Monthly Archives: January 2014
Sriracha Fig Jam Wings!
Sriracha Fig Jam Wings: Is there anything better than sweet and heat meets meat? Mmmmmmm!! I let my chicken wings marinate all day, coated first in a dry Sriracha seasoning and then slathered generously in a blend of fig preserves and more Sriracha seasoning! Then, this evening baked them to perfection at 375*F! Soooo yummmmm!
If you can’t find dry Sriracha seasoning in your local grocery store yet, no worries, you can buy it online, here at this link, and have it delivered to your door! It’s still new to me, but I’m loving experimenting with it. Having the option to add Sriracha flavors into recipes without adding extra moisture is fantastic!
Side note: I’m a bit of a jelly snob, I think. I am drawn primarily to local, artisanal jams and jellies that aren’t widely available in big box stores. Peach/Lavender Preserves, Strawberry/Jalapeño Jam, and Blackberry/Habenero are a few of my faves. And fig. As much as I love the fig preserves that I buy, I’d been searching for a fig preserve that was amped up a bit. This dry Sriracha seasoning is my answer! I mixed a few spoonfuls into my fig preserves and SUCCESS!! DIY Sriracha Fig Preserves is now among my faves for everyday use! Mmmmmm!!
🙂
Your Friend,
~Amber Hamilton Henson
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
I LOVE It!! Really, really loved it!! It is by far, my favorite new soup discovery!!
Adapted from AllRecipes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup sour cream
DIRECTIONS: (makes 6 servings)
1) Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the onions in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes. Stir in the dill, paprika, soy sauce and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
2) In a separate small bowl, whisk the milk and flour together. Pour this into the soup and stir well to blend. Cover and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Finally, stir in the salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, parsley and sour cream. Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil. Serve immediately.
Last night, I’d originally planned to make Sriracha Fig Jam Chicken Wings, but then I remembered that my daughter was cheering at her middle school home basketball game, so I wouldn’t be home to cook. (Stay tuned for the Wings, they’re happening soon, though.) Hubby to the rescue! He offered to cook!! I thought a soup might be a good idea, since its hard to predict exactly when daughter and I would be home… He made mushroom soup for me, and it was AMAZING! Not only was the soup amazingly yummy, it was pretty cool that he found the recipe and made it just for me and daughter, because we LOVE mushrooms. He doesn’t eat them! As a matter of fact, he avoids them at all costs, the same way I avoid all seafood and fish!! Yet, he made mushroom soup for me!! Is there anything hotter than a hot guy in the kitchen? No, there’s not! 🙂 Lucky girls we are!! We loved the “Hungarian Mushroom Soup!!” Thanks, Mitch! We give you 5 of 5 stars!!
~Amber
PS
Want to see what else is cooked in this house? Check my recipes page or find me on Pinterest.
This recipe will link to other blogs and will be updated with those links at the bottom of the post:
SMOTHERED CABBAGE
Smothered Cabbage:
Some things you just grow up eating, never referring to a recipe, just cooking it the way it has always been cooked. This is one of those things for me, but here is my best attempt to give you my recipe and directions for preparation of “Smothered Cabbage.”
1 medium to large head of green cabbage
6 slices bacon, each cut into 8 pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
1-2 Serrano pepper, finely diced
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp sugar
Discard the first few outer cabbage leaves. Cut your cabbage into bite sized pieces.
Fry bacon in a large pot until it is *almost* crisp. Add onions and Serrano pepper into the pan with the bacon; sauté for 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add the cabbage and sprinkle with s&p and sugar. Toss and stir, coating all pieces of cabbage in the bacon drippings and onions. Cover, and simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until cabbage is tender, lifting lid to toss and re-coat the cabbage every few minutes. Keeping the cover on as much as possible is important to keep it from drying out.
* This is my best estimate for seasonings—I always taste and season while cooking. You can adjust heat by using more or less Serrano peppers and including seeds or not to preference. 🙂 In most cases, I’m not a fan of adding sugar to vegetables, but I do LOVE it here. It makes all the difference in this cabbage!!
Your Friend,
~Amber Hamilton Henson
Please feel free to share!! 🙂
PS
This post will link! Please, visit the links at your leisure:
arkansaswomenbloggers’ sunday-link-up
Herbal Tea!
Herb Tea in a Brandy Glass? Yep. Why not? Yep; hold it by the stem while the tea is really hot, then move upward when comfortable. Cold hands = not fun. Warm hands? Yes, please!!
Hey! It’s freezing here. Literally. With lows in the 20s, here in Arkansas. Brrrrr, RABBIT!
How do you keep warm when it is this cold outside (or colder)?
Me? Hot Tea! Love it!!
I make my own peppermint tea, usually. It is just dried mint leaves (sweet mint, orange mint, and peppermint) that I grew this summer. The plants are pretty dormant with minimal green leaves, right now, but they’ll be back this coming Spring! This fall, I harvested lots of leaves and flowers, let them dry on a screen, and now I’m using them for tea all winter. Love.
As much as I love my homegrown mint tea, it is awesome to have variety!
On that note, today my daughters and I went downtown to visit a new store downtown, Dandelion Tea & Spice Company. Find them, here. It is a GREAT little shop that is stocked floor to ceiling with teas, spices, & medicinal concoctions. The proprietor tells me that soon they’re going to stock essential oils, too! Yay!
We bought 3 neat tea blends and a crystal / ammo casing necklace from the neighboring shop, Freckled Frog.
The 3 tea blends that I bought from Dandelion:
“Mad Hatter”: sarsaparilla root, cinnamon, orange peel, ginger root, licorice root, cloves
“Hibiscus Heaven”: Hibiscus, Rosehips, orange peel, lemon peel, lemon grass, lemon oil
“Blueberry Green Kukicha”:
Pics: click on photos to enlarge
I’ll be here trying to be warm during the middle of winter. Herbal tea. 😉
Your Friend,
~Amber Hamilton Henson
Trifle
Some of y’all sure make pretty trifles! This isn’t so pretty, but it was certainly a yummy enough dessert for my daughters’ New Year Eve sleepover party last night, apparently, since it is all gone now! Every bit! Love.
Large glass bowl.
Layer of Crumbled brownies.
Layer of Jello Chocolate Pudding.
Layer of Cool Whip.
Layer of Heath brand toffee bits.
Repeat layers. Refrigerate. 🙂
Happy New Year, today!
I’ve got black eyed peas for good luck in the new year cooking on the stove, right now! See my recipe for annual Black Eyed Peas, here and on my recipes page!
🙂
~Amber Hamilton Henson
what AMBER loves 