Lime Glazed Chicken Wings (Racquel)

Another contribution of our wonderful and lovely contributor, Racquel Tolentino.  I am quite sure that this dish will treat your palates to heavenly taste.

I will also try this one this weekend.

If you have any recipe that you want to contribute pleas feel free the forms below.  Thank you.
Ingredients :
1kg chicken wings, tips removed
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oil
4 spring onions, diagonally sliced
2 limes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon white-wine vinegar

Procedure :
1 Place chicken wings in a flat non-metal container. In a bowl, combine lime juice,inegar,sugar and soy sauce. Pour over the wings and turn to coat.Marinate for 30 minutes or longer.

2 Heat the wok and add oil. Remove wings from marinade and stir-fry about 15 mins. until brown and tender. Add spring onions and stir-fry 1 minute. Pour in the marinade. Stir to coat and heat through. Remove to a platter and keep hot.

3 Add the lime and water to the wok and simmer 2 mins. Stir in the sugar and vinegar, and cook until slices are coated with a thick syrup. arrange slices over the wings. Pour over remaining syrup.

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Cristeta Comerford

Do you know that the first woman and first Asian ever appointed as the chief executive chef  at the US White House is a Filipina?  Her name is Cristeta Comerford and she has been in the White House since 2005.  This means that she has also served  both President Clinton administration and President Bush  administration and now the Obama administration.   

Her maiden name is Pasia, a native of Sampaloc, Manila and a graduate of Manila Science High School (which means that this lady is really a smart one).  He enrolled in Food Tech in UP (University of the Philippines) but she was not able to graduate since she has to move to the US.

Her not finishing her degree did not stop her from achieving her dreams of becoming a chef though.  She  worked with great chefs at famous restaurants and hotels.  This was the time when  Walter Scheib III, the then White House Executive Chef, recruited her to work with him during the Clinton Administration.

Apparently, she was appointed by  First Lady Laura Bush to become the first woman executive chef of the White House after Scheib resigned in 2005 due to her great handling of a large dinner made in honor of the Indian Prime Minister.  When the Obama took his office as the President of the US, Michelle Obama also made her hold her current position.

For further info about her please read her interview at Makati Shangrila.

Credits:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050814-1.html; The Washington Post August, 2005; 
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Felicity's Yummy Chicken Lollipops (repost)

Chicken lollipops are special treats for not only kids but for adults as well. I can not remember a time when I did not see chicken lollipops in a party before. They are always the best sellers for any celebration. They're easy to get, easy to eat and no mess.

The chicken lollipop recipes that you would always find on net or cookbooks would mostly tell you to marinate the chicken with salt and pepper and that's all about it. With a husband and daughters who love tasty food, I would always make sure that the food I prepare would be really yummy. This dish is the best fried chicken he had ever had according to my husband. He had 8 pieces and my daughter had some too. Before I knew it, there's none on the plate anymore.

Ingredients

1/2 k chicken wings

1/4 c fish sauce

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic granules

1 egg, beaten

1 c White Wings Crumb in One Mixture

Procedure

Meat Preparation

Remove the wing tips and bin them (or set aside if you want to use them)

Separate the drumette (the part that looks like a small drumstick) from the wing (the part with two little bones) by cutting.

Make small cuts at the smaller end bone of the drumette and slide the meat towards the bigger end bone. Mold it like a lollipop using your hands.

Find the smaller bone tips (end bones) in the wing. Remove the smaller of the two bones by making a small cut on the smaller end bones. Slide the meat towards the bigger end bones until you can remove the smaller bone. Do this with care because you don't want the meat separate from both bones. Mold it like lollipop using your hands.

Place the chicken lollipops in a bowl and drizzle with fish sauce. Put in pepper, garlic granules and paprika. Make sure that the marinade is well spread in all chicken lollipops. Use hands in mixing.

Set aside the chicken lollipops for 30 minutes.

Frying
Dip the chicken lollipos onto the beaten egg and then roll onto the bread crumbs.
Deep fry.
Serve with your favorite dip

Note: If you do not have panko bread crumbs, you can use the ordinary one. If you are feeling adventurous, try the quick oats. If you want more flavor, use the White Wings Crumb in One mixture.

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Stir Fry Szechuan Beef

Have you ever wondered how Szechuan Beef Stir Fry that you order at a Chinese Resto cooked?  It's not really that difficult.  Actually, the procedure is quite easy for anyone to follow even for a novice in the kitchen.

Szechuan cuisine originated in Sichuan, China.  The name Sichuan means heavenly country.  It is aptly named for its abundant fresh produce from its fertile land.  It is well known that the people from that place gives importance to good flavor and spicy dishes.  This was even mentioned in one ancient Chinese writing.  According to a culinary expert, there should be 7 flavors present in a szechuan dish --- sour, pungent, hot, sweet, bitter, aromatic and salty.  (wikipedia)

There are many variation of this dish.  In this recipe, I decided to add babycorns and snow peas to add more veggie flavor to the szechuan.  I also added a bit of sugar because I love the sweet taste battling with the hotness of the dish.  I also added sesame seeds to add more texture to it.

