Korean-inspired Sweet & Spicy Wings

I don’t know how many of you have tried Korean spicy chicken wings prior to having to eat gluten free, I only did once.  And they were delicious, sticky, spicy and oh-so-good! My husband often picks up a pack when we are at the Korean grocer for munching.  I don’t make them at home – usually – because not only are they tossed in seasoned flour (not GF, but easily converted) but they are deep-fried.

Now that is a mess I don’t like.  I like fried food as much as the next person but man, I hate that mess if prepared at home.

The other thing I don’t think I’ve ever gotten 100% right was the seasoning.  That sticky red-spicy and sweet sauce that coats the wings seems to also differ rather significantly depending on who is making it.  Since his favorite Korean chicken place closed a long while back (16 months +?), I know he’s been craving these wings.  And quite honestly, I wanted some sticky goodness too. 😀

This time around, I rinsed the pack of wings, patted them dry, seasoned them (salt, pepper & granulated garlic) and put them in the oven at a very high heat (450F+).  I flipped them a bit more than half way through cooking (25 minutes?) and broiled them for another 8-10 minutes until they were crispy brown.  Frying averted.

The only thing that remained was making the spicy-sweet sauce to coat them in. (I made it while they baked.)  Most of the recipes given to me over time contain “mulyeot” which is a malted corn syrup.  Since it is traditionally made with barley but now seems that most are making it with corn, I avoid it.  I don’t know enough about the processing, preparation, etc and the words “barley” and “malt” are all I need to know sometimes.  I substituted corn syrup (in the recipe below) but next time will also add some brown sugar to caramelize this even more.

If you are looking for a sweet & spicy wing recipe, this might be for you too!

Korean-inspired Spicy & Sweet Wing Sauce

Makes enough for 12-15 full chicken wings  (4 pounds+?)

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
1 Tablespoon corn syrup (or honey)
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons mirin or other rice wine
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoons Korean red chili powder (less/more to taste)
2 teaspoons minced jalapeño (seeded!  Or not – if you want it to be HOT HOT HOT!)
3 Tablespoons water (or 1 1/2 Tablespoons ginger juice* + 1 1/2 Tablespoons water)

Directions:

1. Mix together GF soy sauce, corn syrup (or honey), sugar, mirin, garlic, ginger, chili powder and 3 Tablespoons water.  (Reserve jalapeños – if you want to keep their color bright. If it doesn’t matter to you, toss them in now.)
2. Taste!  (no kidding!  Dip your finger in and taste this mix.  Is it sweet enough?  It will get a bit spicier as you let it blend together, but if it is not spicy enough or you doubt that it will be, add some more jalapeño or chili powder.)
3. Bring it to a boil then lower the heat.  Allow mixture to simmer – stirring frequently – until it has reduced by almost half.  It will thickly coat the back of a metal spoon when dipped and removed from the mixture.  (If time is running out – or you don’t think it is as thick as you’d like, you can speed up the thickening (but diminish the flavor intensity a bit) by mixing together 1 teaspoon cornstarch (not flour) and 2 teaspoons of water.  Add this to the simmering sauce at the end and stir constantly.  The sauce will thicken over heat with this mixture, so watch that you don’t over thicken it as well.)
4. Pour the sauce into a large bowl when done.  Add a few wings at a time and stir to coat the wings well.  Remove and place on a serving dish.  Continue until all wings are coated. (Sometimes we even save some of the sauce before dipping the wings in for dipping while eating – just an option.)

Happy GF Eating!
Kate

 

A visual tour of our latest meals

Okay – so sitting down to type up a post just has not happened.  I have been sick lately – not just with a cold, but beyond normal.  I thought I had mono (nope) and am just ready to be able to take a full breath again.  I’m so tired, but life just does not stop when Mom is tired….or grades are due…or … well, you already know.

So rather than a recipe, here’s a visual tour of all the things I *thought* I was going to be able to write up, but just haven’t had a moment to catch my breath (or the physical ability to catch my breath – LOL) lately.

