Ginger Chicken Wings

I got this chicken wing recipe from my friend, and fellow blogger, Rochelle! She toted them as the best wings she's ever had so I begged for the recipe. I'm so glad that I did because our family gobbled them right up! 

Note: I found that a couple added steps made the recipe a lot more conducive for summer cooking. First, I doubled the glaze and used to not only coat the chicken but also to drizzle a bed of iceberg lettuce and carrot slivers. Second, I covered a baking sheet completely in tin foil and cooked the wings outside on my BBQ grill. I don't know about you but the last thing I wanted to do was run my oven for an hour at 400 degrees! They turned out great and my house stayed cool. Total win-win!

 

INGREDIENTS: (Halved from what the original recipe called for)

2.5 pounds chicken wings, cut into 2 sections each, wing tip discarded 

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 

1 tbsp hot sauce 

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 

non-stick canola oil spray

For the glaze: (half these ingredients if you don't want extra for the dressing)

3 crushed garlic cloves 

3 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger 

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional 

1/2 cup rice vinegar 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

2 tsp soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. or set grill to med-high.

Place the chicken wings in a large mixing bowl, and season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Add hot sauce and vegetable oil, and toss with tongs to coat evenly. Add the flour to a large plastic bag, add the wings and shake thoroughly. The chicken wings should be very lightly dusted with flour.

Cover a half-sheet pans with foil, and spray well with the canola oil. Distribute the chicken wings evenly on the pans, and spray the wings with the canola oil to coat. Bake  for 30 minutes, turn the chicken wings over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until browned and crusty OR place baking sheet on grill, checking wings regularly to make sure they don't burn! Grill until juices run clear.

While the chicken wings are baking, add the glaze ingredients to a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off and reserve. When the chicken wings are done, transfer into a clean bowl while still hot, and pour over the glaze. Toss until all the chicken wings are coated well, and transfer onto a serving platter or onto a bed of greens. .

Aussie Burger

Now that my mom lives in Colorado with her husband and my dad has retired with his wife in Chama, my house has sort of become a hub for my all our family get-togethers. At least one Saturday night a month is filled with dinner with my siblings too. It's always a wonderful time; laughing and eating and just generally enjoying our time together! This last Saturday, when we all met here for dinner, my sister and bro-in-law graciously offered to bring the fixings for what they referred to as, "one AMAZING burger." Always up for trying something new, the rest of us agreed and started dividing up the cooking chores. And while this Aussie Burger took a lot more prep than the usual pickles and lettuce, the end result was shockingly mouthwatering and left us all with very full bellies and the ability to say that we have indeed tried a burger the Aussie way. The ingredients didn't quite leave us short for dinner conversation, either!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. 85/15 hamburger meat (shaped into 4 quarter lb. burgers and grilled to liking)
Hamburger buns (toasted)
1 can pickled beets
1 yellow onion, sliced into rings and grilled
4 eggs, cooked to over-hard
1 can of sliced pineapple (grilled)
4 slices of soft cheese (we liked Gouda)
BBQ sauce of choice
8 slices cooked Bacon

DIRECTIONS:

Grill hamburger patties to liking. Move to back of grill and top with slices of cheese, onions, and cooked over-hard egg. Once heated through, remove from grill and top with pineapple, beets, and bacon. Serve over toasted bun spread with BBQ sauce. Try not to laugh when you take your first bite :)

Classic Lemon Squares

This lemon square recipe is from my friend Crystal's blog, Inspirational Ingredients, and let me tell you they are AWESOME! In my opinion, it's the perfect blend of texture and taste! So while it may seem a little lame to post a recipe from another friend's blog, I just couldn't resist! They are just too good to not pass on! And in case you're interested Crystal has lots of other amazing recipes on her blog too! So head on over and check her out!

Note: I was actually out of lemons and lemon juice so I used some key lime juice I still had from our trip to the Keys. I then topped the bars with toasted coconut right after they came out of the oven. The were delicious but I still think nothing can replace a classic lemon square! If you'd like to try them, however, just substitute the lemon juice for key lime and top with desired amount of toasted coconut and powdered sugar immediately after the bars come out of the oven. Refrigerate and slice according to the recipe's directions.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crust:
1 1/2 sticks Butter
2 cups all-purpose Flour
1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Confectioners’ Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt

For the Filling:
4 Large Eggs Plus 2 eggs yolks
2 cups Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose Flour
1 tsp Lemon Zest
1 cup Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 in pan with vegetable oil, Next line pan with aluminum foil and grease with vegetable oil as well.