Ingredients
500 g beef, strips
4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp szechuan peppercorn (if you cannot find this, just add a little bit more of chilli flakes)
4 stalks of spring onions, cut into 2 inches long
1 tsp plain flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 capsicum, strips
1 carrot, strips
200 g snow peas

Procedure
Marinade the beef strips with soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, sugar and flour. 
Stir fry the veggies with the sesame oil, garlic, chilli flakes and ginger.  Remove from fire.
Stir fry the beef strips.
Return the veggies to the pan and stir them together with the beef.
Put in the spring onions and sesame seeds.
Serve.

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Matt Golinski

Matt Golinski had been a regular at the Australian cooking show, Ready Steady Cook which I never failed to watch.  He is known for his great cooking skill and good humour.  He was born in Sunshine Coast in Queensland.  He became an apprentice in Brisbane and has worked in some of the top resto.  He is also known for his catering business --The Rolling Dolmade.
His life has proven how things can change in a second.  With his beautiful family, booming business, and great celebrity chef career, what more could he ask for? Everything changed in that one very tragic housefire last December 6,2011 where he lost everything including his wife, Rachael, and his three children - Sage, Willow and Starlia.  He suffered severe burns and was put in induced comma at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. 

He is able to talk a bit and walk now...but how would a father forget the tragedy that took away his loved ones?  That scar is I guess more severe than the burn scars that he has.  Please pray for him.


For more info please click --->Matt Golinski

Credits:  Ready Stead Cook, The Courier
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Easy Tempura Dip

Ingredients
1/4 c sake or dry white wine or red wine
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tsp sugar or mirin (just adjust according to your liking)

Procedure
Mix in a saucepan until sugar dissolves.
Heat the saucepan.  Simmer the mixture.

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Seafood and VeggiesTempura

Whenever I go to a Japanese Resto or Take Away Fast Food, I would always order tempura and sushi rolls.  They make me so hungry each time I see them hehehe. 

The other night I was watching My Kitchen Rules Australia and the sisters from Victoria prepared a tempura platter for their special guests.  I got inspired by their tempura platter so I told my hubby, I will make some for us.  He asked me if I know how to make them.  I said "no sweat...that's so easy."  I did not have my pen then so I had to just remember how to make the batter.  I am not sure though if they added baking soda which I did but my tempura turned out good too --light and crunchy.  The secret of making tempura batter is to use cold water or crushed ice and mix them lightly with a spoon making sure that the batter is light and thin.

You can use any veggie or seafood that you want.  There is no rule on what veggies or seafood that are used in tempura.

Ingredients
Batter
1 egg
1 c plain flour
1 c ice cold water or crushed ice
a pinch of baking soda

Procedure
Beat in egg in bowl.  Add in the water.  Put in the sifted flour.  Mix lightly.  Do not overmix.
The batter should be light and thin.  If it is thick, add more crushed ice or ice cold water.
Coat your veggies or seafood and deep fry.
Serve with tempura sauce.

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Manu Feildel

My mother would hate me if I don't feature Manu Feildel in my series on famous chefs.  You see, she's a great fan of him right from the start of the My Kitchen Rules Australia. 
I remember we would often get glued to the television when it's MKR time and most  especially when Manu joined the Australia's Dancing with the Stars.  And ooh boy, the French chef could really dance! In fact he won that contest.  So there, he's not only a good chef but also a good dancer.

From what I've read from different articles on mags and net and saw from his interviews, I've learned that he originally wanted to be a circus performer and in fact he even had trainings on being a circus clown performer with the goal of joining a travelling carnival.  His call for cooking hit him though and made him pick up an apron and cook. 

He came from a family who loves to cook good food.  Both his father and grandfather are chefs and his mother is a great cook.  No wonder he has the same passion for cooking.  Anyway, he became apprentice at his father's bistro and later finished his training in fine dining.

His itchy feet started to nag him though that he decided to go to London.  I can't imagine how this French guy fared in an English speaking country when he spoke no English.  I guess his food talked and broke all the communication barrier.  He worked at The Cafe Royal then later on rose in ranks in Les Associes, Café des Amis du Vin and Livebait. 

It was at Livebait he progressed from Chef de Partie to Sous-Chef and finally Head Chef, earning the seafood establishment a nomination for best seafood restaurant in the UK in 1998.

In 1999, he moved to Melbourne and started working at Toofey's.  Later on he worked with Pete Evans, another young and famous chef at Hugos at Sydney.  He also worked at Restaurant VII and Bilson's.

In 2009, he open his own restaurant named  L'etoile in Sydney.

He is by the way, a single father to his son, Jonti.

credits: MKR Australia, Who Magazine, Australian Good Food Magazine

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