Glazed Drumsticks & Chili Sweet Corn Cobs

Howdy partner!

Turn on the heat!

I am a BIG fan of maple syrup. I already tried glazing bacon with it .. DELICIOUS! So I thought: "why not glaze a nice chicken drumstick".
Maple syrup is made from sap from the maple tree. It was first collected by the indigenous people of North America, and now the Canadians are largest producers of maple syrup in the world. It tasted so delicious they even decided to put the maple leaf on their flag! ... Well that is the reason I would have done it anyway!
Back to the kitchen.
I decided to add some extra ingredients, because maple syrup is really sweet and I wanted to spice it up a little bit. So I decided to add some BBQ sauce (find recipe here!!), some Harissa, some garlic and some other spices. I left the chicken to marinate for at least 6 hours, next time I'll let it marinate some more. But it turned out really good.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Glazed drumsticks & Chili sweet corn cobs

Ingredients: for 2 people
Drumsticks

• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 100 gr BBQ sauce (find recipe here!!)
• 40 gr Maple Syrup
• 1 big garlic clove
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp Harissa or something spicy!
• Salt and Pepper

Sweet Corn

• 2 Sweet corn cobs
• 80 gr butter
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• seasalt

Preparation:

Start by making the marinade for the chicken. Take a bowl and mix the BBQ sauce, the maple syrup and the harissa. Crush the garlic and add it together with the oregano and season with salt and pepper. Taste it and add more ingredients to your personal taste, like it sweeter? Add more maple syrup. Like it hotter? add more hot stuff.

Carve the chicken drumsticks and rub with the marinade (because the chicken is carved the flavors will absorb quicker into the meat!). Let it marinate for at least 5 to 6 hours.

Once the chicken has marinated enough, heat the oven at 200°C (about 400°F). Put the drumsticks in an oven tray and keep the remaining marinade for later use.

Soften the butter for the corn until your can mix it with the chili and paprika powder. Rub it on the corn and wrap the corn into tin foil.

Put the chicken in the oven. After 15 minutes put the corn in the oven, turn the drumsticks over and cover with some marinade. Do this every 10 minutes until the chicken has been in the oven for about 50 minutes.

Serve the drumsticks & the sweet corn cobs with some salad and some grilled vegetables.
Season the corn cob with some rough seasalt. Delicious!

Enjoy!

Glazed drumsticks & Chili Sweet Corn with a salad and grilled capsicum

Easy Red Chicken Curry

Hurry hurry...

Eat that curry!

I like a good curry once in a while! Red curry, green curry, yellow curry, blue cur... wait... Not blue curry!

There are tons of different curries from different countries. But if we are talking red, green and yellow it is mostly Thai curry we are referring to.

The green curry I mostly use for fish and seafood dishes and is the hottest variation because it is prepared with green chili peppers. The red curry I use for meat or poultry. Red curry is made with the smoother, red chili peppers and commonly used in combination with coconut cream. The yellow curry, used with either fish or poultry, has a rich, bold taste and is significantly hot, but not overpowering.

For this recipe I am using a red curry paste which you can find in your local Asian store or maybe even in your supermarket (in Belgium you can find it in the supermarket).

If I'm feeling like having a real hot, hot, HOT red curry, I add an extra chili pepper or some "harissa", which is a Tunesian hot sauce much like Sambal, which I also could add.

I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and don't burn your fingers and your tongue!

Hint: serve this recipe with rice or bread. Why? Because a curry needs a side dish and rice and bread have a calming effect when your mouth is burning from hot, spicy food!

Easy Red Chicken Curry

Ingrediens:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbs red curry paste
• 1 tbs peanut oil
• about 320ml coconut cream
• 1 red paprika (capsicum)
• 100 gr bamboo shoots (ask for it in the Asian store or supermarket)
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbs lemongrass
• 1 garlic clove
• Handful of cilantro
• Optional: extra chili, sambal or harissa

Preparation:

If you are going to serve this with rice, start cooking your rice from now.

Cut the chicken into thin strips (I prefer about 1cm wide and 3cm long). Chop the onion into half rings, chop the garlic and chop the paprika into strips from about 2,5 long and about 0,5cm wide.

Take a large pan and heat the peanut oil. Start frying the garlic and onion.

After a minute or two add the lemon grass and the paprika and fry for another minute. Add the red curry paste and coconut cream and stir. Now add the bamboo and the chicken and let it simmer on low heat until the chicken is cooked.

