Angeli's Sichuan Hot Pot

Sometimes we'd make Sichuan hot pot at home, which is like the Chinese version of fondue where you cook veggies and thinly sliced meats in a boiling spiced broth. Traditionally, we use Sichuan hot pot base mixed that we buy at Asian supermarkets. But one day, we didn't have any, and Steve had thought some thinly slicked Wagyu beef and pork belly specially for hot pot. Since I didn't feel like going to Houston's Asiatown (which is waaay west in Houston), I decided to make my own mix since I did have some ground Szechuan peppercorns (if it doesn't have lip-numbing Szechuan peppercorns and chili pappers in it, it ain't Sichuan :-)  ). It turned out to be pretty decent and probably healthy since it doesn't contain so much fat like these Sichuan hot pot mixes. Here's the recipe that I made (note: since I couldn't find star anise at the neighborhood HEB store, I had to make do with fennel which kind of came close.) Also, the level of spiciness was on target -- just enough spiciness and lip-numbing but not TOO hot. (To be fair, we love spicy and have been known to devour things that would make a grown-up man cry quiet tears of desparation. But sometimes there is such a thing to being too spicy.)

Orange-Cumin Chicken

This is a very tasty dish that you can cook in a wok or saucier. I usually use Licor 43, a Spanish orange liquor, but since this can be hard to find, you can use any orange liquor. However, I'm not sure I'd recommend blue curacao unless you want a blue chicken dish. :-) Also, please don't use bottled orange juice in place of squeezed oranges since most orange juices are often high-processed and may contain additives that may not react well to boiling.

Angeli's London Broil

Here's my version of the London Broil, simple and quick to cook, after marinating overnight. Note: if you have a blacktop grill at home as I do, you could use that instead -- just grill it for 7 minues or so on each side.

Lamb Larb

Granted, this isn't an authentic Thai dish, but it's very tasty if you love lamb and Thai flavors. Lime juice, fish sauce and mint leaves do wonders for this dish. Also, while the traditional larb is served cold as a sort of salad, this dish is served warm with rice.

Spicy Thai Lime Dressing

Here's a Thai-inspired dressing that I make all the time, to use in a cucumber salad, or as a flavoring base for larb. Note: please use real limes for the lime juice -- no bottled juices like "realLime" as these don't taste quite right.

Angeli's Buffalo Wings

 This dish is relatively healthier than wings at restaurants since the wings are baked rather than fried, and just as good as long as you have a good wing sauce. The secret is to bake the wings until their skins become crisp before applying the sauce to the wings. Also, you need a pot with a round bottom like a saucier or small wok for the sauce. By the way, the wing sauce doesn't have to be Buffalo style; for example, you could use barbecue sauce or any good glaze sauce. The sauce just needs to be thick and will stick to the wings.

Tarragon Sauteed Squash

2 servings

This rather summer-y dish brings out the taste of tarragon, so tarragon lovers might love this. Note: you can use dill instead of tarragon in this recipe. But the herb gotta be fresh, though -- that makes a big difference.