Which one interests you?  What are you making now that Fall is here?

Some curly pasta caught my eye. Stir-fried with garlic, chicken, and veggie? Done. And quick too.

Blanced giant collard green paddles, stuffed with ground turkey, rice and veggies and topped with enchilada sauce before baking a bit more. A veggie packed dinner punch for sure!

Last minute garlic bread. Seriously. From idea to the table in 35 minutes or so. Hot dog! It’s definitely modified, but this working woman is keeping this idea in the mix!

This Pinterest-inspired dish is great. I mixed a ton of veggies into the dish and will absolutely eat this again and again. YUM.

Breakfast burritos are so much faster now – Thank you, Rudy’s! I can make a huge batch, wrap and freeze. Then reheat in the microwave on my way out the door in the morning.

I’ve been working on a new GF bread recipe – and converting some of my favorites for the bread maker. Honestly, I’ve realized I just don’t eat that much sandwich bread any more. But I LOVE having the breadcrumbs on hand for fish, chicken, etc. 😀

Making fancy potatoes for the girls “Princess dinner” – easier with a great pair of squared-off chopsticks as cutting guides. Don’t slice all the way through, just down until about 1/3-1/2 inch. Then slightly separate the potatoes when placing in the baking dish and drizzle with butter, season to your desired levels and top with some great chopped parsley.

Currently, I have a fresh, whole pumpkin sitting on our counter.  It came with our CSA pick up.  I have delicata squash, carrots, beets, rainbow chard, purple cabbage, celeriac, etc.  Missing is the time to explore/experiment.  Most of what we eat is stir-fry as it is so easy to chop up the veggies we have on hand and munch.

But last night I made some yummy tortilla soup – another family favorite way to use a ton of veggies.

Winter is really just starting around here now.  The dark, cold mornings are upon me.  Seems like just last week the sun was shining on my way in to work and on my way home.  I think I need to learn how to make some tasty gumbo this winter.  Anyone have a recipe they recommend?  😀

Happy GF Eating All –

Kate

Gluten free weeknight meals & budgeting

So this blog post should really be a post of the numerous ways the month of September has come and is exiting before my head has been able to wrap itself around it all.  Surely I am not the only mom who finds herself witnessing myself both coming and going in the middle of the dark of night, right?

My new purse is even sporting some tag-along buddies.  I don’t think I go anywhere any more without things packed into my purse that aren’t really mine.  And despite the extra poundage, I wouldn’t really change the rest of it.

Well, maybe I’d change my sleep schedule:  to bed late (or early) and it takes me forever to fall asleep and up no later than 5AM or we are ALL off late for the day already.  A change with these hours would be helpful, but I honestly don’t see that happening anytime soon.  Teaching doesn’t end with the kids leave… or even when my kids finally crash and go to bed.  (PS…they have been in bed for 45 minutes now… and the Chicklet just asked via the monitor “Hey Mom, what’s my cake going to look like?”  “Your cake?”  “Yes, for my birthday.”  “Babe….your birthday is in May.  It’s September. We have a while to think about it, okay?” = this is the kind of thing that never ends around here….LOL)  Evidence:  apple slices + goofy face photos…despite a few attempts we don’t have ONE photo for BOTH smiling nor BOTH making a goofy face at the same time.  Egad.

So I decided to share my working mom “Sanity Saver” meals.  I’ve been asking and posting here when I thought my world was careening off track, but seldom have I posted when I have done it right (finally) for a month.  I challenged myself this month to get the meals down and stick to them.

Next month, I am challenging myself to:

• only go to the grocery store every 10 days to 2 weeks
• STICK to my grocery budget – and SAVE every penny that I don’t spend in an account for a family trip
• stick to my meal plan (come high water or sleep exhaustion)
• stick to a reduced (extremely) budget for “eating out”

Seriously.  I’m starting at ZERO here people.  There is only room to grow, right?

