by eating 8.  They want it again this week.

Korean Twice Cooked Chicken Wings
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 lbs chicken wings, sectioned off into wings and drummettes (or if you’re lucky only the one part that you like)
¼ cup sake
¼ cup soy sauce
½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons sake
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 inch ginger root, peeled and sliced into thin disks
2 or 3 dried whole chili pepper, or in a pinch, any fresh whole chili pepper will work (thai dragon or jalapeno)

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Method
Mix ¼ cup sake and ¼ cup soy sauce in a container where you will marinate the chicken. Add the chicken. Cover and marinate - at least 4 hours, if not overnight.

Preheat oven 400. Drain chicken from marinade. Line roasting pan with foil and lay chicken in a single layer and roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour, until chicken is golden dark brown.

While chicken is roasting, begin preparing braising liquid. To a large pan (big enough to hold 2 lbs of chicken wings) add soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, sake, rice vinegar, garlic cloves, ginger, and chili to a large pan. Bring mixture to a boil AFTER the chicken is removed from the oven. Once braising liquid is boiling, add roasted wings to the mixture, reducing heat to simmer gently, until a thin, shiny glaze forms over the chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Serve hot with plenty of napkins.

Printable recipe

Read More..