Sticky & Sweet

No, I'm not talking about Madonna's 2008/2009 concert tour, but about Sticky & Sweet Chicken Wings. I've only discovered the pleasures of chicken wings (very) recently and was surprised to find that there is actually some meat and not just bones and skin involved :) I've been trying out various recipes now - three different ones just during the last week (garlickly Lebanese ones, Teriyaki wings and these sticky and sweet ones), and have bookmarked a number of other recipe ideas (Blake Royer's Baked Buffalo Wings and Susan Russo's Maple-Beer-Chili Chicken Wings, for example). I bet there will be more chicken wing recipes coming up on Nami-Nami as well.

This particular recipe is a slight adaptation of a recipe by the beloved British author, Nigel Slater. The tanginess of the mustard and sweetness of honey make these deliciously sticky and sweet indeed.

Sticky & Sweet Chicken Wings
(Kleepjad magusad kanatiivad)
Serves 3-4 as appetizers, can be easily multiplied to serve a crowd



about 600 g of chicken wings
2 heaped Tbsp grainy French mustard
1 heaped Tbsp runny honey
about 5 Tbsp lemon juice (one medium-sized lemon)
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, you need to prepare you chicken wings. Using poultry shears or a sharp chef's knife, cut the wings into three parts, as shown on the photo below. Discard the wing tips. Susan mentions in her post that you can buy something called "party wings" in the States - that is chicken wings that have already had their tips removed. No such produce over here, but removing the tips is actually easy.

Combine mustard, honey, lemon juice, crushed garlic in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken wings and move them around, so they're evenly covered with the mixture. Cover the bowl with a cling film and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours.
Line a smallish oven dish with foil, place the chicken wings and any marinade in the tray. Roast in a pre-heated 220 C oven for about 30 minutes, turning once, until the kitchen wings are fully cooked (yet moist inside), gorgeously dark golden brown and very sticky.

Serve with a fresh salad and provide plenty of wet napkins.

Deviled Eggs with Shrimp Filling

Devilled eggs are a popular appetizer in Estonia - I've blogged about the classical version here. I love the traditional version, but recently I've been also exploring alternative ways of making and serving deviled eggs. Here's an idea snapped from the Swedish Arla site. It's full of Nordic flavours - dill and caraway seeds - with an addition of cooked shrimps. Slightly more festive than the traditional one, and very delicious.

Deviled Eggs with Shrimp Filling
(Krevetitäidisega munad)
Makes 12



6 large eggs

3 heaped Tbsp sour cream
100 g peeled cooked shrimps/prawns
half a lemon, zested
0.5 tsp ground caraway seeds
2 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes, then cool under cold running water. Peel the eggs and halve lengthwise. Remove the egg yolks and chop finely.
Put 12 shrimps aside for garnishing. Chop the rest of the shrimps as finely or coarsely as you wish. Mix with sour cream, grated lemon zest, ground caraway seeds and chopped dill and egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the filling onto the egg whites. Place on a serving tray, garnish with whole shrimps and dill sprigs.

A Birthday Cake

Last Saturday our beautiful little daughter, Nora Adeele, turned one. Like every other parent, we are amazed how quickly time flies - it seems hard to believe that it's already been a year since she rushed into this world last January (see a post here). I've kept stories about her at minimum here at Nami-Nami, as I've been worried it'd turn into a mommy&baby blog in no time whatsoever :D But just to recap - she's been an excellent companion to us during the last year, and a healthy, curious and happy girl. She has a good appetite (we've been trying to follow the principles of baby-led weaning), but as she's also very active, she's a light one (just 8,5 kg this morning). Oh - and she's already been to Southern France (where she dined at two 3-Michelin-star restaurants :D) and to London, so she's a well-travelled little lady.

We celebrated this important milestone with a party and a cake. The party was attended by many of Nora's friend (she's very sociable and loves playing with other kids), and a delicious cake that was inspired by the famous Swedish Princess Cake - a sponge cake sandwiched with raspberries, whipped cream and curd cheese, and topped with marzipan. As you can see from the above picture, then Nora Adeele was thrilled about her first birthday cake :)

Here's another photo of Nora Adeele (and me), taken when she's about 6 month old.



Normal blogging will return as soon as I get over the shock that I'm a mother to a toddler already ;)