Gnocchi Guru

A friend of mine asked me if I could make gnocchi this past winter.  She told me that her daughter had gnocchi at an Italian restaurant in New Hersey and had really enjoyed it.  She was hesitant to buy the dehydrated shelf stable gnocchi at our local grocery store for fear that it would not measure up to her daughter’s expectations.

I have made gnocchi before, and each time with different results.  I have poured over many a recipe, website and magazine article.  I even got a secret family recipe from a college friend once for his grandmother’s gnocchi.  But due to the mixed results I seem to produce, I was a little hesitant to volunteer to be a gnocchi guru.

In looking over even more recipes, I found one that included some egg, and seemed to give some step by step instructions.  The gnocchi could be produced in a grand total of 2 hours, which is the max attention span time limit when making food with children.  There was enough “waiting” time in which small ones can leave the kitchen and run around before coming back and getting to work.

I find that the most difficult part in making gnocchi; is making it look good.  You can gently roll the little sections of dough off the back of a fork and create a little groove with dimples or you can simply stick your finger into each piece and flick it to create a small hallow space.  Thankfully, a friend volunteered to do that part, which is why these gnocchi look good.  I lose patience after about a dozen segments and the appearance of my gnocchi deteriorate greatly as the process wears on.

This was a wonderful project to take on with friends, children playmates and a little booze.  It make the tedious turn into a joyful experience, and I think that is exactly the way almost every meal should be approached.  The adults here were so enamored with the gnocchi that several very picky children expressed excitement in trying the end result. 

And for the little girl who was to compare the homemade gnocchi with her restaurant version – she told me it was even better than that dish she had in New Jersey.  Now that is a pretty wonderful compliment.

Homemade Gnocchi

As adapted from  Jenifer Mangione Vogt found on Food52.com

 1 ½ pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked all over with a fork

1 – 1 ¼ c flour
3 egg yolks (whites reserved)
Pinch of nutmeg
Large pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Roast the potatoes in their skins for about 45minutes to an hour (depending on their size).  They are done, when the skins appear to be a bit loose, and there are some darker brown spots on the potatoes.  Let the potatoes cool.

Peel the potatoes, removing the thicker tough layer just under the skin.  Grate the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater, and place in a large bowl.

Add in the egg yolks, flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Begin to stir this together to fully incorporate everything.  Once the mixture becomes more stiff, use your hands to fully combine into a dough.  If the dough won’t stay together easily when pinched, add some of the egg whites. Or if the dough seems too wet and sticky add a bit more flour – keeping in mind you will need some flour to roll the gnocchi out.

Once the mixture is combined, divide it into 4 even pieces.  Roll these pieces out into a ½” diameter rope.  Cut the rope into ¾” pieces.  Roll each piece off the back of a fork, pressing slightly to make groves in the gnocchi, or simply press your finger into each piece, roll it gently towards you and then flick it away.

Place the gnocchi on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer, and freeze for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Once the gnocchi are frozen, drop 7-10 in the pot at a time.  Once they float to the surface, skim them out, and place on a kitchen towel lined sheet.  Repeat with remaining gnocchi until all are cooked.  At this point, you can refreeze the gnocchi to save them for later, or you can add them to a sauce. 

We baked ours in a mixture of cheese, spinach and heavy cream for an easy gratin.

Imperial Appetizer

I love crabs.  Specifically, I love blue crabs, and I miss them sorely now that I no longer live along the mid-Atlantic seaboard.  I love blue crabs so much, that when Joe and I were preparing to leave for California, I bought a giant tub of Old Bay seasoning to take with me, in case they didn’t sell it out there (they do).

Blue crabs as I am familiar with them exist from New York down to North Carolina and I am deeply in love with everything about them.  Just the thought of a big steaming pile of crabs covered with Old Bay can make me salivate.  I have a long history with blue crabs; catching them, cooking them, racing them, reading books about them and so on.  But I will only share a little of this knowledge with you here today.  This is due mostly to the fact that I did not cook with blue crabs this weekend. 

Here in Maine we have the Jonah crab or the Peekey-Toe crab.  The meat is stringy and sweet but I think it lacks the depth of flavor and heft that fresh blue crab has.  In a pinch (yes, pun intended) local crab will suffice for me.  No, this is not a crab cake recipe, as the Maine crab meat couldn’t hold up to the ingredients or flavors in my recipe.  Instead I am going to give you my version of Crab Imperial. 

