Cheering on Nick Evans...and his Apricot Habanero Wings!

Last week, my friend Nick of www.macheesmo.com fame competed on NBC's Food Fighters. A group of us who all knew Nick when he was in DC got together to cheer him on. Each of us made one of his recipes to share. I made the brown butter oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies that I make on the regular for my officemates. And anyone who is so lucky to snag one. We also did a beer tasting of a dozen New Belgium beers. The tasting aspect was done in fairly quick succession during commercial breaks.

And to keep things interesting, Nick wasn't the only one competing for a little dough. We set up bets on various rounds as to the outcome...and I lost horribly. But Nick was truly the big winner in our book. Despite losing the first two rounds (he was robbed!) he walked away with $70,000. He beat some of the top chefs out there and we couldn't be more proud. It was really cool to see how far he's come in doing something he truly enjoys. And not everyone can say they've had a "Little Nicky"-style devil graphic made of them.

Our amazing host, Scott, made two of the dishes that Nick competed with on the show. Interestingly enough these were the two dishes that he didn't win money on: the chorizo and sweet potato tacos and the apricot habanero wings. In tonight's post, I'm sharing that wing recipe. Just in time for football season. If you're a fan of sweet paired with a bit of spice, or orange chicken, this may be the wing for you!

Apricot Habanero Wings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• 1/2 onion, grated
• 2 TB unsalted butter                  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 habanero peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 TB soy sauce                  
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper
• Blue cheese
• Scallions, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a large baking pan and place wings, skin-side up on the oiled pan. Season well with salt and pepper.

Bake wings for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn pan 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Keep wings skin-side up the entire time for baking.

While wings bake, add butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add grated onion and minced garlic with a pinch of salt. Cook until veggies are soft, about 4 minutes.

Remove stems and seeds from habaneros. Wear plastic gloves to avoid disaster...because these bad boys are hot! Mince habaneros very finely. If you don’t use gloves, wash your hands well immediately after handling the peppers.

Add habaneros to saucepan along with apricot filling, soy sauce, water, and paprika. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Keep sauce warm, but if it’s done way before your wings, take it off the heat and then reheat before you serve so the sauce doesn’t get too thick.

When wings are done, remove them from pan and add them to a large bowl. Toss with apricot sauce.

Serve wings immediately garnished with lots of fresh scallion greens and blue cheese dressing.

Revisiting a Cold Weather Favorite...Senegalese Peanut Butter Stew

For today's post, I'm revisiting a favorite from last winter...Senegalese Peanut Butter Stew. But first, I feel it is only fitting to recap on a great Thanksgiving.

We were 13 people deep, with homemade turkey sausage on top of a turkey, green beans-3 ways, potatoes that rivaled all other mashed potatoes I've eaten before (sorry, Mom) and three awesome pies. At the beginning, I kind of felt like our smallest Thanksgiving guest, in awe of this pumpkin chiffon pie. By the end I was pleasantly plumptified (I am now coining that as a new word), but so happy to celebrate another DC Thanksgiving with friends.

Today, I enjoyed a bit more of the stuffing (thanks Ian!) and tried to hammer through a workday, making the most of the quiet. I'll no doubt be detoxing on food for the next few days and I imagine many of you all are in the same boat. 

But if you're feeling like you want to cook, and perhaps make a little something out of the ordinary, consider making this Senegalese peanut butter stew. It tastes rich and comforting, but it's surprisingly healthy. The only true fat comes from the peanut butter, and the combination with sweet potatoes and other vegetables make this a satisfying detox meal.  Enjoy!

Potato and Chorizo Tacos

Any regular visitor to my blog knows I like good ethnic food, and in the last year, I have experimented with several types of tacos. Two weeks ago, I picked up a pack of corn tortillas and went to work, resulting in three different taco recipes in 10 days' time. I'm a little over tacos at the moment, but you will thank me for this little endeavor. Because 2 of the 3 taco recipes were amazing. This one was the most amazing of them all. And it includes one of my favorite (albeit expensive) cheeses: Manchego.

You can just thank me now.

