It’s time for… Oscar Oscar!

This year I’ve gone all out. I mulled over the idea of throwing an Oscar party and finally decided to go ahead and do it when I found this recipe for Popcorn-Raisinet Cookies I just about died over. Me being me, I had to embrace my old nickname of The Hostess with the Mostest and really have fun with the menu. The fact that the majority of my guests tonight will be my coworkers (aka great cooks but also junk food indulgers) made it extra fun. I wanted to theme everything served around a Best Picture nominee and here’s what I came up with:

Amputated Roasted Chicken Wings

Ingredients

Directions

1. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and set rack inside. Carefully dry chicken wings with paper towels. Place 1/3 of wings in large bowl, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt, and toss until thoroughly and evenly coated. Place on rack, leaving slight space between each wing. Repeat with remaining two batches of wings
2. Place baking sheet with wings in refrigerator and allow to rest, uncovered, at least 8 hours, and up to 18 hours.
3. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 450°F. Add chicken wings and cook for 20 minutes. Flip wings and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 25 minutes longer.
4. Meanwhile, combine butter and hot sauce in small saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking until combined. Transfer wings to large bowl, add sauce, toss to thoroughly coat, and serve immediately with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

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Popcorn-Raisinet Cookies

Recipe courtesy of Bluebonnets & Brownies.

Makes about 18 large cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. table salt
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup Raisinets (2 small boxes)
• 1 cup popped Kettle Corn popcorn, cooled and crushed

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 325° F. Line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

2.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together sugars and butter. With mixer running, beat in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat until batter is light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add flour in 3 parts, letting mixture completely combine before adding next addition. Fold in raisinets and popcorn by hand.

3.) Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter onto baking sheets. Give at least 3 inches of space between dough balls – about 6 to a sheet. Bake 17-19 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet and move to cooling racks.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chicken, cookies, indulge, spicy, sweets

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…or as I like to call it “The dinner I throw together exhausted after driving home and unpacking post-Christmas.”

This is one of those gloriously easy, delicious, and hideous dinners you can throw together in 10 minutes and it is just so damn tasty. Just make a quick spicy tomato sauce, crack a few eggs into it, pop the lid on, and poach away. If you’re really ambitious you can toast some nice bread and rub a few garlic cloves on it to ensure extra awesomeness.

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Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce

Inspired by Martha Stewart’s recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced plus 1 more clove, whole
• red pepper flakes
• 1 cup prepared marinara sauce (or crushed tomatoes)
• 3 or 4 eggs
• salt and pepper
• bread of your choice
• butter
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1.) Heat the oil in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and red pepper flakes (however much you can handle) and sauté for about 30 seconds. Pour in the marinara and let come to a low boil.

2.) Make a few divots in the pan and crack the eggs right into the sauce. Sprinkle some salt and pepper right on top of the eggs. Pop the lid on the pan and cook until the yolk is set and the white is firm, about 5-7 minutes.

3.) Meanwhile, toast up some really good bread. Once it’s ready, rub the garlic clove on it then smear with butter.

4.) Plate the eggs with toast and sprinkle everything with fresh Parmesan.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: savory, spicy, tomato, vegetarian

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Sriracha is one of those running jokes amongst people in the food & beverage industry. You can walk into any kind of restaurant kitchen – Italian, French, Latin American, etc, – and more than likely, a bottle of the green-lidded fiery red sauce will be found somewhere. For some, it’s a substitute for everything from ketchup to mayonnaise, and will be poured on any and everything they eat. I always think of the episode of Top Chef when Casey put it into her Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. I’m not that hardcore, but it is delicious. It’s simply a paste of chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt. Spicy, sweet, and commonly seen with Thai or Vietnamese food, it’s well-loved (and rightly so).

So when I saw a recipe for buttermilk sriracha salad dressing a few months ago I kept it in the back of my mind, waiting to use it until the right idea struck. And finally, it did.

I’m a big fan of indulging in spicy chicken wings dipped in ridiculously rich and cooling sauces, so the idea of chicken drumsticks dipped in this srirarcha buttermilk ‘ranch’ seemed perfect. Making a Vietnamese-themed marinade (I know I know srirarcha is Thai but it’s right there on the table at any Vietnamese restaurant, too!) and grilling the chicken makes this a fresh and fun summer dish and great to serve at parties. You can go with wings and legs (or even breasts), just use whatever chicken you like best. It’s all good.