Basically, crab imperial is the stuffing when anything is ‘stuffed with crab.’ It’s darn tasty and there are several different schools of thought which, can be much disputed depending on where you are and with whom you are conversing.  I like my crab imperial to have a little zing and to not have any breadcrumbs in it.  You can make this into a straight dip, or stuff it into things, like mushrooms and shrimp. 

This weekend I stuffed tiny little bell peppers with the crab since they are all over the farmers’ markets.  Some crab imperial recipes call for minced bell pepper, so I thought this would be a unique twist on it.

Don’t worry I’ll share my wild and crazy crab stories with you another time, maybe when I have access to fresh live blue crabs.

Crab Imperial
I like to use fresh crab.  There is usually canned blue crab available in the supermarket, but it is usually from the Philippines, extra salty and overall not very good tasting.  If you can get fresh local crab meat – use that instead.

1 8 oz. container fresh local crab

3 Tb mayonnaise
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. shallot, minced
¼ tsp. capers, chopped very fine
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

8 mini stuffing peppers
Shredded cheese for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Core the peppers by running a knife vertically into the pepper around the stem, and pull out the stem and seed core.  Flick out any remaining seeds and pull out the white pith if it is thick.  Leave the pepper intact.

In a small bowl combine mayo, mustard, shallot, capers, Worcestershire sauce, and Old Bay. Stir until everything is well coated. The mixture will be runny.  Stuff crab mixture into peppers and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers are soft, the cheese is melted and the crab mixture looks a bit more dry.  Serve immediately.

Sungold Sludge

I went a little tomato crazy this weekend.  I’ve been very enthralled with the whole canning food –pioneer life trend that’s been happening recently.  This is not to say that I am any good at it.  Currently, I have a few bags of frozen fruits, multiple jars of jam and a garden I need to deal with, but that does not mean I have “put up” enough for Joe and I to subsist on for the winter.  Really I just like the idea of being useful and home-makey.  So I got it into my head that I would try canning tomatoes. 

 Sure I could do something useful like make tomato sauce, or can whole tomatoes to use later in soups and sauces.  But no.  I was distracted by a recipe in Bon Appetít for homemade ketchup.  ‘Yes!’ I thought, ‘I can make my own ketchup, it will be very useful and delicious.’

So I immediately e-mailed a local farm and placed my order for a crate of 2^nd rate tomatoes at a discounted price.  A measly $25 for a crate I would pick up at the farmer’s market on Thursday.  Perfect.

When I got to the farm stand I was armed with 2 cloth bags to transport the tomatoes home.  I smilingly approached the man at the stand and told him of my order.  He said oh yes, we have seconds for you.  You can help yourself. 

I asked him how much was a crate of tomatoes (meaning how many tomatoes would I be getting), he told me a crate of tomatoes.  I nodded my ascent as if I got the joke and wasn’t at all trying to ask an actual question.

I was handed an empty crate which now looking back was the size of a pallet (well, maybe not quite that big, but it was rather large) and told to fill it up with whatever I wanted.  I started grabbing handfuls of different colored tomatoes and placing them into the black plastic crate.  When I got about halfway full, my heart started racing.  ‘Oh gosh, what am I doing, the recipe only calls for 5 pounds of tomatoes.’  So I interrupted the man again and asked how many pounds he thought a full crate was.  Oh about 35 pounds, he calmly replied looking at my crate.  I told him I thought I was ok with just a half full crate and I would still pay full price.  He told me no.  I was going to need to fill it up more.  I got a few chuckles and stares from other patrons at the stand noticing my panic and red flushed faced as I continued to plop tomatoes into the crate. 

I tried pushing them around to make it seem like more, the opposite of what children do to food they don’t want at dinner. 

I re-approached the man and told him the crate was full, I was ready to pay.  He, thinking he was being helpful, looked up at the sky and nonchalantly added 10 more tomatoes to my crate.  The one time the baker’s dozen elicits panic.  We then poured the tomatoes into my two bags, and I swear that when I picked them up it was closer to 50 pounds.  I’ve been lifting weights, so I’m pretty sure they weighed more than 35 pounds.

After lugging my 60 pounds of tomatoes home, I moved them into a wide shallow box, as the weight of all of them piled on top of one another was beginning to crush some of them.  Then I tried to push to box over to the side of my kitchen but apparently I am unable to push 75 pounds of tomatoes with one foot. 

