Friday, December 3, 2010

The Best Kind of Accident




Have you ever tried to do something (oh I don't know, knit a sweater, write a song, cook a meal), but accidentally mess it up, and the end result is even better than what you originally had planned for?!? Well this happened to me not too long ago.

I accidentally made a delicious recipe the other day. The deliciousness wasn't the accident....just the recipe.

I wanted to test a new dish. It was boneless chicken cut up into bite-size pieces, cooked with garlic and ginger (like I would cook something without those two ingredients!), soy sauce, scallions, and some other things. It sounded delicious and I was quite excited to cook it.

When I got ready to take out the boneless chicken, I realized we didn't have any. So I thawed out some chicken wings and legs instead. "Okay", I said to myself. "Not a big deal, I can still use the recipe". Since I couldn't chop the chicken and cook it in the sauce, I decided to cook them separately, and add the sauce to the chicken when plating the dish.

I smashed some garlic, ginger, serrano peppers, and cilantro in my brand-spanking-new Mortar & Pestle! You don't have to use a mortar & pestle for this step, you can chop it with a knife, or use a food processor. I just love using my new kitchen tool.




I marinated the chicken and got started on the sauce.



Next thing you know, I started adding allspice, curry powder, and even peanut butter to the sauce...deviating completely from the original recipe!



I added a little too much of my slurry (cornstarch + liquid) to the sauce, and it thickened much more than I originally wanted it to, but no worries. It looked a lot like an Asian-style barbecue sauce....so I decided to glaze the chicken in the "barbecue sauce" and bake it in the oven.




Nice and Brown





I served it with my new favorite green vegetable.....KALE....asian-style (recipe coming soon).





So yea....the end result was kind of an accident.....nothing like the original recipe, but still, very delicious. It was the best kind of accident, you know?! Don't you just love when that happens?



Soy and Ginger Glazed Chicken Wings

Marinade:
1-2 pounds chicken wings & legs
1 serrano pepper
3-4 garlic cloves
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 handful of cilantro
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon peanut oil, or canola
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon mirin
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon peanut butter
8 oz + 2 tablespoons fresh pineapple juice (I have a juicer. If you can't make fresh pineapple juice, squeezing fresh orange juice is fine)
1 tablespoon of garlic/ginger mixture
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch


First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit (don't know how to make the fahrenheit symbol appear. Can anyone help me with that?!)

Place chicken in a bowl. In a food processor or using a mortar and pestle, blend serrano pepper, garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Reserve 1 tablespoon of this garlic/ginger mixture for the sauce. Add the remaining garlic/ginger mixture, along with the rest of the marinade ingredients to the chicken. Set aside.

For the sauce, place all of the ingredients, except for the 2 tablespoons of fresh pineapple juice and the cornstarch, in a small pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch and 2 tablespoons pineapple juice (this is called a "slurry").

When the sauce is simmering, add the slurry. Let the sauce simmer for approximately 2-3 minutes, until the slurry has thickened the sauce. Turn off the heat. Reserve about 1/4 of the sauce for later, leave the rest in the pot, and set aside.

Heat a skillet on medium heat, and brown chicken pieces on all sides, do not fully cook.

Place the browned chicken on a baking sheet with a rack, so the chicken doesn't sit in its juices.

Brush all of the chicken with sauce from the pot. Place in the oven and cook until fully done, basting with the sauce every 10-15 minutes.
**use a thermometer to check for a temperature of 165**

Just before plating the dish, glaze the chicken with the reserved (and non-salmonella contaminated) sauce.

4 comments:

  1. I believe that often times the best food comes from "accidents" or not having everything you planned for the dish. Your chicken looks delicious. I love kale, it's such a tasty and healthy veggie. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. the best accident you can have. A lot of classic recipes are discovered by such accidents. So good on you!

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  3. That sounds like an excellent mistake!!! I do it quite often! My family would love this.

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  4. @ Spicie Foodie, I don't know why it took me so long to discover kale...but yes, I love it too!

    @ Ellie, I completely agree. Many classic recipes are discovered this way.

    @ Sommer J, Thank you. I hope you try it one day!

    ReplyDelete

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