Friday’s Last Spoonful: Food Surf

Southern Fried Chicken ala Asian Style

Food Surfing will feature fun food links from around the Blogosphere, including leads to other interesting sites. These recommended links may give you other interesting ideas for making your life taste better.

The New York Times adds insight into the widespread popularity of crispy-fried chicken among Asians in this article.

Meanwhile, ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal explains one food expert’s view of threedifferent variations of Korean fried chicken.

Wanna have a go at making Korean-style fried chicken at home?  Saveur provides a simplerecipe that packs a lot of spicy.   

Thursday’s Side Dish: Field Trip

ToreOre Chicken & Joy: Catonsville, Md.

We’ve been itching to sample this fried chicken vendor that located in The Mixed Stew crew’s nearest H-Mart for quite some time.  Toreore Chicken & Joy features several yummy flavors, such as garlic and sweet –n- spicy.  You can order a large box ($18.00 +) Korean-style fried chicken may come drenched in tangy, sweet, and spicy sauces.  The crispy fried chicken is made to order so be prepared to wait at least 20 (more like 25)  minutes for an order.  The freshly cooked chicken is then packed in a box and secured with a bright red ribbon.  We suggest buying ToreOre fried chicken for your next family dinner.  Also, order more than one box from ToreOre for the next potluck.  Expect juicy and tasty fried chicken everytime you visit ToreOre Chicken & Joy.

ToreOre Chicken & Joy

800 N. Rolling Road

Catonsville, MD 21228       

Located inside H Mart

Wednesday’s Helping: Hazelnuts

Roll’em out

These nuts are often paired with chocolate.  Hazelnuts are also known as filberts, filbert nuts, or cob nuts.  The plant, corylus avellana, is native to Europe and Asia.  Expect woodsy flavors and a slight bitterness in every bite of this nut.  You can eat hazelnuts raw but several preparations call for roasted hazelnuts.   The toasting process bring out more of the hazelnuts’ natural flavors. Hazelnut paste, which is made from ground hazelnuts, is widely used in making desserts and pastry confections.  The flesh of hazelnuts appears off-white.  Select hazelnuts that are robust with no signs of shriveling, withering, or water damage.  Hazelnuts are a great source of vitamin E and unsaturated fats.         

Tuesday’s Cupful: Background on Nutella Cookies

A simple but rich cookie

The luxurious flavors of nutella - baked into a lovely cookie- has translated into an explosion in popularity over this treat.  Look for an array of recipes for nutella cookies strewn on the web.  We like this cookie as an accompaniment to hot chocolate, hot tea, or hot coffee.  The texture reminds us of traditional biscotti or those old-fashioned biscuit cookies our grandmothers liked to buy for just dipping in their coffee on cold mornings.  We gave our version additional richness with chocolate chips but  one can improvise with peanutbutter chips or even butterscotch chips.

Monday’s Bread Bowl: Nutella Cookies

Sweet gourmet cookies

These easy cookies can be made in a pinch.  The mix of hazelnut and chocolate flavors comes together in a biscuit-like cookie.  Here’s the recipe:

What you will need:

1 metal baking sheet

1 cutting board

1 food processor

2 whole eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbspns granulated sugar

½ cup chocolate chips

1 cup nutella spread

2 sheets parchment paper

Pinch of salt

Cooking & Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients (besides chocolate chips) in food processor.  Pulse for 2 -3 minutes until well mixed.  Place dough on cutting board and continue to knead for another 3 minutes.  Next, portion out dough into small round balls of dough that measure roughly ½ inch to 1 inch in diameter.  Cover and line metal baking sheet with parchment paper.  Position 6 dough balls on parchment paper and press down in middle.  These will become the cookies.  Sprinkle chocolate chips on cookies.  Bake cookies in oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let cool before eating.

Friday's Last Spoonful: Food Surfing

Green and showin’ it

Food Surfing will feature fun food links from around the Blogosphere and Internet. These recommended links may give you other interesting ideas for making your life taste better.

The Food Network features over 2 dozen dishes that are just right for St. Patty’s Day.  We liked the authentic Colcannon, Emerald Eggs, and Soda Bread Biscuits.

Look for fun Irish-themed recipes, such as Shamrock Pretzels, Rainbow Cupcakes, and St. Pat’s Potato Candy on Spoonful.

Finally, The Los Angeles Times listed 15 very special recipes in celebration of St. Patty’s Day.  The Lemon-lime soda bread, steamed corned beef, and the mint cream mousse.

Thursday’s Side Dish: Clam Kelaguen

Lemon seasoned seafood

The Mixed Stew crew has already featured chicken and shrimp kelaguen.  Now, we offer up clam kelaguen.  This dish can be made using fresh clams or canned clams in a pinch.  Here’s the recipe:

What you will need:

1 medium-sized glass bowl

1 metal spoon

1- 1 ½ lbs fresh clams, shelled and cleaned

OR

2 (10 oz) cans baby clams in water, drained

1/3 cup green onion, chopped

2 -3 hot chili pepper, minced

Juice of 2 – 3 freshly squeezed lemons

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation and Directions:

Combine all ingredients in glass bowl.  Mix well.  Chill in fridge for 3 hour or overnight.  Serve cold.