First Make the Crust: Combine Butter, Flour, Sugars and Salt until incorporated, the recipe uses a food processor but I didn’t want to get it out so I used my mixer, it think either will work fine. Next Press mixture evenly into bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown about 25 minutes.

While the crust is baking make the filling: Whisk the Whole Eggs and Yolks, Sugar and Flour together until smooth. Whisk in lemon zest and juice.

When Crust is ready, remove from oven and pour filling over hot crust. Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. Return squares to oven for 35-40 minutes or until “just set." (The top of mine looked very dry and powdery when it was finished baking).

Lastly, let the bars cool on a rack then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Lift out of the pan using the foil and slice, dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Source: Recipe Adapted from Food Network Magazine March 2010 issue

Easy Peasy Jambalaya

My mother in law is an amazing cook! Part of what makes her a great cook is that her skills aren't just limited to the company worthy recipes either. Now don't get me wrong, she can crank out handmade raviolis or a roast and gravy without blinking an eye! But she also can do what in my opinion makes the BEST type of cook. She can improvise! I guess years of impromptu dinner guests will do that to a woman!

Here's one of her recipes that she likes to make on grocery shopping day. You know, the day where you get home, unload the groceries, and realize it's 4:30? It comes together quickly and with minimal mess and once assembled, cooks itself!

INGREDIENTS:
2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green)
1 package kielbasa (We like Boar's Head)
2 packages Zataran's Jambalaya Mix
2 tbsp. olive oil (plus more for rice mix)

DIRECTIONS:

Over medium heat, saute diced bell peppers in 1 tbsp. of oil. Once soft remove from pan. Add additional tbsp. of oil and saute slices of kielbasa until brown on both sides. Add peppers and rice mixture and continue preparing according to the package directions. Serves 4-6.

Grandma Joyce's Sour Cream

So, WEEKS have gone by without so much as a word from me and now that I'm finally getting around to posting some recipes, it's about sour cream. Lame, right?! I know, but it's a start!

Truly though, this sour cream changes the face of the baked potato. In my opinion, it's just as tasty as a twice baked but without about 90% of the work. And that, for me, equals awesomeness. Try it sometime soon before the winter months are over and the baked potato is shunned for corn-on-the-cob and grilling. You'll be hooked. I promise.

INGREDIENTS:
16 oz. sour cream
1/2 of a bunch of green onions, finely chopped
2 tsp. Lawry's seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. Lemon pepper
1/2 Seasoned pepper (I could only find seasoned pepper
Baked potatoes

DIRECTIONS:
Combine ingredients, serve on hot baked potatoes.

Mimi's Cornbread

This is my mother-in-law's recipe and it is hands down, the BEST cornbread on the planet. End of story.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
1 cup corn meal
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup veg. oil

DIRECTIONS:

Combine dry ingredients. Add egg, milk, and vegetable oil. Pour into greased pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Aunt Debbie's Chocolate Chip Muffins

For as long as I can remember, every Christmas family get together in Colorado has been marked with my Aunt Debbie's jumbo muffins and chocolate croissants. My favorite, hands down, is not the Almond Poppyseed muffins, the Cherry Chip muffins, or even the chocolate croissants. It's her Chocolate Chip Muffins. And I love, I mean LOVE, her Chocolate Chip Muffins. They are every bit dessert but baked as a muffin so as not to instill as much guilt to the eater. And they are just gooooood. I baked mine for a neighbor who just delivered her first baby, a little girl named Laura. But let me tell you, I wasn't the least bit sad when only 8 of the 12 muffins fit into the basket I had to give her.

INGREDIENTS:
Jumbo muffin pan
Jumbo baking cups
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 box instant chocolate pudding
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
4 eggs
1 bag miniature chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Add cake mix, pudding, 1/4 cup flour, 1 cup water, 1/2 vegetable oil, and four eggs to bowl. Mix on high for 3 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter inside baking cups and bake at 360 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool and store in airtight container or freeze individually. Makes 12 jumbo muffins.

Mimi's Even Better Buttercream

All the decadence of a traditional buttercream but without the dryness. A dream to whip up! You'll never want to frost another cake with the store bought frosting again!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp. vanilla
8 cups SIFTED powdered sugar (measure cups after they've been sifted)
4 tbsp. milk

DIRECTIONS:
Cream together butter, shortening and vanilla taking care to scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. On medium speed, add powdered sugar, one cup at a time until completely incorporated. Frosting will be dry. Add milk and whip until combined. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Piping tip used to frost cupcakes: 1M

Dani's Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

For the second time in a row now, my friend Dani has brought killer cookies to our park playdate. And I do mean killer. The first time, I didn't have to do much begging for the recipe because she sent us home with a few and also disclosed the fact that the recipe was on the back of a Craisin's package. The second time; however, I went home and thought about the cookies for an entire day before I finally caved and emailed her for the recipe. She willingly obliged and I am SO thankful. I am personally responsible for four missing cookies as of 8:29 this evening. Not good.