Some of you are experts at all of the above (budgeting, time-management, meal-planning, saving (!), etc) but these are things I tend to stick to for a short time and then meander down some random thought-path-etc and I blow it.  We have had TWO four-day vacations/trips in the last EIGHT YEARS of our lives.  (My Love does NOT get time off from work.)  But we’ve had SO much fun on these rapid-paced trips to see family (my parents/his parents) that we want to do it more often.  And now the girls have seen an ad for Disney Land and CarsLand.

Yeap.  My budget better get in gear.  NOW.

Want to follow along on my endeavor?  Care to add your two cents/tips?  I’d love to hear them!

Okay… enough meandering.  Some of you are just here for the list of my weeknight go-to meals.  Take note:  the meals on this list HAD to be able to be prepared and ready to go in under an hour (or toddler + mom meltdown ensures).  Well, here it is:

1. fajitas (chicken or flank steak)
2. enchiladas
3. taco salad
4. one-pot rice dish (random meat/tofu, rice, veggies – a la jambalaya)
5. tarragon chicken tenders
6. Bo-jay-fan (Chinese one-pot chicken/rice/sausage/mushroom)
7. pork chops and apples
8. steamed fish + tofu
9. split pea soup (thank you crock pot)
10. jambalaya
11. quinoa salad (a la fried rice/couscous – NOTE couscous is NOT gluten free!)
12. pasta salad (schars or jovial)
13. parfait (yogurt + granola)
14. pancakes (corn ones here) or waffles (to save time, i’ve made “waffles” in a panini pan with pancake batter )
15. chicken chili
16. mongolian beef (marinate night before or immediately upon returning home for 45 min at least)
17. spaghetti (schars, jovial or homemade on the weekend)
18. lasagna (no boil/lazy method – make ahead, pop in oven)
19. pot pie (make ahead OR make muffin-sized (lunch/dinner) OR make with crescent roll dough  for last minute)
20. roasts (pork loin is our favorite as faster than whole chicken, etc)
21. meatballs and mashed/roasted potatoes
22. kebabs
23. tortilla española (potatoes, eggs, onions, seasoning) – leftovers are great lunches too
24. shrimp and grits
25. chicken marsala
26. risotto
27. lettuce wraps
28. migas
29. corned beef (crock pot or reheat after cooking on Sunday), roasted cabbage
30. curried chicken
31. beef and broccoli
32. spicy green beans and tofu
33. arroz con pollo
34. baharat chicken or lamb
35. chowder (Chinese corn, OR salmon/fish, etc – whatever you got and put it in a pot!)
36. arepa sandwiches
37. jibaro sandwiches (plantains, flank steak, etc)
38. burgers (bean or beef) (speedy buns – done in the oven while I grill/cook burger or pao-d-quejo buns – quick too!)
39. beef stroganoff but served over rice, mashed potatoes, steamed cauliflower/broccoli in lieu of noodles
40. teriyaki chicken (or whatever is on hand)
41. quiche
42. fried rice
43. ….leftovers!  (the great list ender…I try to use up leftovers for lunch, but often there is a bit more)

I hope this list helps someone else pull a menu plan together.  My trusty purple spiral bound notebook and I roam the aisles of the grocer trying to make sure I have it all together.  Maybe that will be what I share next?  Ay!  Who knows!

Hopefully now that I am getting my feet under me at school the next blog post won’t be delayed as long as this one has been.  I’m sorry – and THANK YOU for sticking with me.

Happy GF Eating 
~Kate

Gluten Free Pull-Aparts: Garlic & Parmesan or Pizza Pull Aparts

I have a confession to make.  I’m addicted to Pinterest.  I haven’t started a Gluten Free Board – YET! – because I know once I do, it will just all be downhill until then.  I will never have to get off my duff to be creative again.  But you know what? … It is perfect reading and browsing for those of us with insomnia (or who can’t fall asleep at night because… well.. because our brains don’t shut off…).

(For those of you who are uninitiated, Pinterest is a visual version of adding bookmarks to your computer – but they remain online and accessible from wherever you have internet access.)

