Lemon Thyme Wings

Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken wings, cleaned, split and tips removed.

 For the marinade:

Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of honey
3 crushed cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
10 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of olive oil

 For the Breading:

1 ½ C Panko
½ C grated Parmesan cheese
Zest of ½ a lemon
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

 Method:

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the marinade.  Pour into a plastic storage bag.  Add the wings.  Marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. 
2. Prepare your pan.  Use a 9 by 13 baking dish.  Line the dish with foil.  It will make clean up a lot easier. 
3. When the chicken has finished marinating, combine all of the ingredients for the breading in a shallow dish.  Dip the chicken pieces one at a time into the breading.  Roll the chicken in the breading and then place in the baking dish.  When you have finished breading all of the chicken, discard the marinade.
4. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes or until done.   

Adapted from: lekkertje.blogspot.com

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

Lisa's Blossom

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

I had the pleasure of reviewing  by Georgeanne Brenan for The Daring Kitchen.  Georgeanne runs a cooking school in Haute Provence, France.  She is also a regular contributor to Fine Cooking and Bon Appétit.  I was excited to review a brunch cookbook because it is one of my favorite meals.  In fact, my family has been out for Sunday brunch for the past two weeks (Shhh! Don’t tell my personal trainer).  It is also a fabulous way to celebrate any occasion.  I am an egg lover and wanted to try the Baked Eggs recipe.  I adapted it slightly by adding mushrooms.  You could also add thin slices of ham, pancetta or bacon pieces to jazz it up a bit.  If you are a cheese lover you could top the egg with cheese a few minutes prior to removing the dish from the oven.  This is a very versatile recipe that you can make your own by adding a few simple ingredients. 

Baked Eggs

Baked Eggs

1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp unsalted butter

1 ½ lbs spinach, large stems removed

½ Tbsp butter

½ C sliced cremini mushrooms

Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

4 large or extra-large eggs

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

4 tsp heavy cream

Ready To Go Into The Oven

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Rub the inside of 4 half cup ramekins with the 1 Tbsp butter.
2. Fill a large pot ¾ full of water, bring to a boil over high heat and add the 1 tsp of salt.  Drop in the spinach and cook until limp and tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes.  Drain and immediately rinse under cold water to halt the cooking.  Drain well and squeeze firmly to remove excess water.  Coarsely chop the spinach.  (You can prepare the spinach one day in advance; cover and refrigerate until needed.)
3. Add ½ Tbsp of butter to a small sauté pan.  Heat over medium heat until the butter starts to foams.  Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for about 2 minutes.
4. Divide the chopped spinach evenly among the ramekins.  Dot each bed with ½ tsp of the remaining butter.  Next, top the spinach beds with the mushrooms.  Break an egg into each ramekin.  Evenly sprinkle the eggs with the remaining salt and pepper.  Drizzle each egg with 1 tsp of the heavy cream.  Arrange the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet.
5. Bake the eggs until the whites are set and the yolks are firm around the edges and soft in the center, about 15 minutes or more.  Remove from the oven and serve right away.

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

POM Varadero Cocktail

Ingredients:

2 oz fresh lemon juice

2 oz simple syrup

Crushed ice

3 oz light rum

Lemon-lime soda or soda water

1 oz POM pomegranate juice

Fresh pineapple wedge

Method:

1. Blend the lemon juice and simple syrup in an old fashioned glass. 
2. Add the ice and rum. 
3. Fill the glass to the top with lemon-lime soda or soda water
4. Gently add the POM pomegranate juice so that it floats on the top of the drink.
5. Garnish with the pineapple wedge.

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

Congratulations CAITLIN !!!!   Her favorite soup is a root vegetable soup that she gets at a local Irish pub. 

Your cookbook will be on the way shortly! I hope you enjoy this cookbook as much as I do.   Thank you to everyone who participated in the “Culinary Institute of America, New Book of Soups” giveaway.  It was interesting to read about your favorite soups.  Lentil, Potato  and French Onion soups were some of your favorites.  Pho, Roasted Pepper and Caldo Gallego soups got my attention.  I have been searching for recipes.  Thank you for sharing!

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

I love Cuban food and cocktails!  Last year, I celebrated my birthday at a Cuban restaurant.  I completely enjoy the food, the cocktails and the music.  The flavors, spices and simplicity of the cuisine is amazing.  It was a terrific birthday celebration.  I purchased the cookbook  by the Three Guys from Miami about a year ago.  It has a few really good cocktail recipes.  Recently, I was in the mood for my beloved Cuban music and cocktails.  I decided to make a Varadero cocktail.  It is named after Cuba’s most famous beach.  If you enjoy Cuban music  too you might want to try Timba.com’s Cuban radio.  A Varadero cocktail and Timba.com’s Cuban radio are the perfect pairing for happy hour.

Varadero Cocktail

Ingredients:

2 oz fresh lemon juice

2 oz simple syrup

Crushed ice

3 oz light rum

Lemon-lime soda or soda water

Fresh pineapple wedge

Method:

1. Blend the lemon juice and simple syrup in an old fashioned glass. 
2. Add the ice and rum. 
3. Fill the glass to the top with lemon-lime soda or soda water
4. Garnish with the pineapple wedge.

