Recently my friend Kristen posted pictures on Facebook from our freshman year in university. It was great and hilarious to look back ten years and see how young and skinny we all were. It made me a bit nostalgic for the places we used to go, things we used to do, and foods we used to eat.

On the weekends my friends and I would often go to Cornerstone to eat chicken wings and go dancing. At the end of then night when the bars closed we’d find a place for a late night snack. Most of the places where I used to go are now closed, which makes me feel old. But anyway, sometimes we want to Wawa for sandwiches. Sometimes Ratsies for pizza, where once a chair started to collapse under me and my friend Nav caught me in midair. And sometimes we went to Danny’s for crab rangoons.I almost never went to Danny’s because it was out of the way from my walk home, but my friend Janina liked to go there so sometimes I went. She introduced me to crab rangoons, and as a Marylander in Maryland, I was hooked. Crunchy, gooey, cheesy, and stuffed with crab – it’s the perfect late night food.

Now, the first time I tried to make this recipe I decided to fashion my own deep fryer. I took a large pot and put a lot of vegetable oil in it. For deep frying, you have got to use vegetable or peanut oil because it has a high smoke point, which means it can get really hot and won’t easily burn. So, I turned the heat on high (which I shouldn’t have done) and I made my first rangoons and dropped them in the oil. They cooked in an instant and looked delicious.

But then, they started to smoke, and the oil started to smoke, and my entire flat filled with smoke. Miraculously, the alarm didn’t go off. I hurried to turn on the oven fan, open the windows, open the door, and I frantically waved a tea towel in the air to try to dissipate the smoke. I made about four rangoons that way and then decided I’d try to bake the rest. Although that works, it doesn’t give you the brown, bubbly, and crispy exterior I was hoping for.

So the third time was the charm. I used a pan with just about a 1/4 inch of oil which I heated on medium, and then I flipped them halfway through cooking. This worked perfectly. Crispy, creamy, gooey rangoons and no smoke inhalation.

Adapted from Food.com

Messy level: Not too messy, but you can see from my prep picture above I had a lot going on. This is fairly straightforward to make, but frying can get oil everywhere. Just be careful, try to be organized, and you shouldn’t make too big of a mess.

Crab Rangoon

 

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Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 6 oz crab meat
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• wonton wrappers
• water
• vegetable oil
• soy sauce, for dipping

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the crab meat, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, spring onions and garlic.
2. Taste and add salt and pepper. Taste again and adjust to suit your preferences.
3. Put a little bit of water into a small bowl or cup
4. Put 1½- 2 teaspoons of crab mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper
5. Dip your finger in the pot of water. Wet two adjoining sides of the wonton (an L shape).
6. Fold the wonton over and press the dry side onto the wet. You will have made a triangle. Squish the crab insides just a bit so you won't have empty air pockets once cooked. Don't squish too much or the wrapper will burst and the crab will ooze out.
7. On medium to medium-high heat, heat ¼ inch of vegetable oil in a large pan. Heat until very hot. Flick a little water onto the oil. If it pops, then the oil is hot enough.
8. In batches, add the rangoons to the hot oil. Cook on each side for 1-3 minutes. They are done when each side is golden brown, slightly puffed, and has some air bubbles.
9. Remove from the oil and dab with a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
10. Serve with a side of soy sauce for dipping.

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Something I really enjoy about cooking is that fact that it opens me up to all kinds of new things. Whether it’s trying a new ingredient or learning a new method of cooking, I find that there is always something new to discover. And something I continually learn is that some foods you can make at home and they don’t only come from the store.That might sound like an idiotic thing to say, but hear me out. There are some foods like Oreos, Twix, or Cheez-Its that only seem to exist in the grocery store and I never consider that I could actually make them at home until I go on Pinterest and see how awesome and creative some people can be.

And that’s what brings me to ranch dressing. Last week when I made the Siracha roasted cauliflower, I thought about ranch dressing because it’s my favorite dressing to have with wings and other hot foods. And then I thought, “could I make that?” Because in my mind ranch dressing only comes in a Hidden Valley bottle from the store. When I told my friend Abi that I was making ranch dressing she said, “what’s even in ranch dressing?” My thoughts exactly. As far as I knew, ranch dressing is a delicious mystery.

So, I hit the internet and there are tons of recipes out there! It’s not so hard to make, but there is a lot going on in such a simple dressing. There are so many herbs and spices! To be quite honest, making ranch dressing is really personal because there are so many ways you can fiddle with it to make it exactly to your taste. You can make it sweeter, tangier, and if you wanted even a little bit spicy.

