Sriracha Apricot Wings

I've been having a love affair with sriracha. Just last night I had it on popcorn with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. But these wings. Wow. They linger in the back of my mind.

3 tablespoons tamari
1 generous cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
5 large cloves garlic, minced
4 pounds chicken wings, rinsed

Marinate for two days. If you can stand it that long. It's worth it. I oven roasted mine on cooling racks inside a foil-lined sheet pan for approximately 90 minutes at 325. You could grill them on low-low-low heat. Baste a few times with the marinade and turn often. I won't even tell you how many I ate.

Rajmah

I would never be a good recipe writer....but maybe you can make sense of this and give it a whirl! We all loved it...a great fridge-is-empty meal.

a few tablespoons olive oil
2-3 inches of fresh ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

Throw all the but the garlic in a pot and saute until slightly softened. Stir in the garlic. Add:

8 oz can tomato sauce
about a teaspoon of sea salt
curry powder to taste (i used about 2-3 teaspoons)

Saute for 5-ish minutes. Add:

2 cans kidney beans, UNdrained
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 can coconut milk

Bring to a boil. Simmer until the onions are soft or as long as you'd like. I think I simmered about 30 minutes.

While it's simmering, make rice. I used brown jasmine and cooked it in chicken broth and the other half can of coconut milk.

I stuck an immersion blender in the pot and gave it a few whirls to puree things up a bit. You can certainly leave it entirely chunky. Serve over rice and top with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro.

Beyond Yum.

bun bottom

mayo

sriracha (smidgen for mild heat, heavy for fire breathing dragon)

sliced chicken breast

tomato slice

cucumber slices

mixed greens

Thai sweet chili sauce on top of it all

bun top

Messy. Insanely delish. The kids both ate an entire sandwich this size.

Quinoa Turkey Burgers

I recently did a meal swap with a friend and this is what she made us.

The Burgers:

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 pound ground turkey

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup green onions, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

fresh ground black pepper

In a medium sized pan with a tight fitting lid, boil water and salt. Add the rinsed quinoa and cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, and let rest for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, place all ingredients and mix well to combine. Place in the fridge to cool for 10 minutes before shaping into patties.

The Rice:

1 1/2 cups brown rice

3 1/3 cups water

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup minced dried apricots

1/2 cup chopped cashews

Cook rice with saffron and salt. I always use a rice cooker. Perfect every single time. Stir in the apricots and cashews. So simple and yummy.

Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

The kids slurped up big bowls of this for lunch today. It got a thumbs up from Nolan.

3 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup snow peas, halved lengthwise
1 # raw shrimp, peeled
green onions
cilantro
1 lime, juiced

Combine broth, milk, curry, fish sauce, ginger and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Add green beans, cook 2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Top with green onions and cilantro.

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, diced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3 tsp curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced

Throw it all in the crockpot, cook 5-6 hours. Serve with coconut rice.

Caramel Cupcakes with Browned Butter & Caramel Frosting

This cake was the Daring Baker's challenge for November. DELISH.

The Cake:

10 TBS softened butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup caramel syrup (see recipe below)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, caramel syrup and vanilla and beat well. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate the flour and milk and beat well after each addition until all combined. I did muffin cups 3/4 full for about 13-14 minutes at 350. A round cake pan would take a few minutes more.

The Frosting:

12 TBS butter

1 pound powdered sugar

4-6 tablespoons heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup

sea salt to taste

Melt the butter until browned. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Thin with cream and caramel syrup to desired consistency. Sprinkle in a bit of salt.

The Caramel Syrup:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup additional water

Melt the sugar and 1/4 cup water over high heat and cook until dark amber. CAREFULLY pour in the additional water to stop the caramelization. Whisk, whisk, whisk until smooth. Reduce a bit until the syrup is a bit sticky. Cool.