Sticky Asian Chicken Wings

Well it's definitely been a long time between posts for me and to be honest I have so many recipes backed up it's kind of embarrassing.  We at the House of Murray have been ridiculously busy with life in it's entirety.... work, school, junior and senior football, etc., that by the time we sit down we fall asleep.  Oh well, I guess a busy life is still so much better than no life, correct?

I have been eyeing off carious recipes for sometime as we have been experimenting quite a bit with Chicken Wings over the last few months with one of our favourite recipes being Heston's Barbecue Chicken Wings and of course, the recipe that started our wing obsession off Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing.

This recipe not only lives up to it's name with the stickiness of the sauce but the wings are also mega crunchy.   Baked in the oven makes them a win win in the fat stakes also but they could easily be deep fried if preferred.  I liked the fact that the wings are quickly tossed in the sauce just before serving and that the wings were not cooked in the sauce as then they would not have that crispy crunch.  The sprinkle of crushed peanuts and spring onions over the top added to the texture and the flavour which only made the dish even yummier.

We were lucky enough to buy nice sized wingettes (no wing tip or drumstick) but you could use the full chicken wing if you prefer - that's totally up to you and wouldn't change this recipe at all.

Sticky Asian Chicken Wings

Serves: 6

SmartPoints per serve: ?

2 kilograms chicken wingettes

1/4 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

cooking spray

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

2 teaspoons crushed ginger

1 tablespoon chilli sauce (such as Maggi)

2 tablespoons tomato sauce

4 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons chopped roasted peanut

2 spring onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Rinse and pat dry chicken wings with paper towel.

In a large snap lock bag combine flour, salt and pepper.  Add chicken, seal and toss until chicken is covered with the flour mixture.

Line an oven tray with non-stick baking paper.  Spray with cooking spray.  Line the chicken wings on the tray in a single layer and spray with cooking spray.  Cook in oven for 20 minutes, turn over and increase oven heat to 220 degrees Celsius.  Continue to cook for a further 20 minutes or until crispy.

In a small sauce pan, combine the garlic, ginger, chilli sauce, tomato sauce, honey, and soy sauce together. Simmer on lower heat until thickened and slightly sticky.

Toss the chicken wings and coat well with the sauce.

Transfer the chicken wings onto a serving platter, top with peanut and spring onions.

Serve immediately.

(Click here for a printable version of this recipe)

Sticky Chilli Barbecue Chicken Cutlets

It feels like a lifetime since we've chatted about our cooking adventures (well it's been many weeks - actually nearly 2 months) and I have missed sharing our experiences on my blog. So here goes my first blog post for 2017. By the way, Happy New Year. I hope that 2017 is kind to you in every way possible.

2016 ended up being the year of unorganised chaos and frantic lifestyle and 2017 has pretty much started off the same way.  But it is what it is and more importantly through all the experiences in the past two months, both good and bad, it has made memories and learnings for all in the House of Murray.  Whilst we have been busy rest assured that we didn't' stop cooking.

So after finally deciding I needed to get my blogging arse back into gear I hope you enjoy this little number we prepared early (well early this evening!)  I say we but in all honesty I made the coleslaw and chopped the potatoes - Noel is responsible for marinating and cooking the chicken.

Sticky Chilli Barbecue Chicken Cutlets, perfect for a mid summers' evening dinner - in fact it tasted that good it would be perfect anytime of the year.  Sticky with a hint of heat and smokiness enveloped the tender juicy chicken - melt in your mouth perfect.

The Chilli component is completely up to your discretion - you can use what ever chilli sauce you like - mild, medium or hot.  Please bear in mind however that using sweet chilli sauce would only add to the sweetness.  We used Maggi Chilli Sauce but you could use Sirracha Sauce, which contains less sugar than most chilli sauces.  Add less sauce for less heat obviously.

Being a "sticky" dish it's quite high in sugars - therefore it's not a meal that should be eaten a lot if you are trying to lose weight but honestly if you want to treat yourself for one meal - this recipe should definitely be on your "to try" list,.  Obviously I will be attempting to modify the recipe to make it more Weight Watcher friendly in the near future.  But in the moment - I really enjoyed dinner tonight.

Sticky Chilli Barbecue Chicken Cutlets

(recipe adapted from Taste.com)

Serves: 4

4 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1/2 lemon, rind coarsely chopped, juiced

5 fresh thyme sprigs

1 tablespoon brown sugar

8 (about 1.4kg) chicken thigh cutlets

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Barbecue sauce

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

1/3 cup chilli sauce, to taste

1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses or honey

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

5 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine water, salt, peppercorns, lemon juice and rind, thyme and sugar in a glass or ceramic bowl. Add chicken and stir to combine. Cover. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours to brine.

For the barbecue sauce, process all the ingredients until smooth. Bring to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes or until thickened. Season. Reserve one-third of the sauce.

Heat a barbecue grill on medium. Drain chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towel. Rub with oil, then season. Cook the chicken, turning, for 10 minutes. Baste with marinade and continue cooking, basting generously with marinade and turning every 3 minutes, for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve chicken with reserved sauce and sides of your choice.

(click here for a printable version of this recipe)

Banana Crumble Muffins

Noel has annual leave this week and it was so nice to come home to dinner already cooked for us (Noel cooked Shepherds Pie - a family favourite) .... so with nothing else to do I had a "Stepford Wife" moment and decided to do some baking.  I really enjoy baking but find myself so time poor at times that it is impossible to squeeze the extra enjoyable activity in unless I have nothing to do or I get bored.

 

So with the urge to bake then came the huge decision of what to bake??  Looking across to the fruit bowl I spotted a few bananas left from last weeks' shop (so they were nice and ripe).  Banana muffins came to mind but I didn't want to make just the normal banana muffins - you know the boring ones with no character or define flavour.  Searching through recipe books and googling I remember that I had recently come a different recipe on the Rachael Ray website.

 

Ok armed with all the ingredients I went ahead and made Banana Crumble Muffins... Perfect Banana Crumble Muffins.  Oh and WOW they were perfect...

 

Moist on the inside, crunchy crumble topping... so nice especially while still a little warm.  Definitely a flavour explosion in your mouth.  The crumble topping will be used again on other fruit muffins but this recipe is a keeper.

Banana Crumble Muffins

(recipe adapted from Rachael Ray)

Makes 12 muffins

Smart Points Per Serve: SP Warning

Crumble topping

3/4 cup plain flour

1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar

3 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

6 tablespoons cold reduced fat butter (cut into small pieces)

Muffins

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 medium, ripe bananas

1 egg

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt. Then with your hands, work in the butter until large clumps form. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.

In another bowl, mash the bananas. Add egg, oil and vanilla and mix well.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir until it just comes together

Fill prepared muffin tins halfway then evenly distribute crumble topping over the muffins.

Bake muffins for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

(Click here for a printable version of this recipe)