Easy Baked Chicken Wings with Honey Sesame Ginger Sauce

I like the Asian Salad mix that is sold at Costco, and the other day I found two unused packets of the Honey sesame ginger dressing that comes with it, in my fridge. I hate throwing stuff away so thought long and hard about what I could do with them. Also had two individual packs of chicken wings from Costco so figured out a way to put them all together, with a little help from a chili garlic sauce for added zing

Ingredients
2 individual packs of Costco chicken wings (I guess it weighed somewhere between 2-3 lbs)
2 individual packets of Honey sesame ginger salad dressing that's sold with the Costco Asian salad mix)
2 tablespoons of any chicken seasoning mix (I like to use Grace Caribbean Traditions)
3/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder (optional but does make a difference in taste)
2 tablespoons Light soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons National chili garlic sauce (or similar)
Directions
1. Season the chicken wings well with the seasoning mix, and 5 spice powder. Put in a "ziploc" type plastic bag, and add the soy sauce to this. Marinate in refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Set oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange wings on a rack of a baking pan which has been lined with heavy duty foil (makes the clean-up easier). Bake wings, turning once until skin is browned nicely, even slightly charred in some areas (maybe 30-45 minutes).
3. Remove from oven and arrange in a smaller baking dish so that the wings fit compactly. Mix well the two packets of Asian salad dressing with the two tablespoons of chili garlic sauce. Pour this over the chicken wings and cover the baking dish with foil.
4. Decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, and carefully uncover. Turn the wings over in the sauce to coat them well. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the sauce starts to bubble.  Remove from the oven and enjoy these sweet and slightly spicy wings!

Sweet and Spicy Sesame Granola

I know that there are a Zillion recipes out there for granola but I wanted to make one that is not too sweet, and full of sesame flavor! This recipe uses a variety of nuts, seeds......and Tahini (sesame seed paste). It also has dark chocolate, dried sour Montmorency cherries, and dried cranberries. The spicy comes from a touch of cayenne pepper to liven things up.
Ingredients

1.         Mix together thoroughly

1/4 Cup Oil

1/4 Cup Honey

¼ cup molasses

3 tablespoons Tahini (sesame seed paste)

1 tablespoon brown sugar or Colombian Panela

½ tablespoon Uniodized salt

Microwave on high for 45 seconds, stir and set aside

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together:       

6 Cups Regular Rolled Oats

 ½ Cup Sesame Seeds

1 Cup sliced Almonds

1 Cup shelled Pumpkin seeds

1 Cup coarse chopped walnuts

½ Cup shelled Sunflower Seeds

1 cup flax meal

            ¾ teaspoon cinnamon

            ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

            ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

            ¼ teaspoon allspice

Directions

3.Mix wet and dry ingredients together and spread evenly on 2 large cookie sheets lined with parchment paper

 4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

 5.Bake in middle of oven for 20 min. Lower oven temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 2- 2 ½ hours, watching carefully that the mixture does not burn. Intermittently use a spatula to turn the mixture to make sure the heat distributes well throughout. Alternatively, lift the edges of the parchment paper towards the center so that the mixture heaps up in the center. Then spread the mixture carefully on the sheets, using your hands. When done, the granola should be a nice rich brown color, and feel dry to touch.

 6.When completely cooled, add 1 1/2 cups of a mixture of dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips, and dried sour (Montmorency)cherries.

 7. Keep in a covered, air-tight container

 

Jim's Jerk Pork Belly

My American friend, Jim, just loves anything that's spicy. Mention Habanero to him, and he's in heaven. If ever there was a King of the Pepperheads, it would be him. He loves "Jerk" anything, and this is his recipe for Jerk Pork Belly using two Jamaican favorites,

Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning and Pickapeppa Sauce. It's a simple recipe, but packed with a lot of flavor.
Ingredients
2 pounds skinless pork belly strips
1/2 of a 10oz jar of Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning
2 tablespoons Pickapeppa Sauce
Method
1. Make some cuts in the pork belly strips as shown in the photo

2. Mix both seasonings together and rub all over the strips. Marinate overnight or 2 days in the fridge in a plastic bag

3. Place the marinated pork belly strips on a rack in a baking pan that has been lined with foil (makes the cleanup easier).
4. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, then drop the temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 2 hours so that the fat is rendered down and drips into the baking pan. Remove the strips and slice when cool.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Plantain Teabread

This is a heavy, dense, moist, dark, and not too sweet teabread. It’s great for those of us who have to watch their carbohydrate and sugar intake. I have used a combination of plantain and butternut squash along with a variety of tropical spices. It goes really well with a lot of sweet cream butter spread on it, or slices of sharp Cheddar cheese. I recommend having this bread with a cup of Darjeeling or Earl Gray Tea.It tastes even better the next day!

 Ingredients

1/3 cup shortening (I used equal amount of coconut oil and shortening)

½ cup dark brown sugar (I like to use Colombian Panela)

2 eggs

1/2 cup strong black tea (1 teabag to the 1/2 cup water)

½ cup bread flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup Scottish oatmeal

2 tablespoons Flax Meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

7 ozs ripe plantain

7 ozs roasted pumpkin or butternut squash

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger root (optional)

¼ teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Juice and zest of ½ lemon

1/3 cup dried cranberries or Goji berries, finely chopped

  Directions

1.       Grease and flour a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, and line the bottom with a square of parchment paper

2.       Measure out all the dry ingredients, spices, baking soda and powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Mix together well.

3.       Bring the water to a boil and steep the teabag in it. Add to the brown sugar, lemon zest and juice, and finely chopped cranberries.

4.       Cut the plantain as shown in the photo.

Do not peel. Coat the surface with a little vegetable oil and place on a baking sheet. Do the same with the Butternut squash (see photo). Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. It does not matter if the surface of the plantain is blackened a bit. This is just caramelization of the sugar in the plantain and adds to the flavor.

5.       Remove from oven and allow to cool. Peel both the butternut squash and plantain, cut into small pieces and put in a small blender/chopper. Mix with some of the tea/cranberry mixture and blend to a puree.

Add this back to the remaining tea/cranberry mixture.

6.       Decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

7.       With a whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat the shortening and eggs together at high speed for 3 minutes. Add the cooled tea/cranberry/plantain/pumpkin mixture and beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

8.       Change the whisk to a paddle attachment on your mixer. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter (the batter will be stiff. Remember it’s a bread, not a cake) into the loaf pan, and using a spatula, spread evenly in the pan. Bake in oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle come out clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out of the pan. Cut into slices when completely cooled