Naked Martini

 

Our Friday nights typically begin with an "oh-so-civilized" Vodka Martini. We like ours served up, crowned with some blue cheese stuffed olives. When you order it at the bar, it's made with five parts vodka and one part dry vermouth. It gets chilled from the ice in the shaker and the taste of it is absolute heaven.

A Naked Martini is an entirely different animal. A regular martini is Barney Fife...a naked martini is Dwayne Johnson...a much stronger and colder form of the cocktail. Why stronger? As I mentioned, the ratio in a regular martini is 5:1. The ratio in a Naked Martini is 30:1. It's a very boozy concoction.

Why colder? A regular martini is chilled by shaking it with ice. A Naked Martini uses vodka that is stored in the freezer. Since bars don't store their vodka in freezers, you can't get one when you are out in the wild. You will have to make yours at home, providing you have stored your vodka next to your popsicles.

INGREDIENTS

2-1/2 ounces vodka (Belvedere recommended)

1/2 teaspoon dry vermouth

2 blue cheese stuffed olives

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour vodka into a martini glass. 
2. Add vermouth and olives. 
3. Serve.

Bang Bang Chicken

 

You may want to believe that the "Bang Bang" name of this dish is attributed to the heat of the sauce. Don't believe it. The "Bang Bang" comes from the ancient Chinese recipe, where a large wooden cudgel was used to beat the chicken meat to tenderize it. 

This particular recipe is the Americanized version of Bang Bang Chicken. No need to tenderize the chicken. You can keep your cudgel in the drawer as you are just going to use bite-sized pieces of chicken thighs. 

A shout out to my boyhood friend, Jeff Pinkham, for providing me the air fryer version of this recipe. I made it last night and it was awesome....and a lot less to clean up versus the wok version! These Sam Zien and Jeff Pinkham recipes serve four and I always serve this meal with a big, steaming bowl of sticky rice.

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken

4 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Shaoxing Chinese cooking wine (substitute = dry sherry)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons minced ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 egg white

Corn starch for coating

Neutral oil for wok frying or avocado oil spray for air fryer

Diced green onions for garnish

For the Bang Bang Sauce

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup sweet chili sauce (I use Sambal Oelek)

3 tablespoons Sriracha

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon lime juice

WOK DIRECTIONS

1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and then refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Combine the 5 Bang Bang sauce ingredients.  Mix thoroughly and then set aside.
3. Heat frying oil in a wok to 350º.
4. Coat the chicken pieces in the corn starch, shake off any excess, then deep fry 5 to 6 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Do this in batches so you do not overcrowd your wok. When all the chicken is done, get the oil back to 350º and fry chicken once more 45-60 seconds for a final crisping.
5. Toss fried chicken with the sauce, a little at a time, until it is coated the way you like it.
6. Plate and garnish with green onions.

AIR FRYER DIRECTIONS

1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and then refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Combine the 5 Bang Bang sauce ingredients.  Mix thoroughly and then set aside.
3. Preheat air fryer for 3 minutes at 400º
4. Coat the chicken pieces in the corn starch and shake off any excess. Place chicken pieces in air fryer and lightly coat with avocado oil spray. Cook for 7 minutes at 400º. Then remove basket, shake chicken thoroughly and then cook again for 7 more minutes at 400º.
5. Toss fried chicken with the sauce, a little at a time, until it is coated the way you like it.
6. Plate and garnish with green onions.

Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc