Ethiopian Berbere chicken wings

Recipe adapted from here (serves 4 as part of starter, serves 2 as part of mains)

 

Chicken wings- 1kg, I used niblets without any skin

Runny honey- 2 to 3 tbsp
Lemon wedges- to serve (optional)

Berbere spice mix
Cardamom- 8,. Discard the pods and keep the seeds, around 1/4 tsp of seeds (read notes)

Coriander powder- 1 tsp,

Chilli powder- 2 tbsp (I used Kashmiri chilli powder, if you dont have that, use mild paprika)

Garlic granules/ powder- 2 tsp

Fenugreek powder- 1 tsp

Cumin powder- 1 tsp

Ginger powder- ½ tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp, to brush on tray (I used oil spray)

Dip

Mayonnaise- 2 tbsp

double cream- 2 tbsp

Yoghurt- 1/4 cup

Lemon juice- 1/2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Into a spice jar throw in all the ingredients for the berbere spice mix and grind to a fine powder.

Marinate the chicken wings as evenly as possible, with the spice mix and keep covered in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1hr. Can also be kept overnight in the fridge.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 170C and line a baking tray with aluminium foil.

Spray/brush the foil with oil and tip the chicken wings on to the tray.

Cover with another piece of foil and cook for about 20 minutes.

Take it out of oven, turn the wings over and cook for another 20 minutes.

While the wings are cooking make the dip by whisking together all the ingredients. Do a taste test and adjust salt accordingly.

Remove the tray from the oven and change the setting to broil/grill mode.

Brush the wings with half the honey, or you can even toss the wings in a bowl with the honey. I found that brushing it was easier.

Place the tray back in the oven, but without the foil covering and grill for about 6 to 8 minutes.

When the time is up, turn the wings over and brush with remaining honey.

Watch the wings carefully while grilling as some grills can be really powerful and may burn the chicken, in which case, reduce the cooking time.

Check that the wings are cooked, caramelised and slightly sticky

Remove from oven and serve hot with the dip and lemon wedges.

Notes: The cardamom flavour stood out a little too much for me, so maybe ill reduce it a bit next time.

The original recipe called for chilli flakes, but since i was using a slightly spicy version of Kashmiri chilli, i didnt add the flakes. 

The reason my wings are more red is because of the Kashmiri chilli.

The honey here doesnt lend an overpowering sweet flavour, but just enough to know its there. If you refer it more sweet, brush with more honey.

Cream cheese frosting

Here's wishing all the readers of Look Who's Cooking Too a very merry Christmas. May your day be filled with loads of good food and great company.

I shall be flambeeing my Christmas pudding which has been maturing right next to our wine collection and hopefully it would taste good, considering I steamed it for 7 hours. If not, I still have 2 more puds stashed away, thanks to Asda and Harrods. I would thoroughly miss the early morning Christmas service in church (cant go to a church here because public transportation comes to a standstill on Christmas day), the appam and stew at my grand moms, opening gifts and the rest of the day spent catching up with family and friends. Sigh!

 

I shall not dampen my spirits here, so leaving you all with this kick-ass cream cheese frosting recipe which I must say is my favourite so far and is an absolute keeper. I have tried different combinations and proportions but this is so far the best ever. The fact that there is no butter itself makes me wanna jump in glee, and anything with double cream is a hit. It is also the first time I have managed to pipe out the frosting which means the consistency was absolutely perfect. The other frosting method I have used, do work when there is no piping involved, and it was my go to recipe till I discovered this. So henceforth no more cream cheese butter cream or cream cheese-mascarpone frosting, just plan ol cream cheese and double cream. 

I made these velvets a couple of days back to gift some friends and neighbours and I'm kicking myself for not making more as Ro and I were fighting for the last cake. I also had big plans of posting a beef roast recipe, but then, laziness gets the better of me most of the time and so leaving you with perhaps the shortest recipe on LWCT. I just had to post it here for posterity. Once again, Merry Christmas and have an extra shot of boozy eggnog for me.

Recipe adapted from here (frosts 12 cupcakes)

 

Cream cheese- 226 gms, at room temperature (I used Philadelphia cream cheese)

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Icing sugar- 1/2 cup

Double cream- 2/3rd cup, cold

Using the paddle attachment of your free standing mixer or a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese till smooth and fluffy, for about a minute on medium speed.

Add the vanilla extract and sugar and continue beating till no traces of sugar is seen. (Is using any colour add at this point).
You can also add any other flavouring like coffee or Baileys or any other liqueur in place of vanilla extract. The consistency might slightly vary, so add double cream accordingly.

Change the attachment to a whisk and gradually add the double cream, whipping till the frosting is of  piping consistency. Do this on high speed but keep a close watch, as you don't want to over do the whisking and cause the double cream to separate.

Add more cream if your desired consistency is not reached. Mine was perfect with 2/3rd cups of cream.
Transfer the frosting into a piping bag and frost away.

Summer fruit salad

No time to ramble, been super busy with taking the in-laws around. By the time this post goes up, we'd be in Scotland, taking in the highlands and whiskey and all that's Scottish, well except Haggis maybe.

I made this salad on a day I felt too lazy to fix up something for lunch and since my fruit basket was crying out to me I thought I'd whip up something fruity. I thought it wouldn't fill me, but strangely it did and I think I should make it a practise. There is no recipe as such, just throw in a bunch of fruits you like, do a simple dressing and if you like, add a chilli or so for some spice. Here is another fruit salad I made a while back

Use fruits that are in season and if they are fresh, then nothing like it. But mine was about 2 to 3 days old and was almost at the wilting stage when I decided to rescue them. It tasted great nonetheless. I love fruits but I'm kinda lazy to eat fruit, especially when it involved peeling and slicing and stuff. If someone has it ready for me, then I'm more than happy to eat away :)

Mango- 1 cup, peeled and diced

Watermelon- 1 cup, deseeded and diced

Orange- 1 half, peeled and cut into rounds

Apple- 1 half, cut into rounds

Grapes- 1/4 cup (I prefer seedless)

Kiwi fruit- 1, diced

Ginger- 1 tsp, julienned (optional)

Green chilli- 1 small, roughly chopped

Caster sugar- to sprinkle (optional)

Lemon juice- 1 to 2 tsp

Coriander leaves/ mint- to garnish (optional)

 

Mix together the ginger, chilli, sugar and lemon juice. Gently squash the mix with your hands, enough to get the chilli and ginger flavours infused. Add a bit of salt if required.

Arrange the fruits in a platter (or in a bowl) and pour over the dressing.

Garnish with some mint or coriander leaves.

Gently mix before serving.

Notes: I also tried adding some pomegranate seeds once and it was great.

If the fruits are too ripe and sweet, avoid the sugar altogether.

On another note, my Grilled chicken wings- the Indian way got published in the Huffington Post Kitchen Daily. I'm pretty thrilled about this :). Check out the link