So I'm not really sure where to begin with this recipe. I don't normally enjoy shortbread cookies so it's hard for me to compare it to how a shortbread cookie should taste. I also don't normally enjoy crispy cookies and yet this cookie is crispy and I still found it to be delicious. It's also very buttery and the taste reminds me a lot of toffee! Can't go wrong with that, right?! I imagine this would be an extra special treat to pair with hot tea as well. Maybe use some mini chocolate chips and a fun cookie cutter and you're in business! As if all that wasn't enough to convince you to make these, maybe the fact that it uses 5 ingredients will. Try these cookies, you won't regret it.

INGREDIENTS:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup salted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar in mixer until fluffy. Gradually stir in dry ingredients, then stir in chocolate chips. I usually finish the dough up with my hands, it's pretty crumbly. Then you can either scoop the dough into walnut sized balls and place on an unprepared cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart and then flatten them slightly. OR, you take the dough blob and flatten it out to about 1/4 of an inch and use a small round cookie cutter to make the cookies a little more uniform (they cook better and look prettier). Bake for between 20 and 30 minutes it really seems to vary depending on the oven. You'll notice the color of the dough change just slightly when they're done-they get a little bit golden instead of white. Then let cool for a few on the cookie sheet so they don't crumble apart on you.

Pizza A La Fridge Clean Out

Ah, the forgiving pizza crust. Add whatever to it, cover it in cheese, bake, and you've got dinner! Tonight's crust is another generous recipe from Sydni. It has been my favorite homemade recipe yet and it was so very quick and easy. Truly, I made this pizza faster than it could have been delivered. And the best part? I used a bunch of leftovers for toppings. Half a grilled chicken breast, chopped tomatoes, leftover basil, red onion, capers, a bit of olive salad, fresh spinich from today's LPO box. It was good. And don't worry if you don't have spaghetti sauce. Just brush the entire crust with olive oil and chopped garlic instead.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour ( I use one c. fresh ground whole wheat, one c. unbleached white)
3/4 cup warm water
1 T. yeast
1 t. sugar
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1 T. parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

In large mixing bowl fitted with dough hook, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 c. of warm water. Let the mixture sit 5 minutes until yeast has expanded and is bubbly. Add flour, oil, salt, and cheese to the mixture. Turn on the mixer and mix and knead the ingredients adding the remaining water until the dough scrapes the sides of the bowl and you have a smooth and elastic ball of dough. (You may need to add water 1 T. at at time until dough cleans the sides of the bowl.) Place dough ball on greased baking sheet turning over once to grease the top of the dough. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. After dough has rested, shape into desired pizza shape. Add toppings, brush crust with olive oil and bake for 18 minutes.

Sydni's Favorite Whole Wheat Bread

Let me begin by saying that this bread is good. Real good. And not just in the "fresh from the oven" sense. This bread is good because my very kind friend, Sydni, ground the wheat berries for me so I could try fresh whole wheat flour. WHOA! Not just a little difference, a HUGE difference. I mean really, really big! Enough of a difference to make a girl want to buy her own wheat grinder and ship in the wheat berries all the way from Montana!

In case you don't have access to a wheat grinder, or a kind friend who does, just substitute any good whole wheat flour. I'm partial to King Arthur or Gold's but whatever will work. Also, the Vital Wheat Gluten can be found in the baking isle of most grocery stores and health food stores. I found mine next to the cornstarch, flour and yeast at my local Wal-Mart. Gotta love Wal-Mart!

Fresh from the oven!

We ate ours warm with butter and honey

INGREDIENTS:
2 and 1/2 cups warm water
7 to 8 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
2 t. salt
2 T. vital wheat gluten
1 T. yeast

DIRECTIONS:

In large mixing bowl, combine water, oil, honey, salt, and gluten. Don't turn on your mixer. Float 3 cups of flour and sprinkle yeast on top of flour "raft"; turn mixer on low speed and add remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes. When the dough is smooth and elastic shape into 24 rolls or 2 loaves. Place in greased pans. Let the dough rise until doubled in size--about 1 hour. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven. Bake loaves for 30 -35 minutes. Let bread cool and remove from pans. Try not to buy your own wheat grinder and ship in wheat berries from Montana.