Food & Wine

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Have you driven a Homer lately? 1/30/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Set your Super Bowl table By Judyrae Kruse Herald Columnist As far as I know and as near as I can tell, we purveyors of food come in two basic types. On the one hand are the last-gaspers who revel (as well they should) in their ability to pull off one of those miraculous "only start cooking when they come through the door" wonders. On the other side of the culinary fence are we who know for sure that do-ahead disher-uppers are the only way to go. With this Sunday's Super Bowl ever on our minds (well, maybe not the game itself -- but, oh, those commercials!), a pair of Forum cooks share the perfect game plan, regardless of your own particular whichever-whatever timing preference. For starters, no pun intended, Camano Island cook Susan Bender offers us the how-to for one of her crowd-pleasing nibbler-snacker specialties. Once seasoned, chicken wings spend the night before the game in the refrigerator. When the time is right, they get dipped, fried, sauced and baked. And then, Susan says, "Serve immediately with plenty of napkins.'' For the do-ahead portion of the program, we have Dianne Berst of Marysville to thank. A take on cake, this recipe is not just different and delicious, it could well be something you make over and over, again and again. It also strikes me as something that would be a great thing to fix any time you're lucky enough to have some little people hoppity-bopping around the house: Make the cake, scrub their little paws and let them have at it! But I digress. Another thing you should know about this cake is that the recipe is taken from Dianne's newest cookbook, "I Like Cookies!'' Happily, copies are still available and sell for $15 each, plus either $5 per book for postage and handling for priority mail, or $3 postage and handling for fourth-class media rate (slower delivery). Note that two books, at $15 each, can be sent to the same address for a total of only the $3 postage and handling, using the cheaper media rate. Make checks payable to Dianne Berst, and send to her at P.O. Box 82, Marysville, WA 98270. That said, I say let's take a gander at these two Super Bowl Sunday possibilities: Chinese chicken wings 2 packages chicken drumettes Garlic powder Cornstarch 4 eggs, beaten Peanut oil Sweet-and-sour sauce (recipe follows) Sesame seeds Rinse the drumettes and pat dry. Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, cover and store in the refrigerator overnight. Next day, coat chicken with the cornstarch and then dip into the beaten eggs. Heat peanut oil in a very large skillet and fry chicken wings until golden brown, turning occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels and place on a deep-sided cookie sheet. Cover with the sweet-and-sour sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn wings, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and bake another 20 minutes. Serve immediately. Sweet-and-sour sauce 3 cups sugar 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 cups white distilled vinegar 2 teaspoons seasoning salt, Lawry's preferred 12 tablespoons ketchup In medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, soy sauce, vinegar, seasoning salt and ketchup, mixing thoroughly. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and keep warm. Cake balls 1 chocolate cake, made from scratch or from a mix 1 can chocolate frosting Chocolate almond bark Vanilla almond bark (optional) Make and bake a chocolate cake, either from scratch or from a packaged mix. Let cake cool completely. When the cake has cooled, mash it up in a bowl. Add the chocolate frosting and, using your hands or a spoon, mix the mashed cake and frosting together so that all of the cake is moist from the frosting. Begin rolling balls about the size of a doughnut hole out of this mixture and place on a cookie sheet. (Make sure that the balls are smooth -- this must be done with your hands.) Melt chocolate almond bark in a pan. Begin spooning the melted bark over the balls, making sure that the visible areas on the balls are covered with chocolate (the very bottom of the balls, however, will not be covered). When all balls are coated with the almond bark, refrigerate so that the chocolate hardens. To serve, remove the coated balls from the cookie sheet and arrange on a platter. Note: To make the balls look prettier, you can also melt some vanilla almond bark and drizzle this over the chocolate-coated balls. Spice cake or carrot cake can be used in place of the chocolate cake, using vanilla almond bark as the coating. The next Forum will appear in Friday's Time Out section.

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