But a nice ball of rice into a deep plate and add the curry. Top off with chopped cilantro.

Enjoy!

Guacamole

Olé olé

Time for guacamole!

It has been a while but here is the next recipe. It is easy, healthy and delicious!

Avocados are a healthy food. They are a good source for proteins, contain good fats (like fish, walnuts and most seed oils) and vitamin A (good for the eyes!) and they prevent inflammation and heart disease. 

A good way to eat avocado is to cut it in half, remove the pit and sprinkle with some line juice and black pepper and just spoon it out. Hint: if you have a half avocado you'd like to preserve: keep the pit in it. It will prevent the avocado from turning brown.

But there is another way: Guacamole!

Guacamole is an avocado mousse originally from the South of Mexico. It is eaten with tortilla's or tortilla chips or as a side dish. 

I am really fond of the pure avocado taste, so in my recipe I don't use tomato or onion. But feel free to add them to the recipe!

If you love avocado as much as I do, check out the Avocado & Salmon recipe!

Guacamole

Ingredients:

3/4 avocados

1tsp salt

1tsp black pepper

Juice from 1 lime

About 10gr chopped cilantro

1 garlic clove

Optional: 1 tomato, 1/2 onion, 1 small Jalapeño pepper

Preparation:

Cut your avocados in half and remove the pit. With a spoon take out the green, delicious avocado meat.

In a large bowl crush the avocado with a fork and add the salt, pepper, lime juice and chopped cilantro. Chop the garlic clove and add to the mixture.

Your Guacamole is ready to be served!

If you are going with the optional ingredients. Just add the into the mixture, finely chopped of course! 

Light and Easy Beef Wraps

Wrap it up!

And omnomnom!

After a lousy and cold start, we've had some great summer days, I can even say weeks. Yesterday we even had the hottest day in Belgium since August last year, with a "blistering" 36,2 C! Yeah, not thát hot in comparison to a summer in Spain, Italy, Australia, Morocco, Mexico, I could go on... But for Belgium, that is HOT, really hot.

And don't get me wrong here, I love the heat! But it is the sleeping part which I don't like.

Here are some tips to improve your nightly beauty sleep:

- Eat light, something like the recipe below!

- Take a shower, NOT a cold one because the cold will make your body heat itself up, and of course not a hot & steamy shower as well, a tepid one is perfect.

- Ventilate your room, but you don't want to have the draft directly on you because you could catch a cold!

- Spread your arms and legs when sleeping, this will allow your body to cool down.

Oh yeah, and I heard: don't sleep naked because your mattrass will absord all your sweat, it will cool down at night and you'll get a cold! Who want's a cold in the summer?

Back to the first point I mentioned: a light diner. This is a blog dedicated to food after all. 

I had posted this recipe one before, but it was hidden somewhere inbetween some kind of restaurant review and a cocktail recipe. So I thought: "Why not give this delicious and super-duper easy recipe it's own blog aticle?!" 

This beef wrap is a delicious and super easy recipe. You will love it! This isn't only the perfect light diner but it is also perfect lunch to take to work or school, prepare it for a picnic or as a afternoon snack.

Beef wraps

Ingredients:

• 4 tortilla wraps
• 1 red onion (red onions are sweeter than regular onions)
• 500gr steak
• paprika powder
• salt & peper
• 1 avocado
• 2 hands full of rocket salad
• 3 tsp sour cream
• 1 tsp horseradish cream
• cilantro

Preparation:

Season your steak with paprika powder, salt and pepper, set aside to marinate for a few minutes. Cut your avocado in to long strips. I cut it in half lengthwise, and each half I cut into 4 slices. Cut your onion into thin strips. Mix one teaspoon of horseradish cream with 3 teaspoons of sour cream.

Once you've prepared your veggies and your steak has absorbed the spices flavors, its time to grill! Grill your steak on the BBQ or a grill pan. When ready let it rest for 2 minutes. Spread one teaspoon of horseradish & sour cream mix on each tortilla wrap. Cut your beef into thin slices and divide evenly on the wraps. Add some avocado (about 1/4 avocado per wrap), some onion strips, some rocket salad, some cilantro and sprinkle with paprika powder. fold the rap into a roll.

If you like you can also add tomatoes, cheese, or use chicken instead of beef.

Aiaiai this is some good food señor!

03 August, 2013