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 I am a fan of baked chicken that tastes deep fried. We blogged about this back at New Years, and it is now my go to recipe. The coating works great on drumsticks and thighs, but when baking smaller pieces of chicken, it can be a bit too salty. Cutting the salt in half worked wonderfully.
For our Superbowl party, we will be serving the wings with Jeow Bong mayo, so that people can choose how spicy they want their wings.  It all started with some left over carrot juice. Not wanting to waste it, I poured it into the rice I was cooking, to see what would happen. Greatness. That is what happened.  Our family does not believe in resolutions. Every 12 Week Year (based on the book by Brian Moran) we make specific commitments. This "year" we are committed to healthier eating, and as part of that, we got the family a spriralizer as a fun way to add more veggies to our diet. This is the first recipe we tried, inspired by the book Inspiralized, by Ali Maffucci.
 The Super Bowl is fast approaching and we have been testing recipes for the big party. One problem we were having is that nothing quite holds sauce like deep fried meat, - those crispy bubbles on the surface of the skin just grab on to all the delicious sauce. I, on the other hand, do not like standing over a pot of hot oil to cook things. I would much rather place a tray of food in the oven and check back on it a few times.
Like most of life's questions, Google has the answer. Specifically, a YouTube channel called Food Wishes, where Chef John made some crispy baked chicken wings. He reminds me of the chef version of ZeFrank. Go subscribe to his channel. He is hilarious. These oven baked drumsticks, inspired by Chef John, use some kitchen chemistry to replicate the taste and texture of fried chicken. I have attempted to find some scientific explanation, but Serious Eats is the source that everyone points to for explaining how baking powder makes poultry skin crispy. Apparently, it adds some alkalinity to the skin, allowing the proteins to break down, and mixes with chicken juices to release carbon dioxide which forms tiny bubbles on the surface. Don't worry - it will not have any baking powder taste.  This week recipe comes to us via one of our customers. Sweet and spicy, this salmon is super easy to put together.  This weekend, we spent some time in the kitchen trying to make an interesting appetizer for the holidays, to bring with us when we are invited over for dinner.
It was delicious, but it left us with many questions we will have to try out this coming weekend. Stay tuned for part two next week. With the holidays coming up, parties abound. Whether you are hosting, or invited to a potluck, it is a good idea to serve a variety of flavours to give your guests choices to suit their preferences. By using our sauces as marinades, you can easily make three flavours of chicken for your guests.
 Sticky rice is a staple of the Laotian diet. Laotian people eat more sticky rice per capita than any other people in the world according to the Smithsonian Institute.
It is so ingrained in the culture that a proverb attributed to a Laotian King is: "Lao people play the Khene (national instrument of Laos), eat sticky rice, and build houses on stilts." The people even refer to themselves as the children of sticky rice. A different rice cultivar, glutinous (as in sticky like glue) or sweet rice is opaque. Black rice is usually reserved for desserts, but to steam it the way the Laotians cook rice, you have two options: to eat it immediately after the harvest before it becomes hard and less "sticky", or to use it to dye the regular white sticky rice.  Remember when we said "Sabaidee" was our motto? Boom! This is a simple way to transform your regular breakfast into fancy brunch fare.
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