I know, I know. Hot wings are overdone. They’re on every party menu and come in a million variations. But these are baked! And taste like they’re fried! I guess you could call these healthy hot wings, except that they’re doused in their fair share of butter. Still, they’re tried and true, and I’ve been getting requests to make them for nearly every casual gathering lately.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds chicken wings
3 tablespoons red hot sauce, preferably Frank’s Red Hot
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 500°. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil. In a bowl, mix the flour with the salt. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Spread the chicken on the baking sheet in a single layer.
2. Roast the chicken for 45 minutes, turning once at the halfway point, until browned and crispy. In a bowl, whisk the hot sauce with the butter. Add the chicken wings and toss. Serve warm.
I am forever wishing there were more ethnic restaurants in Sonoma County to explore. To be fair, things have come a long way in the last few years; after all, Santa Rosa now boasts more than a few Vietnamese restaurants and there’s even an Ethiopian restaurant (and a good one at that).
One of my newer favorites is Khoom Lanna, a Thai restaurant located in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square. I visited on a Saturday night, and was struck by the simple, elegant interior. This theme carries over into Khoom Lanna’s food, as each dish is beautifully prepared but isn’t overdone or stuffy.
My dining companion and I shared two entrees. The first was eggplant with beef.
Stir-fried with ample basil and chili, the eggplant was soft and buttery and the beef was well-seared. Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, so I really enjoyed this dish and found myself wishing the serving size was a little larger.
The next entree we shared was the drunken noodles.
I can’t seem to visit an Asian restaurant without ordering at least one noodle dish, and I’m glad I chose this one at Khoom Lanna. The wide rice noodles were stir-fried and had that great chewy, slightly charred flavor that I love. Strips of beef, basil, chili, garlic, and vegetables rounded out this dish.
Unable to resist the siren call of fried bananas and coconut ice cream, I also split a dessert.
This was a decadent dessert to say the least and definitely meant to share. I don’t have much a of a sweet tooth, but I’m a sucker for Southeast Asian ones. Warm, crispy bananas with molten interior against cold, tropical ice cream? Yes, please.
The service at Khoom Lanna is great too: attentive without being pushy. I left feeling excited not only for my next visit, but finally, for the state of ethnic food in Sonoma County. We’re headed in the right direction.
I’m a sucker for Peruvian cuisine but I always tend to gravitate towards the same dishes. Okay, I’ll be honest – the same one dish: lomo saltado. The sirloin strips stir-fried with soy sauce, vinegar, and spices and stir-fried with onions, tomatoes and French fries is one of my all-time favorite meals so it’s hard to branch out.
But I digress. When I met up with friends at La Mar Cebicheria Peruana in San Francisco’s Embarcadero, I was determined to stick to the cebiche. La Mar is, after all, a cebiche restaurant. (It’s also an international restaurant, with outposts throughout Latin America in Lima, Mexico City, Santiago, Sao Paolo, and Panama City.)
After we were seated, our waiter brought us Yukon, plantain, and sweet potato chips and an array of dipping sauces to nibble on while we perused the menu.
My favorite was were the sweet potato chips, and all three of the sauces were full of depth and spicy.
For my entree, I chose the cebiche mixto.
The cebiche mixto came with a little bit of everything: Mahi Mahi, calamari, octopus and habanero pepper in ajà amarillo leche de tigre with cilantro, red onions, Peruvian corn, and yam. Whew. The ajà amarillo sauce was delicious but I was let down by the cebiche. The fish wasn’t as flavorful as I was expecting and the big chunks of yam seemed out of place. That being said, I’ve since heard rave reviews of La Mar’s other cebiches so I’ll come better informed next time.
If it’s one thing La Mar has down it’s presentation and ambiance. All of our dishes were gorgeously plated and the restaurant interior was modern and industrial without at all feeling cold. The service was friendly and unhurried during our visit, despite the restaurant being very busy.
Even though my entree wasn’t as incredible as I was hoping for it to be, I left La Mar feeling satisfied. The restaurant was fun, the menu looked exciting, and it left me wanting to go back to discover more.
I’ve been on a tofu kick lately, and I can’t think of a better way to cook it than with mushrooms. Both are rich in protein and lend this dish a rich, meaty flavor despite having no meat at all.
This Japanese rendition, adapted from Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook, is wonderful on its own or with steamed rice.
1 block firm tofu, about 1 pound
4 tablespoons grated daikon radish
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 green onion, sliced
2 mild peppers, such as Anaheim, pierced and deep-fried (optional)
1 cup dashi stock
3 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup mixed mushrooms such as shiitake, enoki or shimeji
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 teaspoon water
1. Wrap the tofu in two layers of paper towels and place in a flat-bottomed dish with sides. Place a light weight such as another flat dish on top, and leave about 30 minutes to drain excess moisture. Wipe any moisture from the surface of the tofu and slice horizontally. Slice each half into eight rectangular pieces. Set aside.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil to medium-high and carefully slip the tofu pieces into the oil. Deep-fry until golden brown, 3-4 minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and mushrooms and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and pour in the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat as soon as it comes to a boil.
4. Place the fried tofu pieces in a serving dish, ladle the sauce over, and top with the grated daikon and ginger. Garnish with the fried peppers and green onion.
Most of the time when I dine out for sushi, I order an appetizer of agedashi tofu to start things off. It’s a simple Japanese dish of deep-fried silken tofu, and I love the textural contrast of the crispy outside and the piping hot, creamy tofu on the inside. The whole thing is served in dashi broth and topped with shredded daikon radish and green onions. Despite being deep-fried, the tofu absorbs very little oil, so I don’t feel bad about eating it.
I recently learned to make this dish at home when I was gifted Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook by a friend. I have a few Japanese cookbooks, but this has quickly become my favorite. I’ve already cooked this rendition of agedashi tofu several times.
Ingredients:
1 block silken tofu, about one pound
Potato starch for coating the tofu
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
3/4 cup dashi stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin
1/2 cup lightly-packed dried bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1-inch daikon radish, peeled and shredded
1/8 teaspoon Japanese-style ground red chili pepper (ichimi togarashi)
1. Mix the shredded daikon with the chili pepper and set aside.
2. Bring mirin, soy sauce, and dashi to a gentle boil and turn off heat. Add bonito flakes and leave for 10 seconds, then strain through a mesh strainer. Set sauce aside.
3. In a heavy saucepan, heat 2 inches oil to medium-high heat.
4. Slice tofu horizontally into 2 pieces. If desired, slice each of these 2 pieces in half as well. Blot tofu dry and coat with potato starch. Fry the tofu until the surface is golden and crispy, about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the tofu with a slotted spoon onto a paper-lined plate to drain excess oil.
5. Place tofu in a serving bowl and pour in the sauce. Garnish with the green onions and shredded daikon radish.