When Joe came home and asked how my day was and what I had gotten at the farmer’s market, my reply was ‘Ok, don’t get mad at me, but…’ and thankfully he knows what that means – I have gone overboard on something.  I showed him the box. 

He agreed that it was over 35 pounds.

So to wrap this story up; yes I did make ketchup, no I did not use all of the tomatoes in that batch, and when you quadruple a recipe you also have to quadruple the time.  The ketchup turned out alright, not really ketchup as we know it (so I’m calling it catsup – because who really knows what catsup is) and it’s a bit spicy.   Too spicy for Joe, so now I have 12 pints of catsup that I ‘put up’ this weekend in case this winter we have to douse everything with homemade ketchup.  More likely this will become a Christmas present to at least 11 people. 

With the remaining 10 pounds of tomatoes, I made a vat of tomato sauce and froze it on Sunday.  But what I am going to share with you today is not a recipe for tomato sauce or ketchup catsup. I will share something far more manageable in the tomato realm.  Although I love this so much that next year I may only grow Sungold tomatoes and make this all summer long. So that when Joe asks me what’s in the garden I’ll have to say “Ok, don’t get mad at me, but…”

Bess’ Sungold Sludge

Sungold tomatoes are the small orange tomatoes.  They are as sweet as candy and just as pretty in my mind. My friend Bess, makes this delightful treat in the summer when her crop of Sungolds are ready.  I always secretly hope she will have some each time I see her.
 
1 pint of Sungold tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tb olive oil
Salt to taste

For assembly:
Fresh basil leaves, sliced
Goat cheese (or cream cheese)
Toasted French bread slices

 Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, add garlic and sauté for about a minute.  Slice some tomatoes in half and add to skillet.  Add the other tomatoes and stir.  Adjust the heat as necessary so the garlic doesn’t burn.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the skins of all the tomatoes have burst.  If a tomato doesn’t split open, gently press on it with a spatula or poke it with a knife, but be careful of any juices spitting out.

Once the tomatoes have split, lower the heat a bit and continue to cook another 7 minutes or so until the juices are thick and syrupy.  Add salt to taste.

To serve, spread goat cheese on toasted bread, spoon the sludge over top and sprinkle with fresh basil.

Holy Guacamole!

Ah an excuse to eat Tex-Mex food and drink coronas, not that you need an excuse, but it is nice to have one every now and again. Any holiday with an emphasis on food is ok by me. So really, most holidays are ok by me.

I think I really managed to get into the celebration of Cinco de Mayo while in college, because various bars would offer large quantities of Coronas in a bucket for one very low price. This of course is not the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo, but who am I to complain?

In case you don’t have such beverage opportunities where you are, and you plan to stay in and celebrate, I have a recipe for you. You see a couple of summer’s ago, my friends decided to have a guacamole competition – a Guacamol-off.

I traveled from Maine down to the Jersey shore bringing with me knives, bowls, cutting boards, spoons and one profane apron I received as a gift; all the necessary accoutrements to produce a winning guacamole. Yes, that’s right I said winning.

Now, don’t think I took this lightly. I made 4 different versions of guacamole and forced my coworkers to sample and rate each and every one before I determined what my entry into the Guacamol-off would be. And, if you have ever tried to purchase avocados in Maine, this was no cheap feat. Plus my indecisiveness and waffling between recipes made this whole process far more all-encompassing than necessary.

All the entries in the Guacamol-off

However, when the time came, we got down to business. There was guacamole making on counters, tables, chairs and ledges both inside and outside. Voting was based on appearance, flavor and something else (I forgot), then the totals were tallied and winners announced. I know it was a close contest, and that I only won by one or two points (and I’m sure that forcing your boyfriend to vote for you doesn’t hurt either). But I am confident that you will like this guacamole. Oh and in case you were wondering if I won anything - my prizes included maracas, a sombrero, mardi gras beads, and a bottle of tequila. 

The winning guagamole

A lot of good guacamole was had that day, and in honor of guacamole and Cinco de Mayo I have decided to share this recipe with you. The inspiration for it came from a coworker of Joe’s while we were in California. He had brought in a mango to work and sprinkled it with the Chipotle flavored Tabasco sauce. When Joe tried it, he fell in love. I thought it might be a nice addition to my standard guacamole. So if you too are entered into a guacamole competition, feel free to use this recipe; as long as you are willing to share your winnings with me.

