…if what they want is GOOD food.

Another day, another classic Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern dip, this time Tzatziki, or Cacik as it’s known in Turkey. (It’s certainly not Irish, but at least I’ve got some green going on!)  Whatever you want to call it, this dip stands out as one of my all-time favorites.  Cool, thick Greek-style yogurt is combined with crisp, refreshing cucumbers and laced with pungent garlic and mint for a concoction that is as good on the humble pita as it is on spicy grilled meats.

Good tzatziki is all about texture.  Yes, balance of flavor is always important, but when it comes to this specific herb-inflected spread, I like mine thick and creamy. Here, liquid is the enemy so my version calls for not one, but two ‘purges’ of moisture (once for the yogurt and once for the cucumbers) in an effort to control the final consistency of the dish.  Now, you can go out and buy thick, Greek-style yogurt at the supermarket, but if you’ve been swept up in its recent trend then you’ve probably already noticed that their not exactly giving that stuff away.  That’s why I buy plain, whole-milk yogurt and drain away the excess whey overnight in the fridge — less money, more moisture control.

This stuff is so refreshing that I’m sure once you try it you’ll be making it for dolloping and dipping throughout the spring and summer months. Plus, once you get the technique for straining the yogurt down, you  can forgo the savory addition of garlic and cucumbers and try drizzling it with honey, stirring in fruit or topping it with granola for an exceptionally delicious breakfast or snack.

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I absolutely loved eating pot stickers growing up.  In fact, no night of Chinese take-out was complete without them in my house.  And what’s not to like about them?  Crispy on one side, tender on the other and bursting with a flavorful, juicy pork and shrimp filling.  Yup, give me a bowl of soy or some sweet and sour dipping sauce and I was good.  Then…I went away to college and simply lost all interest in these delicious dumplings.

You see, there is a brand of frozen pot stickers on the market that seems to be stocked in every grocery store on the planet. It’s highly likey that you might have eaten them yourself at one point in time.  And why wouldn’t you have?  They aren’t half bad when you prepare them correctly.  But it was the constant consumption of these store-bought wonders by my roommates that really put me off them for a while.  Do you know what it’s like to come home from a long day of classes to a house steamed up with the funky stench of industrialized cabbage wontons?  Not good! Sure they were good the first couple of times, but after a while it’s just not the same as the genuine, handmade article.

So, smack-dab in the heart of Chinese New Year, I present to you a killer recipe from this month’s Fine Cooking Magazine for authentic, pork and shrimp jiao zi.  Simple enough to assemble and sheer gold sitting in your freezer, this recipe has single-handedly renewed my interest in these classic Chinese dumplings.  Loaded with a myriad of traditional Chinese ingredients like ginger, rice wine, napa cabbage, scallions and sesame oil, these pot stickers are leagues above your average supermarket variety and far better than the restaurant versions I’ve had in recent years. Serve them with the accompanying recipe for scallion-soy dipping sauce and you have a knockout appetizer.

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This recipe represents yet another entry into the Game Day Food Hall of Fame.  I guess I have football on the brain, or I just can’t get enough of the typical game day offerings – savory, salty homemade junk food. I made these a few years ago for a Super Bowl party and they were gone within minutes.  I too loved the wings, but felt like something was missing.  I had followed the instructions of the original recipe and baked the wings in a hot oven.  They had great flavor due to an overnight soak in cilantro, soy, ginger, garlic and red chili, but I quickly realized that the texture of a baked wing (i.e. flabby chicken skin) was not my favorite.  I needed the crispy-crunch of well-rendered chicken skin — something I was never going to get unless I fried them.  So, using a few tricks I picked up from another wing recipe, I tossed the chicken in a bit of rice flour before frying them to a delicious golden brown.  After a quick toss in the oh-so sticky, sweet chili-glaze I was left with what I consider to be one of the best finger foods around.

If you’re planning on doing any Super Bowl entertaining of your own or you just love a good wing, think about giving this recipe a try.  The asian flavor profile is a welcome alternative to the usual hot sauce/butter laden buffalo wing.  If you’re looking for a special main course, serve these guys atop a bowl of sticky rice to sop up all of that sweet-chili glaze.

Continue reading chicken wings recipe . . .