The truly addicting part for me, however, is NOT that I can bookmark my favorite things to do (a bucket list of crafts is what I’m accruing there) and/or teaching ideas (of which there is plethora of great ones, for those of you who teach) but several of my friends whose boards (bookmarks) I can “follow” (much like twitter or Facebook) are pinning some amazing looking food from bloggers.  And OH MY – the lemon bread?  Yes!  It was easy to convert to gluten free so it started the ball.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of “pins” (as they are called) for pull-apart breads.  Exactly like a Monkey Bread (I have an early (2007) gluten free recipe for a monkey bread here).  The difference is mainly that pull-apart breads seem to be savory rather than sweet (although I recently made one to taste like lemonade for the girls – OH MY – do that again soon!).  I knew with my previous monkey bread experience that this was totally do-able, meaning: easy for me to convert to gluten free!

The recipe below we have used for the following flavors of Pull-Apart breads and is truly only limited by your own imagination and taste buds:

Garlic and Parmesan (was a great accompaniment to our pasta: recipe below)
Lemonade (fresh lemon, lemon juice and drizzled with grated candied lemon peel and icing)
Turkey & Cheese stuffed pull Aparts (topped with garlic and parmesan)
Pepperoni Pizza Pull Aparts (stuffed with pepperoni slices and cheese, topped with pizza sauce and more cheese)
Dill and Feta Pull Aparts (added tons of dill and a bit of feta to the dough, topped with garlic and drizzled with butter)
etc….

Pepperoni-Stuffed Pizza Pull Aparts (Kid-Created:  They made the dough, I stuffed, the topped)

You see the drift here:  Basically whatever you want.  I can’t wait to see what you guys will do with this.  Please be sure to come back and inspire me too!  Let me know what you make.  Everyone can use the kitchen-inspiration.  😀

Gluten Free Garlic & Parmesan Pull Apart Bread

Makes one standard pie-plate of pull apart bread (about 12 balls that are 2 inches in diameter or so).  Download/Print a PDF copy of this recipe here.

Basic Recipe Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk (or water or soy milk or rice milk), between 110*-115*F
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 Tablespoon honey
4 Tablespoons melted butter (for dough) + more (for rolling dough balls in)
1 egg
2 1/4 cups Gluten Free Flour Mix (70% whole grain/30% starch)
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

For Garlic-Parmesan Pull-Aparts Add:

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Directions:

1. Flip your pie plate upside down onto a piece of parchment paper.  Trace the outer edge.  Cut the parchment to fit your tracing.  Flip your pie plate right side up.  Lightly butter the inside bottom of your pie plate (to help the parchment stay in place).  Press the now circle-shaped parchment into the pie plate.  The edges will wrinkle up a bit, but they will make it so much easier to get the pull apart out of the pan when you are done.
2. Preheat your oven to 375F.
3. Mix together your warm milk (110*-115*F), yeast and honey.  Set aside to proof.
4. In the bowl of your mix, blend your dry ingredients:  GF Flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.  If you are making the garlic parmesan version, add the granulated garlic now.
5. Add your wet ingredients:  egg, melted butter and proofing mixture (it should have foamed up by now) of milk/honey/yeast.
6. Mix on low until blended.  Then turn mixer up a little faster (#4 on my KitchenAid is our standard with little people helping) and mix for an additional 2-4 minutes.  This is what your dough will look like.

1. Melt a couple of Tablespoons of butter into a cereal bowl.
2. Divide your dough into 12 balls (about 2-2 1/2 inches in diameter).  Roll each in the melted butter than place into your parchment lined pie dish.  Continue until all the balls are coated and placed into the pan.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
3. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until the crust of the balls are golden brown and the internal temperature registers between 195-204*F.   (See the picture above)
4. Serve warm with an appropriate dipping sauce (if you’d like).  We ate these like garlic bread (the garlic-parmesan, obviously) while our kids liked dipping them into pizza sauce and/or their favorite dipping sauce.

Enjoy!
Kate