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

Icicles hanging from the front porch

My driveway

So what’s a food blogger to do on a cold, windy, snowy day?  Make soup!  I  love soup.  My mom is one of the best soup chefs that I know.  Honestly, she could sell her soups.  She has always made healthy, hearty soups for her family for as long as I can remember.  (Love you Mom!)  I am going to feature a few of her recipes shortly.  That being said, I should add….once I can decipher the exact measurement of ”a little of this”.  Even though I have been enjoying my mom’s wonderful variety of soups, I personally have never made anything other than chicken soup.  How sad is that for a soup lover?  Recently, while browsing cookbooks on the Internet, I came across Culinary Institute of America, The New Book of Soups.  I purchased it and awaited its delivery.  It arrived a few weeks prior to the snowpocalypse.

It is an awesome cookbook!  I simply love it.  The recipes are well-written and inspiring.  On one of my snowbound days, I made the Cream of Broccoli recipe.  It was easy to make.  The flavors are simple.  The texture is velvety smooth and it tastes delicious.  I followed the recipe almost exactly.  The only difference is that I opted to use half and half instead of heavy cream.   A piece of crusty bread, a salad and this soup make a perfect meal.  You can also prepare it for a terrific first course. 

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

 2 lbs broccoli

¼ C Olive oil

1 ¼ C chopped onion

½ C chopped celery

1 ¼ C chopped leek (white and light green parts only)

¼ C all purpose flour

1 ½ quarts of chicken broth

½ C half and half, heated

Fresh lemon juice to taste

Salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

 

Method:

1. Separate the broccoli into stems and florets.  Trim away any tough outer parts of the stems.  Set aside 1 cup of the nicest looking florets to use as a garnish.  Coarsely chop the remaining broccoli florets and stems.
2. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery, leek and chopped broccoli.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about 6 to 8 minutes.  The onion should be translucent.
3. Add the flour and blend well.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently for about 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add the broth to the pot gradually, whisking to work out any lumps of flour.  Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.   Stir frequently and skim the soup as needed. 
5. Strain the solids, reserving the liquids.  Puree the solids, adding liquid as necessary to achieve the consistency of cream.  (I used my blender to puree the solids.  I did it in about 4 small batches.  It turned out perfectly.  An immersion blender works well too.)
6. Combine the puree with enough of the reserved liquids to achieve the consistency of heavy cream.  If you wish, strain the soup through a fine sieve.  Return the soup to a simmer. ( I didn’t strain the soup and it turned out smooth and velvety.  However, use your best judgment.)  return the soup to a simmer.
7. Meanwhile, steam or boil the reserved broccoli florets until just tender.
8. Remove the soup from the heat and add the heated half and half.  Season to taste with the fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Serve in heated bowls, garnish with the florets.

And now for the best part……I am GIVING AWAY one copy of  Culinary Institute of America, The New Book of Soups

The New Book of Soups Giveaway

Giveaway Information:

One lucky winner will be chosen using Random.org. 

Deadline: Friday, February 19, 2010 11:59pm EST

Required:  Your email address! You must fill out the email address portion of the comment form.  Your email address will not be published or shared with anyone else.  I will need it to notify you should you win.  The giveaway is only open to residents of the USA and Canada.

How to Enter: It’s simple! Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your favorite soup. 

For Extra Entries: Tweet about this giveaway (@foodluv31), post about it on your blog, or post about it on Facebook. Then come back and leave a separate comment with a link to your Tweet, blog post, or Facebook post for a possible 3 extra comments & entries.

Last but not least, I have to mention two really good food blogs for soup recipes.  Seriously Soupy is an awesome blog dedicated to soup.  Last month, Food o’ del Mundo featured a soup recipe series called Ten Days Of Soup.  Both food blogs offer interesting and tasty recipes.  

Cheers!

   

 

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

Here is the perfect cocktail for your lovebug but be careful because it’s strong and sweet – just like love!

Ingredients:

1 oz vodka

1 oz amaretto

1 oz peach schnapps

1 oz orange juice

1 oz cranberry juice

Method

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.  Pour in all ingredients.  Shake until well chilled.
2. Pour into a glass and garnish with a strawberry.

Hand made St Valentine’s Day cards are the best!  Here’s a cute project for a Lovebug Valentine .  Your kids will enjoy it.

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

Love Potion #9

Ingredients:

1 ½ oz strawberry vodka

¾ oz white crème de cacao

½ C of frozen strawberries

1 scoop vanilla bean ice cream

Splash of milk

½ C ice (crushed is best)

Strawberry garnish

Method:

1. Place all ingredients except strawberry garnish in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into a margarita glass and garnish with a strawberry. 

Love Potion #9

by The Clovers

I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
 You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
 She’s got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
 Sellin’ little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

 I told her that I was a flop with chics
 I’ve been this way since 1956
 She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
 She said “What you need is Love Potion Number Nine”

 She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
 She said “I’m gonna make it up right here in the sink”
 It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
 I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

 I didn’t know if it was day or night
 I started kissin’ everything in sight
 But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
 He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.

Garlic Butter Ranch Wings

Ingredients:

3 pounds whole chicken wings, split

Salt

Pepper

Canola oil

2 Tbsp melted butter

1Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix

1 Tbsp minced garlic

Method:

1. Thoroughly wash the wings.  Remove any “hairs” or feathers.  Using a sharp knife split the wings and discard the tips.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to your taste level.

3. Preheat canola oil in a deep fryer or in a cast iron pan to 375 F.

4. Deep fry wings until golden brown and crisp.  Drain on paper towels.

5. Combine melted butter, ranch dressing mix and garlic.

6. Put wings in a large mixing bowl and toss with the sauce.

 Adapted from: Chicken Wing Recipes

Cheers!

©2010 Cocktails and Small Bites. All Rights Reserved.