As I was making it, I kept trying to make mine like the bottle. This was especially tricky given that I was working from memory and not comparing it to actual bottle dressing. I came to a point where I liked it well enough, but it didn’t seem perfectly like the bottle. I asked Ryan to taste it and he said:

“It tastes like it at the beginning in the end, but in the middle it has more… pop.”

Then I asked him to compare it to the bottle. And he said…better! Well, that was good enough for me. Job done! My version tastes like ranch dressing but is less sweet, has a bit more complexity, and suits the tastes of my household – but most importantly isn’t the point of home cooking to be better than mass market stuff? I think so. So impress your guests the next time you put out a vegetable spread and show them it is possible to make delicious – and better – ranch dressing.

Recipe adapted from Ree Drummond. I’ve adapted it from her, please adapt it from me. Serioiusly. Start with the basics of mayo and sour cream. If you don’t like garlic, use just one clove. If you love chives, add a bunch. Start with a little and then work your way up to reach your desired consistency. If you find you’ve made it too tangy (maybe too much butter milk or sour cream) then add more sweetness with the Worcestershire sauce. If you find you’ve made it too sweet, add more salt, or spice like the paprika or mustard. You can make your perfect ranch dressing. Just trust yourself and you can do it.

Messy level: One spoon. The method for this is mixing all the ingredients, tasting, then adjusting. The only dishes you’ll make will come from when you have to chop the herbs – and a knife and a cutting board are hardly messy burdens.

Ranch Dressing

 

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Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
• 1½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon white vinegar
• pinch paprika
• ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• ¼ - ⅓ cup buttermilk (add until desired consistency is reached)

Instructions

1. Either, mince the garlic very finely or use a grater to grate the garlic.
2. Put the garlic in a medium bowl and mix in the salt. Mix the garlic and salt together until you have a garlic paste.
3. Add the mayonnaise and sour cream to the garlic paste. Mix thoroughly so the garlic is spread throughout.
4. Now stir in the parsley, dill, chives, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, vinegar, paprika, and mustard.
5. Pour in a little bit of buttermilk. Keep adding until you have your desired consistency. I did just ¼ cup because I wanted it to be thick, and just barely pourable.
6. Taste! Adjust as you see fit. See my notes above about taste. For more info on that you can also go here
7. Now serve either with raw veggies, hot wings, or over your favorite salad.

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I recently came by a recipe for Bloody Mary soup in a magazine and I was really excited about it. I love Bloody Marys, but it isn’t always appropriate to have one. Soup, though, I can have any time of day. But when I made the recipe it came out really thick. The recipe called for pureed beans and celery, which gave it a chunky and stringy texture. I was not a fan. So I decided to try my hand at making a soup recipe all my own. I’ve never made up a soup recipe before! I did a bunch of research, used a bunch of recipes as inspiration, tinkered a bit, and then I came up with something brand new that I really liked.

Let me warn you by saying I like Bloody Marys really spicy. I love this soup because the initial taste is sweet and full of tomato flavor, but then quickly the heat starts to tingle in the back of your throat and then rushes forward into your lips. It’s wonderful. Although, I didn’t give Ryan any warning when he tasted it and his eyes popped out a little bit. But I love spicy flavors in a soup. For me, they are a cure all. I think it will help clear your sinuses when you’re sick or can pep you up when it is cold and dreary outside. I also think Bloody Marys are a great hang over cure. I mean, not that I’ve ever been hungover. But if you were hungover, I think this would be both soothing and invigorating. If you were having a wild holiday party, make a batch the night before, then in the morning heat the soup, line cups with Old Bay, pop in a celery stick and you’ve got warming morning cocktails to serve your house guests.

Now if you’re not into spice, don’t worry! In the instructions below I’ll be sure to tell you how to adjust the seasoning to fit your palate. That’s the great thing about cocktails, right? You can fix them to suit your taste!

Since I’m from Maryland, I love Old Bay and will put it on everything. I put it in the soup in place of some salt, I sprinkled it on top for seasoning, and I lined the rim of the bowl. If you don’t have Old Bay, no worries. You can use some salt to season instead. Finally, if you want an added kick, consider adding horseradish cream. I like it because it adds spice from the horseradish and simultaneously eases the spice because of the cream. If you’re not interested in the cream, the soup is still excellent without it. Ok, now you’ll be ready for all your weekend partying. You’re welcome.

Soup recipe inspired by delicious magazine and Mark Bittman’s winter tomato soup. But I think it’s mostly mine and I’m really proud of that. Horseradish cream from BBC Good Food.

Messy level: I don’t have an immersion blender, so for me, this recipe is a three spoon mess. I used a tray to roast the tomatoes, a blender to puree the tomatoes, and a pot to simmer the soup. That makes a lot of things to clean and a lot of opportunity for spills. If you have an immersion blender, then you’ll have a little less clean up.

