The favorite appetizer at Thanksgiving dinner

The Sriracha-and-Wasabi Deviled Eggs were the hit at Thanksgiving dinner this year. This simple to make, delicious recipe came from the Thanksgiving issue of Food & Wine Magazine (November 2010 issue). This recipe puts an “Asian” spin on the traditional deviled eggs with Asian spices such as “Five Spice Powder” and Sriracha hot sauce.

Recipe from foodandwine.com:

TOTAL TIME: 30 MIN Plus 4 hr marinating SERVINGS: 12
Ingredient:

1 dozen large eggs
2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
10 star anise pods
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup coarsely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sriracha
2 1/4 teaspoons wasabi paste
1/4 cup snipped chives
Pinch of Chinese five-spice powder

Directions
1) In a large saucepan, cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Cover the saucepan, remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce with the sake, star anise, chopped scallions, sugar and grated ginger. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and let cool completely.
3) Drain the water from the large saucepan and shake the pan gently to crack the eggs. Cool the eggs slightly under cold running water, then peel them under running water. Add the eggs to the soy mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the eggs for at least 4 hours.
4) Drain the eggs and rinse lightly to remove any bits of scallion or ginger; pat dry. Using a slightly moistened thin, sharp knife, cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Gently pry the egg yolks into a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Stir the mayonnaise, Sriracha, wasabi and 3 tablespoons of the snipped chives into the mashed yolks. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star or plain tip. Set the egg whites on a serving platter and pipe in the filling. Sprinkle the deviled eggs with the remaining 1 tablespoon of chives and the Chinese five-spice powder and serve. - The marinade made the eggs really salty already, so we sprinkled some brown sugar on top instead of the five spice powder. The brown sugar was a great substitute because it brings out a sweetness among the salty and spicy.

Wondering where you get these Asian Spices? There are many markets in the NYC area where you get them all:
-Hong Kong Supermarkets (various locations in Manhattan and Queens)
-Great Wall Supermarkets (Locations in Elmhurst, Flushing, and more)
Google these markets to find your nearest location.

The BEST cake ever!

Lady M’s crepe cakes are by far the best cakes we’ve ever tasted! The many thin layers of crepes with cream spread in between each crepe slice is just heavenly. If you are looking for a unique cake with an out of this world taste – buy one a cake at Lady M’s. The one risky factor with Lady M’s cakes is that can’t stop eating them!...they are that good!

http://www.ladymconfections.com/

SushiSamba

We’ve been to this restaurant several times now – for happy hours, for dinners, for restaurant week – all just a mediocre experience. The drinks at this place never disappointed, but the food was another story.

This last time we visited this restaurant, we had:

The Pacific Roll: Pacific king crab, avocado, asian pear, soy paper, wasabi-avocado crema
This roll costs $16.00, but it was flavorless and it might as well be a $3.00 California roll. The Asian pear in the roll was more like tiny apple match sticks. This was a very forgettable roll. Not worth the money!

The El Topo™ Roll: salmon, jalapeño, shiso leaf, fresh melted mozzarella, crispy onion This roll costs $13.50 and its trademarked! We ordered it to see why its trademarked. It’s not actually a roll, its actually in rectangular pieces (rice on the bottom with the fish and sauce on top). Again, not worth the money. There was nothing uniqe about it. We guessed that was trademarked because of the shape?

Eal Avocado Roll: This was actually the surprise item of the night. This standard roll was actually our favorite (and costs only $6). The eel was very flavorful and cooked to perfection.

The next time I come here, it would just be for the drinks! The Caipirinha hits the spot.

www.sushisamba.com

Total Yummy Points: 6/10