Potato and Chorizo Tacos (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 poblano chiles (I used jalapenos because I couldn't find poblanos)
• 1 TB canola oil
• 2 cups diced white potato
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels
• 1/8 tsp ground red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 oz Mexican raw chorizo, casings removed
• 3/4 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 3/8 tsp kosher salt
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1 oz Manchego cheese, shredded (about 1/4 cup).
• 8 lime wedges 

Directions:

Preheat broiler to high.

Cut poblanos in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place poblano halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil for 8 minutes or until blackened. Place in a paper bag; fold to close tightly. Let stand 5 minutes. Peel; coarsely chop.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add potato; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove potato; place in a large bowl. Add onion to pan; cook 3 minutes. Add poblano, corn, red pepper, and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion mixture to potato. Add chorizo to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes, stirring to crumble. Return potato mixture to pan. Stir in stock and salt; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until potato is tender, chorizo is done, and liquid almost evaporates.

Working with 1 tortilla at a time, heat tortillas over medium-high heat directly on the eye of a burner for about 15 seconds on each side or until lightly charred. Arrange about 1/3 cup potato mixture in center of each tortilla; top with 1 1/2 teaspoons onions and 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese.

Serve with lime wedges.

Cajun Cooking: BBQ Shrimp

Last weekend, I took my first cooking class through Living Social. I had signed up for the class with two friends a few months ago and I was looking forward to some hands-on instruction. I had taken another class at Living Social before on pumpkin and bourbon, but it was more educational than instructional. In both instances I came out with some good tips and recipes. I'll share two of them on the blog in this post and another post this weekend, and the other two I'm going to hold on to for a later date. Because I guarantee I'll make them on my own time again.

The instruction was good and energetic and the kitchen was hot. As it should be, in my opinion, if you're trying to emulate the South. I was very lucky to have a friend who lived in DC for awhile who would regularly cook Southern dishes. While I can never begin to compete with her mad kitchen skillz and appreciation for butter, I can at least learn a bit more about what makes her food, and Southern food as a whole, so awesome.

Fortunately they had Abita beer on hand to help keep us cool. I'm a huge fan of their strawberry variety, but I'd settle for the amber in a pinch.

We learned to make four dishes during the class. Tonight I'll share the recipe for BBQ shrimp, and this weekend, the Bananas Foster recipe. So stay tuned. :)

BBQ Shrimp (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp rosemary
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 2 TB butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup beer, room temperature
• 1/4 TB Worcestershire sauce
• 8-12 shrimp shrimp-peeled and deveined
• Salt to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, basil, thyme, rosemary, cayenne pepper and paprika. Set aside. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes. Season with the spice mixture and continue to cook and stir for a few minutes. Pour in the beer and Worcestershire sauce; simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 more minute. 

Taste and season with salt before serving.

Salmon with Sriracha Sauce

It's some kind of cruel punishment when you can't spell something you cook with often. This is the case with Sriracha Sauce. I always have a bottle of it in my fridge, I cook with it often, yet I always have to triple check the spelling. A friend of mine has often referred to it as Rooster Sauce (because of the image on the bottle) and I might have to start doing the same. Cock-a-doodle-doo. Have I mentioned I haven't been sleeping well lately? :)

So this is a very simple recipe that I got from SELF magazine, which included a feature on Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook: "It's All Good."  Of course, they indicate in the recipe that you can buy the book to get Gwyneth's personal sriracha sauce recipe, but I'm good with the rooster. This had a nice flavor to it and wasn't overly spicy. I might opt to marinade the salmon in this for a bit before cooking. But I like my food like I like my men...muy caliente.

Salmon with Sriracha Sauce (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• Juice and zest of 1/2 lime
• 1 TB maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 1/4 lbs salmon fillet, skin removed
• 2 TB coarsely chopped cilantro

Directions:
Heat oven to 425°.

In a bowl, whisk together juice, zest, syrup, sriracha and salt.

Place salmon in a baking dish lined with parchment paper; pour lime-maple mixture over top. Roast salmon until cooked through and flaky, 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve.

I served this with asparagus and the orzo spinach salad I made last week. I'm practically making that salad once a week now. It's awesome.