This post is a bit more like a confessional.
Yes, I have been to Hooters.
And yes, I have been there enough to find out they have a secret wing sauce that is not on the menu.
Tell me I’m not alone?
an adventure in cooking
This post is a bit more like a confessional.
Yes, I have been to Hooters.
And yes, I have been there enough to find out they have a secret wing sauce that is not on the menu.
Tell me I’m not alone?
WHAT. A . LONG. WEEK.
It’s been exciting getting back to work and diving into the new year, but I do miss waking up and only thinking about Bikram yoga on the agenda for those few days.
One more day this week though! Let’s do it.
You know what would make this grueling week-after-an-amazing-break better? If you made these egg rolls. They make me happy. And they made my New Year’s Eve party guests very happy.
::: partaaay egg rolls ::
Whenever I see southwestern egg rolls on a menu I want them, but I am always turned off by the grease from frying. Why not bake them?
Southwestern Egg Rolls. In all their glorious, spicy, flavorful, hot, gooey, and crunchy goodness. They were really a fabulous idea, until I forgot the egg roll wrappers when I was at the grocery store.
#$%$!!!!
We dealt with it and used multiple won ton wrappers instead. That was not easy. Peter got stuck wrapping them because I didn’t have the patience.
So for the New Years Eve party I decided to make them FOR REAL. {seen above}
And it was worth it.
::: the annoying little mini me’s made w/ tiny wont ton wrappers :::
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
In a pan heat olive oil on medium heat. Cook chicken seasoned with paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper for 8 minutes or until fully cooked. Should be quick since we diced it small. When cooked, set aside to cool.
While the chicken is cooking combine corn, black beans, green chilis, scallions, and lime juice in a mixing bowl. Once chicken is room temperature add chicken and cheese to the bowl and mix.
To roll the egg rolls, place wrapper facing you like a diamond. Put about 3-4 tablespoons of mixture in the wrapper. Fold up bottom side. Fold in both left and right side and use the egg wash to glue sides to the bottom flap. Pull top side over and seal tightly using egg wash. Make sure there are no holes, seal everything well. Place on a greased baking sheet. Spray tops of egg rolls with olive oil cooking spray.
Bake for 10 minutes, flip them completely over, then bake for ten more. They should brown on all sides and crisp.
Avocado dipping sauce: combine all ingredients in a food processor and grind until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Spicy dipping sauce: Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.
::: keelymarie :::
These are great cocktail meatballs! I was on the hunt for a fantastic cocktail meatball for our News Year’s party. Criteria: one bite so you can stick with a toothpick, sweet & savory, with some sort of glaze.
Emeril came through when I found his recipe on FoodNetwork.com. To be honest, it was one of the few recipes I found quickly that sounded really appetizing. I did though, just find out that my Kitchen Aid mixer has a recipe in its recipe booklet that is similar, but calls for a cup of strong coffee in the sauce.
I tripled the below recipe since this was for a big group (yes I had 60+ meatballs) and used 1/3 ground pork for flavor. In terms of seasonings, everything from your cabinet is pretty much in here, but it’s because he wants you to use his “Emeril’s Essence.” Rather than have you make this essence (to set aside and only use 1/2 teaspoon of), I’ve just added a bit of each in my recipe. I also baked the meatballs and then put them in the crock pot with the sauce for a few hours instead of frying with oil and butter as he would.
{Adapted from Emeril Lagasse’s Cocktail Meatballs}
Preheat the oven to 375 ° F.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs, except the non-stick spray…obviously. ; )
Mix well with your hands. Form into individual meatballs, about 1-inch in diameter. Spray a baking sheet covered in tinfoil with olive oil spray and place meatballs on the sheet. Spray the meatballs with some olive oil so they crisp up just a little (without drying out) while in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Put on low broil at the end if needed. {The meatballs should brown on the tops so they stay together in the crock pot.} You may have some grease to drain from the pan once they finish cooking in the oven.
Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking to dissolve the sugar and combine. Adjust the seasoning, to taste. While the meatballs are baking, heat the sauce on medium-low heat in a sauce pan on the stove for at least 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the meatballs in a crock pot on low and let cook for 2-3 hours, stirring carefully occasionally.
* Time saving method: If you don’t have time for the crock pot, pour the sauce over the meatballs on the baking sheet after the first 20 minutes. Bake for 15 more minutes until they have a nice glaze from the sauce.
Do you have a great family cocktail meatball recipe?
This is the first I’ve tried!
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I’m back! And don’t worry, I have a New Year’s Resolution to blog as-often-as-possible and I am going to do everything I can to stick to it.
Since my last post I traveled to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, and San Diego for work. It’s so great to see such fantastic cities for my job, but of course it doesn’t always leave time for my own passions like photography, cooking, and blogging. On top of this Peter and I traveled to Fort Myers and Orlando for Thanksgiving and Christmas to see our families.
I finally had a week off last week and I had some time to myself to get back to this lovely blog of mine.
So how did we kiss 2011 goodbye? Jelena and I hosted a small party for New Years Eve at my house. Living in Miami means lots of options for parties on South Beach, but we didn’t want to deal with the crowds and chaos.
We had an amazing time partying out on the balcony in crisp 70 degree weather with lots of champagne and great music (play list à la Peter). It was a “finger food” type menu and of course all homemade. {The Merritt boys even made me substitute the canned chicken in the buffalo chicken dip!}
I actually had a whole crew helping me Saturday. Thanks Jelena, Jennifer, Peter + Justin! The Southwestern Egg Rolls and Champagne Cream Puffs were the biggest hits.
And yes you read that right…the cream puffs had champagne in them! I am obsessed in a sick way with champagne and sparkling wine (so much that I have kept myself up at night thinking of names for this blog including the word champagne), so this was an obvious pick when I saw it on TasteSpotting.
Click below each picture for the recipes.
::: Cocktail Meatballs :::
::: Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls w/ Avocado & Spicy Sour Cream :::
::: Baked & Boneless “Daytona” Wings :::
::: Buffalo Chicken Dip :::
::: Roasted Chickpeas :::
::: Champagne Cream Puffs :::
Happy New Year!
I have a feeling it will be a good one…
::: keelymarie :::
*** On a side note, my Shumai recipe is featured on Yummly.com! Check it out: 10 Darling Dumpling Recipes
I have an obsession with dim sum. Strange right? Maybe it’s the way they are served in cute stacked bamboo steamers or maybe it’s the wide variety of bite size pieces…either way I’m obsessed.
And you too will be if you try these recipes. Promise.
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