teacher by day - chef by night
“Sweet and Spicy” – that explains me pretty well. I try to be sweet and do things for others, but I’m stubborn and don’t take garbage from anyone so I guess that I can be called pretty spicy usually too, and we wonder why I love those two flavors, haha! Enough about me – prepare to get into the kitchen for the best of both worlds!
Now you wait just one minute before you stop reading (actually – you need to start reading in order to start, but don’t stop before you even start… if that even makes any sense). These are not pancakes like you would eat for breakfast… think instead …
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 up on… I made some Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls!
Ok – so maybe I didn’t really “make” it – but I still “made it”! I took a container of Mom’s Chicken Broth out of the freezer (added some more water with a tiny more bullion) I sautéed some onions, celery, & carrot and then put the broth in and brought it to a boil. While that was cooking I made/chilled matzo balls (open a package from the Manischewitz box – follow the directions, but add about a tablespoon of parsley, 1/2 a teaspoon ginger, and less than a 1/4 cup of parmesan). Boil them for 20 minutes.
Eat your chicken soup at “burn your mouth” temperature. It is the heat that kills all the germs and magically makes you better! This classic dish always makes me feel better (at least emotionally, and I love matzo balls!)
It just so happened that while I was making this, Ina Garten was on the Food Network making a Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls! It looked awesome & plan on trying out her recipe next time we need it (add that matzo meal to the shopping list). I just fear that if these are TOO amazing – that I will never be able to enjoy the quick joy of Manischewitz & Chicken Bullion/Stock Penicillin…
Yes – another GREEN recipe! Now that I am over being sick (and just have an occasional gross cough) Rich’s body decided he wanted to catch what I had. He is pushing through it (and not taking it easy like he tried to force me …
Happy Valentines Day (weekend) Oh, the things we do for love! I had off on Friday to go to the dentist so knew I would have some kitchen time if I wanted and earlier in the week had come across this recipe for Chocolate Chip …
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!