Mango Chipotle Guacamole

2 large cloves of garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 ripe avocados
1/3 c. finely diced red onion
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 ripe mango, in a small dice*
Juice of 2 limes (or more if necessary)
½ tsp. Chipotle Tabasco sauce

Crush the garlic with the side of your knife and remove the skin. Roughly chop the garlic and then sprinkle salt over it. Using the side of your knife, work the salt into the garlic until a paste forms. Scoop this up and place in a bowl.

To use the avocados, run your knife all the way around the avocado, while touching the pit. Then twist the two halves and pull apart. To remove the pit, firmly whack your knife into the center of the pit, and then twist the pit and pull it out of the avocado while it is attached to your knife. Then, you can slip the pit off the blade and repeat with the other avocado. Scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl with the garlic and salt mixture. Begin to mash the avocado with a fork or potato masher.

Next, add the red onion, cilantro and mango. Stir slightly to combine. Then add in the lime juice and Tabasco. Taste, and add more lime juice, Tabasco or salt if necessary. Serve immediately or sprinkle with more lime juice, and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic touches the top of the guacamole and refrigerate until ready to serve.


*To cut the mango, hold the mango so that the narrow side is facing you. Run your knife parallel to the length of the mango, moving it out if you hit the pit. Once you know where the pit is, cut the remaining 3 sides of the mango in the same manner.

Then, score the mango into the size chunks you want, being careful to not piece the skin. Pull the skin down, like you are trying to open the mango, and the squares of flesh should pull apart from one another. Then use your knife to cut along the skin and the cut squares of mango should release. You can then cut these squares smaller if so desired.

Stuffing To Impress

First, let me apologize for the potential dirtiness of this post’s title. I don’t mean it that way. Rather, I am talking about trying to impress people with your culinary skills. Stuffing one food item into another food item is always impressive. It can be a duck stuffed inside a chicken stuffed inside a turkey, or something simpler like stuffed artichokes or stuffed peppers. However you stuff it – it’s always impressive.

This is a good point to keep in mind especially when you really want some oohs and ahhs the next time you bring a dish to a potluck or host a party. And let’s be honest, sometimes you just want a few marveled guests to stare at you incredulously as they bite into the spectacular stuffed dish you produced.

The only problem to this end result is of course actually producing something spectacular. I find that when I need to bring something to a party I either, give myself zero time, have ten other things I am supposed to do prior to or during the party or I completely blank on something to make and wind up bringing something safe.

Well, my friends, here is a recipe to use in those kinds of situations! Granted, this does take a lot of time to do, but you can space it out over a few days which will ease the labor a bit. I have made these now approximately 3 times. Each time, specifically to impress people.

The first time was around my college graduation. I was making appetizers to bring over to an extended relative’s house for a mini graduation party. This might not seem too bad, except I had invited my new boyfriend’s parents over as well. Not only did I need to plan the party, and make the appetizers, but I had to seem effortless at it. I think I managed to pull it off, since only a select few people saw me choking on a burger while running from work, to pick up graduation tickets, to run home to shower to meet my parents to go for a drink at the cookbook author’s house and then to go to dinner with friends and family. Somewhere in between all those things, I managed to make these.

The next time I made these, was to impress now steady boyfriend’s extended family at Thanksgiving dinner across the country. Being in California, I felt I needed to be a bit snooty about presentation and the dish itself, so this worked out perfectly. I needn’t have worried about this as much, because after helping to make many of the side dishes for the night and after washing a very large pile of dishes, I proved my worth.

And then, most recently I made these this past weekend. Not to impress people, but just for something different and a little fancy. I know this doesn’t seem like a lot of recipe testing, but I promise the end result does not disappoint.

So as we approach the season for graduations, bridal showers and baby showers, keep this recipe in mind. A platter of these will impress even the most calloused of guests.

Middle Eastern Stuffed Grape Leaves
As adapted from The New American Cooking by Joan Nathan
I have not quite figured out the prefect ratio of filling to leaves. I recommend you buy two jars of leaves, or halve the amount of ingredients. But I like the filling, and tend to eat it as a side dish for other meals. The recipe is not difficult, but it takes a long time. So if you can, make the rice the evening before and then roll the leaves and steam them.

