Kids cooking finger food

Last night Master Four cooked our tea, Tuna Mornay. The children love the fact they get to dip potato chips/crisps into the mornay as was the tradition in my childhood. A bit of a special meal. I was sous-chef just doing the mundane things like grating cheese and opening the tin of tuna. I thought I had blogged about this very simple and old fashioned recipe, but I can't find it now. I shall be sure to next time.

Today is Miss Six's turn. Chicken wings again. They're a great feed for the children, and it's fun for them to make the sauces for them. Combine the wings with a platter of vegetable crudites and the meal sans cutlery is a done deal.

We started with 2kg of wings. Not the whole wings, this time we just bought already trimmed pieces. The best bit I think of the wing, is not the 'drumette' as it is sometimes called but the mid-wing piece with the two bones. We divvied these pieces into two even piles, each containing 25 pieces (we're assured of leftovers with 50 pieces of wing surely!?).

Both these recipes are very easy to bring together, only the ingredients differ.

Sweet Sticky Wings

1kg chicken wing pieces
1/4 cup sweet soy (kecap manis)
1/4 cup Teriyaki Marinade
juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp garlic powder (we were out of garlic as the head we had was bad)
2cm piece ginger, grated (about a level tbsp once grated)

Preheat oven to 200C.

Pop the wings into a roasting tray that has been lined first with foil and then with baking paper. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a jug and pour over the wings.

Cook the wings in the oven for 20 minutes, turn them over and cook for another 15 minutes or until well glazed and cooked through.

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes to save you blistering your lips!

The Sweetest Sticky Wings Ever

1kg chicken wings
1/2 cup Hoisin Sauce (go with Lee Kum Kee if you can)
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 200C.

Line a roasting tray with foil first, and then baking paper. Pop the chicken on the tray. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

Whisk together the sauce and the syrup, and pour over the chicken and seeds. Stir together to ensure the wings are well coated.

Cook the wings for 20 minutes, and then turn them over, cooking for a further 15 minutes or until the wings are well-coloured and cooked through.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes or risk damage to your mouth as above.

Both these recipes can of course be prepared ahead and marinated overnight or for a few hours if it helps.

Both of these recipes will cook quicker if the wings are given plenty of space, so they will take longer to cook if packed into a smaller tray as they are in our oven. Ours took an extra 25 minutes to colour up to my satisfaction, the benefit being the meat could be all but sucked off the bones.

It's a dodgy photo I know. It wasn't until I downloaded the images that I realised Little Master 20 Months has had a go of the camera, managing to smudge the lens.
Here you can see the two recipes, the first recipe Sweet Sticky Wings on the left (without seeds) and The Sweetest Sticky Wings Ever with the seeds. The children enjoyed these evenly leaving about the same of each version, which is a good sign. Their dad will have a happy surprise when he comes home.