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Vietnamese Chicken Drumsticks

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 12 chicken drumsticks (about 1½ lbs.)
• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 jalapeño, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• 2 tsp. cane sugar
• 1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1.) Combine all ingredients in a large plastic bag and shake to combine and coat. Set the bag in a dish and refrigerate 30 minutes to 4 hours to marinate. Once marinated, discard sauce.

2.) Preheat a grill pan (or charcoal grill) and grill chicken until done, about 12-14 minutes. Serve with Sriracha ‘Ranch’ for dipping.

Sriracha ‘Ranch’ Dressing

Makes about 1 cup dressing.

If you’d like to make this more dip-like than dressing, just reverse the ratio of buttermilk-to-yogurt.

Based on the recipe from Lime Cake.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups buttermilk, shaken
• ¼ cup sriracha
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt or mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• Salt to taste

Directions

1.) Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Season to taste. Chill until ready to serve.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: asian, chicken, dressing, spicy, summer

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Yesterday at work I was chatting with one of our photographers on the merits of soup as a meal. He argued soup can never be filling, but I disagree. Seinfeld jokes aside, I love having soup for dinner, especially chilled soups during the summer. Cold borscht, gazpacho, vichyssoise – they may not be hearty, but when it’s 90° and humid, the last thing I want to do is sit down to a huge piece of roasted meat and potatoes. Especially when I have air conditioning in only one room of my apartment.

I got excited when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Bon Appetit because it has all my favorite things. Thai curry paste, squash, cilantro… to me, those are incredibly refreshing flavors and ideal for a chilled summer soup. This recipe makes a nice big batch and is actually quite satisfying by stirring in some thick and creamy Greek yogurt plus an extra little sprinkle of cilantro. If you wanted to bulk it up you could easily keep some of the squash from being pureed and stir it in once you chill it, but I think the puree itself is just perfect.

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Chilled Thai Squash Soup

Based on the recipe from Bon Appetit.

Makes 4 servings.

I accidentally poured in the entire can of coconut milk as I made my soup, but it turned out delicious regardless. I just upped the spices to balance everything.

Ingredients

• 2 TBL canola oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow (not sweet) onions
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TBL Thai red curry paste
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 pound yellow squash and green zucchini (total)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 2 TBL chopped fresh cilantro, plus more to garnish
• salt and pepper to taste
• Greek yogurt or plain yogurt to garnish

Directions

1.) Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about a minute. Add the curry paste and curry powder and stir until slightly toasted, about 20 seconds. Add squash and saute another 60 seconds.

2.) Stir in the broth and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce hit and simmer on low 10-15 minutes or until the squash is soft.

3.) Remove from the heat and working in batches, puree the soup in a blender with the cilantro, being sure to leave the lid off or vented so your blender doesn’t explode from steam (ouch!).

4.) Season to taste before the soup cools down. Add the soup to a large, wide bowl (the wider the bowl, the faster and more evenly it will cool). Chill until very cold, at least 5 hours.

5.) When ready to serve, thin the soup with more stock if desired. Garnish with yogurt and more cilantro.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: soup, spicy, summer

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This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity, much of which required favors being received and thank yous being doled out in spades. Buying a couch, borrowing a friend’s truck, asking a neighbor to help move said couch, etc, all warranted more than just a verbal acknowledgment, so I of course baked some delicious treats as an extra thank-you.

Snickerdoodles (which by the way, is the most fun cookie name ever) are one of those easy, but special things to make and eat. You don’t see them often enough at bakeries or coffee shops, despite the fact they’re delicious, simple, and can last for days if properly stored. I had been craving them the past few weeks and then suddenly they popped up in my Martha Stewart Cookie-a-Day newsletter. C’est parfait!

These are insanely good eaten warm so I recommend either eating them fresh from the oven (which believe me, I did… in great quantities) or microwaving the cookies for 15 seconds before devouring. Don’t worry, the amount of fat in the dough prevents them from drying out. It’s a good thing.

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Snickerdoodles

Based on the recipe from Martha Stewart.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies (I used a half-ounce cookie scoop).

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1¾ cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 400° F with rack set in center of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2.) In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat together 1½ cups of the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until just combined, then with the mixer running, slowly add the dry ingredients until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix once more.

3.) In a small bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon. Using a half-ounce scoop, scoop the dough into small balls and roll in the cinnamon-sugar until well coated. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet and bake until spread and crackled, but not too done – only about 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire racks but eat while still warm.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cookies, dessert, spicy, sweet

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