Makes about 50 grape leaves. Oh and by the way, this recipe happens to be vegan.

¾ c. olive oil
3 medium onions, diced (about 2 cups)
2 cups brown rice
½ c. pine nuts
1/3 c. dried currants
5 cups water
1 Tb. dried mint
2 Tb. dried dill
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. all spice
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 Tb. salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 16 oz. jars of grape leaves
2 ½ lemons

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes and add rice, stirring regularly about 10 minutes. Add 4 cups water and simmer, covered about 15 minutes, then add the pine nuts and currants, continue to simmer another 25 minutes, until rice is cooked and most of the water is absorbed. Add spices and sugar, stir to combine.

Cover the pot with a paper towel, and then replace the lid. Allow to cool, about 30 minutes, or overnight.

Drain and rinse leaves, carefully separating each leaf. Soak leaves in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes. Drain leaves, and sprinkle with lemon juice from one of the lemons. While separating the leaves, keep aside any torn leaves. Use these to line the bottom of a large heavy bottomed pot, with the dull side of the leaves facing up.

To stuff a grape leaf, place it dull side up on your work surface with the stem closest to you. Spoon some of the rice mixture (about 1 tsp, or less depending on the size of the leaf) into the bottom third, center of the leaf.

Fold up the stem side of the leaf over the rice, then fold each side of the leaf in towards the center over the rice mixture. While holding these in place on the rice, gently roll the leaf away from you. Place the bundle seam side down into the pan. As you continue to roll the leaves, place them snugly next to each other, until one layer is complete. Then place new leaves in a second layer alternating from the bottom layer (like bricks). Sprinkle with the juice of one lemon. Add in the remaining 1 cup of water, and use a few of the remaining leaves to cover the rolled ones. Place a small plate on top to weigh them all down.

Cover the pot with its lid, and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Allow to cool in pot until ready to serve. When ready to serve, move grape leaves to a platter and sprinkle with juice of ½ a lemon.

Zwiebelkuchen

Yes, Zwiebelkuchen. Don’t be scared. I’ll walk you through it. Svee-bell-coo-tschen. Well, that’s basically right, the tschen is really more of a throat noise, like if you were pretending to hiss with the back of your throat like a cat – that’s the noise we’re going for. Go ahead, give it a try. No one is judging you here. Zwee-bell-coo- (hiss like a cat)en. Good!

Ok now that we got that out of the way, Zweibelkuchen is an onion cake. Don’t say eww just yet! Onion cake is not literally a layer cake made from onions, it’s more like a quiche or savory tart. A crust, onions, bacon and a light custard make this little baby up, and it is delicious. This dish is found in many different countries with slight variations, but the alpine region in Europe does it the best (in my opinion). So whether you are in France, Switzerland or Italy, try it! But if you are in Germany, I implore you to get a slice.

This was another one of those experiences that was a perfect food memory for me. I had Zwiebelkuchen twice while in Germany, and now ever since I found this recipe I have been hooked. The first time I had it, was at a traditional wine harvest dinner. This was a bit more commercialized than me harvesting grapes from a sun drenched vineyard. But never the less, there was a farm, and the farmer sold tickets to his harvest dinner. In south-west Germany, it was common for farmers to need extra hands in the fall. Workers were fed a light dinner of Zwiebelkuchen and given the Neuesüsse wine to drink that evening.

Neuesüsse is the sweet, barely fermented wine that is bottled and shared directly after harvest. It is very sweet and everyone recommends not having too many glasses of it for the sake of your bowels. But it is good and it is cheap, which of course, is even better. If you can find a bottle at a farmer’s market, you can let it ferment more on a shelf, but be sure to uncork it, or the bottle is rumored to explode on you as the pressure builds.

The other time I had Zwiebelkuchen was when a roommate of mine (and I will save some of the fabulous stories about my roommates in Germany for another time)made it with some friends. This was an opportunity for onion googles, if I have ever seen one. They chopped so many pounds of onions, that the tiny apartment kitchen was lethal to be in. If someone walked into the kitchen they were hit with a wall of onion gas. It was beautiful.

So if you are stuck in a rut for holiday potluck options. Give this a try. You can follow the recipe I will share below, or you can cheap it up a bit, and use refrigerated crescent rolls, ham and a little bit of cheese for a quick brunch option.

