teacher by day - chef by night
We all have lots of things going on and life is busy, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t time to sit down for dinner. According to research, less than 10% of families eat together more than 2 times a week – that blows my …
Day #2 of trying to play Dr. Chef. Last night’s Green Cream of Spinach Soup went over well and was comforting on his throat. He was coughing most of the night and miserable at work all day, SO – I did what I was brought …
My family decided to have a “Ring-Wing-Off” for Super Bowl. Actually I think it started because mom said she bought 4 pounds of wings and they were going to make the wings for our Appetizer/Dinner Super Bowl party, with the four of us. But when she told me that, I said that I had wanted to make the wings – low and behold… wing challenge issued!
I knew that I was going to bake my wings, but went on the search for the best recipe. The problem was that I didn’t know what flavor exactly I was going for. I headed to FoodGawker & let my eyes be my guide. My eyes brought me to Life Ambrosia’s blog quite a few times! I spent hours (maybe exaggerating a bit, but not too much) looking through her different wings, the comments, the flavors, etc. Finally (after a round of eenie-meenie-miney-moe with myself) I decided to make these Asian inspired wings (she calls them Jalapeno/Ginger – mine had just enough kick but the sesame flavor was the one that really shown through)
Wing-Off Results
Dad made baked wings: marinated in his “whatever” sauce (a mix that is never duplicated using lots of spices, whats-that-here sauce, soy, molasses, ketchup, & who knows what else). Then they got baked (he made a mild version & a spicy version since he was sucking up to our “official” judge of mom who hates spicy things). After baking, they marinated some more and then got baked more right before serving. His texture was pretty good – a bit of a crunch from the double bake, the the flavor (in my opinion) was too sweet AND too bitey at the same time. (VOTE: Rich voted these #1, while Mom/Dad/Myself all voted them in 2nd place)
Rich went with the slow cooker & a BBQ/hot wing sauce (Jack Daniel’s) with some onion & garlic chopped. The flavor was ok, but not for wings… they would have been good slow cooked chicken thighs or something like that! (VOTE: we all voted Rich’s wings at the bottom of the wing-off, but his pizza was amazing as always)
Rachel (thats me) went with a single bake method (20 minutes per side – see recipe below). The wings marinated all afternoon. The flavor was deep in the wings due to the marinade & massaging every hour or so in the bag. They had a little bit of crunch from the marinade, but probably could have gone a minute or two longer (or maybe even broil for a minute on either side at the end!?) (VOTE: hands down winner from Mom & Dad, Rich put these at a tie for 2nd with his, and I enjoyed them but still am sick so didn’t really officially vote for anything since my taste-buds are off still)
Rinse and pat dry the chicken wings. In a bowl whisk remaining ingredients together. Place chicken wings in a ziplock bag & pour jalapeno mixture over the top. Seal bag and shake to coat (you could cook here OR put in fridge and let marinate, being sure to give it some love every hour or so to really let to flavors get ready to party)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken wings in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and cooked through (try to broil for more of a crunch – I’ll give that a shot next time) Serve & Enjoy!
Overall we had a great time “watching” the Super Bowl!! Why wouldn’t we have enjoyed it… we got out of the house, the dogs enjoy being at my parents, my dad did a 10cent-a-square football pool, and of course there was lots of great food: Rich’s always-loved pizza, wings, black bean ‘dip’ (will be blogged about & repurposed later this week), dad’s awesome stuffed mushrooms, fresh French Onion Dip, cheese ball, and cheese/crackers & veggies!
Today is another one of those snowy days (Snow Day #6 by my count). I used to love having random snow days (skiing, sledding, etc) – but this year I am just so over having “snow storms” which amount to about 3-6 inches each time …
Remember what I keep telling you… think outside the box & don’t be afraid to experiment! MEXICAN would not be what comes to my mind first when I think of STUFFED SHELLS – but combining these two different origins really works.
I don’t even like Pot Pie… I have told Rich that since we first started dating (and too bad for him, because he loves pot pie)! As much as he loves Pot Pie, I guess I might love him (eww barf – I know!) because I decided to put my hate of cooked veggies & pot pie to the test and make him one of his “favorite” foods. I made some changes here – which its Pot Pie – you can do that! I hate hate hate peas & cooked carrots – so they didn’t go in there (I used green beans instead of peas & actually cut up 3 whole baby carrots to put in there, just to push myself a little more – I know mom, I willingly put carrots into something that was getting cooked)!
(As adapted from Closet Cooking– congrats to Kevin for making his own pie crust, and as a side note: I now have this blog bookmarked because check out some of those “top recipes”… yeah, thats what I’m talking about!)
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
1 small small carrot (chopped)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
1 pound cooked chicken (shredded)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup frozen/canned green beans
1 cup canned corn
salt and pepper to taste
2 pre-made Pillsbury crusts
Directions:
Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Mix in the flour and let it cook for a minute. Carefully mix in the chicken stock followed by the milk. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken, thyme, green beans, corn and season with salt and pepper. Pour the filling into a pie dish with the bottom crust laid inside (read the box for help here if you need it. Place the 2nd pie dough over the pie plate and fold any excess under itself. Seal the top and bottom crusts. Cut [3] 1-inch slits on the top. Place the pie onto a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400F oven until the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Surprises of Surprises – I LIKED IT! (My parent’s first dog was Mikey – like the Life commercial, this way in case mom made something dad hated: they could feed it to the dog & say “Mikey likes it”). The flavors all worked, there were veggies I liked – and Pot Pie is no longer something I will say “eww” to (as long as the right veggies are in there!)
I leave you with this: Force yourself to try something new – go out of your comfort zone – take a chance… some of the best things in life come when you say ‘why the heck not’!
*and don’t forget to comment & explore the blog