Bloody Mary Soup with Old Bay

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Serves: 4-6 bowls

Ingredients

• Soup:
• 5-10 garlic cloves (use less if you want less intensity)
• 800g/28oz canned, whole peeled tomatoes
• olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• ½ tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp Old Bay
• 1-2 tsp chili flakes (I used 2 tsp, use less if you want less heat)
• 2-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (use more stock if you want to dilute the heat)
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• juice from ½ lemon
• Tabasco sauce (optional)
• celery stalks (optional garnish)
• vodka (optional)
• Horseradish Cream (optional):
• 1 tbsp horseradish
• 4 tbsp of crème fraîche
• salt and pepper
• juice of ½ a lemon

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 350°/180°.
2. Pour some olive oil on a baking sheet.
3. Take the garlic cloves off of the bulb, and cut a little bit off of the top. Don't peel them. We'll pop them out of their skins easily after roasting. Put the prepared garlic on the baking sheet.
4. Drain the canned tomatoes. Reserve the liquid.
5. Cut the tomatoes in half.
6. Put the tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the tomatoes with more olive oil. Season the tomatoes with salt, celery salt, Old Bay, and chili flakes.
7. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes. The tomatoes are ready when they have started to dry out and get a little bit dark and brown in spots.
8. Remove from the oven. Add the tomatoes to a blender (add to directly to a pot if you have an immersion blender).
9. Let the garlic cool a bit so you can touch it. Pinch the bottom of the garlic and it will shoot up through the top (where you cut before) and it will be easily free from its skin. Add the garlic to the blender.
10. If there are crunchy bits on the baking sheet pour a little stock on them. Use a spatula to scrape them off. Pour the crunchy bits and the stock into the blender. (The crunchy bits are yummy caramelized tomato juices)
11. Add the reserved tomato liquid to the blender. Blend until mostly smooth.
12. Heat the tomato puree in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in 2 cups of stock, the lemon juice, and the Worcestershire sauce.
13. Taste. Too spicy? Add more stock. Not spicy enough? Add Tabasco sauce ¼ tsp at a time.
14. Simmer for 20 minutes so all the flavors can mingle together.
15. While the soup is simmering, prepare the horseradish cream. In a small bowl mix the horseradish, crème fraîche, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
16. Serve the soup in a bowl, top with a dollop of cream. Pour in a splash of vodka if you like. Garnish with a stalk of celery and a sprinkling of Old Bay.

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage bloggers to try new food related things. Jules from The Kiwi Diaries is the host for this month’s event.

If you have a blog and you are eating or cooking something new this month, you can get more information here about how to join.

The post Bloody Mary Soup with Old Bay appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Wings were a staple of my junior and senior year of college. Every Thursday, my friends and I would race to Cornerstone, our favorite local bar, to take advantage of 25¢ wings. The thing is, you had to arrive before 10pm to get the deal. If you couldn’t get there by 10, we would call in your order to one of our friends who was already there (and if you were first to arrive you usually had to order about half a dozen varieties of wings). But what made wing night so great, is that it was a standing date with my friends. We’d eat a ton, have a vodka cranberry (pretty much all of our drink of choice at the time), and then we’d dance all night. It was a blast, and today wings still remind me of happy times with my college buddies. Below are some college pictures, circa 2007.

And it’s not just college wing night that’s special! Every year when Ryan and I go to Stone Harbor, we go out with all of our friends to the Windrift. And again, we eat a lot, have a cold beer, and dance all night. Wing nights are where the best stories are made.

So, all of that is to say, I love wings. I honestly don’t know why I don’t make wings more, because I should. This recipe is a pretty good one (although I’m going to keep trying more recipes). This recipe turns out some moist and tasty wings – although not especially spicy. The marinade was spicy, but after cooking the wings didn’t have the tingly heat I like.  But, they have a lot of great garlic and honey flavor. That might sound weird, but it works. Also, they are sticky, saucy, and make a huge mess – all of which are a sure sign of good wings.

Adapted from Season with Spice.

Ingredients

12 wings

1 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp hot sauce

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp honey (plus more for glaze, if desired)

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, hot sauce, and chili powder.

2. Place the chicken wings in a rimmed dish (like a Pyrex). Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover the chicken and refrigerate for one hour or up to overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 425°.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the chicken wings on top. Do not discard the extra marinade.

5. If desired, drizzle a bit of honey over each wing. As well, you can add a bit more pepper.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the chicken wings over. Brush the bottoms with remaining marinade. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. The wings should be a bit crispy and a rich brown color.

7. Serve warm with lots of napkins.

Messy level: The cooking part of this is actually pretty straightforward. The eating part however, is hugely messy. Average messy level is about 3 spoons.

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