Zwiebelkuchen
As adapted from The New German Cookbook by Jean Anderson and Hedy Würz

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted and at room temperature
7-8 slices of thick cut bacon, chopped into small squares
1 lb. yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp. caraway seeds
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ c. whole milk
¼ c. heavy whipping cream
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°. Pinch together the two sheets of puff pastry dough and roll out to fit into a 15”x12” cookie sheet (standard size), there should be about a ½” overlap up the sides of the baking sheet.

Sauté the chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, then remove the bacon, but keep the grease in the pan. Add sliced onions into pan and sauté for about 7 minutes until translucent. Then add caraway seeds and nutmeg and continue to sauté until the onion is very soft, another 7-10 minutes. If the onions start to get brown, turn the heat a little lower and stir more frequently. A little brown on the edges is fine, but not burnt or completely caramelized.

Next, pour the onions onto the puff pastry and sprinkle with bacon bits. Pull the extra puff pastry over top of the onion and bacon, forming a bit of a lip around the entire tart. Bake the Zwiebelkuchen for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the milk, cream, eggs, salt and pepper. After 15 minutes remove the cookie sheet, and pour the milk mixture over top of the onions. The milk mixture should not cover the onions completely, so feel free to reserve any excess milk and egg mixture for another purpose (scrambled eggs or like Joe and I did for a ghetto carbonara). Return the cookie sheet to the oven and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes. If the edges of the pastry get too brown, cover the sheet loosely with aluminum foil.

Once the custard has set (is no longer jiggly) remove the Zwiebelkuchen from the oven and let cool about 20 minutes. Then slice and serve! I like Zwiebelkuchen warm, but I love it cold or even reheated the next day.

Wing Weekend

Ahh, Football season. For some this means the next few months will be filled with fantasy, free agency and trades. For me, it is an excuse to eat junky appetizers washed down with beers on a Sunday afternoon. 

 There are so many instances, sitting around with friends, cheering or booing that I look back fondly upon. Like ordering 3 buckets (yes Buckets) of wings from a local chicken wing joint during the AFC championship, where guacamole and Oreos were the only break in wing consumption we had that day. Or meeting the actor who played Steve Urkel, who looked an awful lot like Stefan, at the Eagles bar in West Hollywood.  (Yes, I'm name dropping.)

I may have mentioned that I have a special weakness for appetizers. Frozen appetizers are the food I am most ashamed to admit that I love. The thing is, I know they are not even that good. I am a sucker for packaging and advertising. A commercial filled with people having fun and eating previously frozen pizza puffs, hooks me every time. And the siren call of appetizers at restaurants, lure me in to a false hope of deliciousness. Combo platter? Yes, with all the dipping sauces you have please.

In fact, after college when I was living in a house with a couple of girlfriends, we would have roommate happy hour. This entailed cheap very fruity “wine”, frozen appetizers and a good dose of America’s Next Top Model. Now, of course Joe will indulge me sometimes, but I can only get him to agree to 2 out of those three items. So I take full advantage of any opportunities that present themselves to indulge in tiny pre-meal bites.

Wings are the ultimate appetizer to me. Special enough to require some time and effort in preparation – or just a really great wing bar. But wings at home almost seem exotic. Should they be fried, or oven baked? And don’t even get me started with sauce options.

For me, wings should be tender and the meat should fall off the bones. You should not be able to eat wings daintily, and you should feel good about having carrots and celery in between bites of wings. So the next time you have an America’s Next Top Model marathon, or just need to sit on the couch and watch football for 5 hours straight, here is an easy, tasty wing recipe.

Tar Pit Wings
as adapted from Gourmet Cookbook

Be sure to foil the bottom of the pan. The sauce has a tendency to boil up in the oven, and will be a pain to clean if you don’t properly foil the pan. The sauce will also look like a lot, too much even, at the beginning of the baking process, but don’t worry it’ll all work out in the end.

1 lb chicken wings, split and wing tips removed
1/3 c. light soy sauce
1/3 c. dry red wine
1/8 c. sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
Black Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°. Place wings in a single layer, in the bottom of a foiled roasting pan. Combine the soy sauce, wine and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in ground ginger and black pepper. Pour sauce of the wings.

Bake wings for about 45 minutes, then turn the wings over. At this point about 1/2 the sauce should be left. Continue to bake for another hour and 10 minutes, or until the sauce is sticky and the wings are super tender.

Let the wings cool until you are able to handle them. Serve and enjoy!