Category Archives: Comfort Food

Honey Lime Chicken Wings

February 1, 2012 By in Appetizers, Chicken, Comfort Food, Hors d'oeuvres, Protein, Recipes Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Who doesn’t love a good chicken wing?  If you’re looking to impress your friends this Superbowl weekend, then watch-out! These chicken wings will knock your sox off. Chicken wings are typically a very cheap buy.  Roughly $1.50 for an 18 wing package, this fowl limb can be done in hundreds of combinations. Here’s one way I particularly like to eat them.

Ingredients:  (double or triple recipe if feeding a large party)

  • 18 whole chicken wings, cleaned and split
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated lime zest
  • 2 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoons of fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

Fry Directions: In a large bowl, mix together the honey, lime juice, lime zest, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, salt and ground black pepper.  Reserve half in a separate bowl.  In a zip lock bag or shallow dish combine 1/2 of the mixture with the wings and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. When ready to start preparing, drain off chicken wing marinade and pat dry. Place the flour in a plastic bag and begin shake the chicken wings in the flour to coat (you could do this in batches).

In a large skillet, fry the chicken wings in hot, 1 inch deep oil until cooked through. Place the cooked wings in a bowl with the other half of the the honey/lime mixture and toss to coat well. Serve immediately and garnish with lime wedges.

Grill Directions: Season the  raw chicken wings with salt and pepper.  Arrange on the grill and cook until lightly browned and mostly cooked through, then begin to brush on the sauce.  Allow to grill about 10-15 minutes more or until a crispy amber crust begins to form.  Remove from heat and serve immediately with lime wedges.

Either cooking method will yield delicious results. Grilling is obviously the more healthy way but not always accessible or weather permitting.  Enjoy!

The best oven baked Ribs

January 30, 2012 By in Baking, Comfort Food, Pork Tags: , , 1 Comment

A totally delicious accident.  I had never made oven baked ribs before, but with a fairly good idea of what to do, I started  throwing spices and liquids together.  I don’t see many rib recipes that incorporate Orange Juice, Espresso powder, and Ginger, but I did. Wanna wow your friends during your Superbowl party?  Give this recipe a shot.   I guarantee these won’t last longer than the first Doritos commercial.

INGREDIENTS:
2 whole slabs pork baby back ribs, silver skin removed

Dry Rub:

  • 8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced

Orange Juice Syrup:

  • 2 cups Orange Juice, reduced by half
  • 2 tablespoons, ketchup
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.  Pack each side of the ribs generously with the dry rub, then wrap the ribs tightly in the foil and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight and up to 48 hours.

When ready to bake the ribs, preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Place the ribs (still in the foil packets) on a foil lined baking sheet and bake the ribs in the oven for 2 hours.

Remove ribs from foil and  brush with your favorite BBQ sauce or lightly glaze with the reduced orange juice syrup mixture. Place ribs on a shallow baking rack with drip pan. Line the bottom of the drip-pan with 1 cup of orange juice.  Cover tightly with foil and return to the oven for another 2 hours. After 2 hours, check the moisture level and add more orange juice or a OJ/Water combo if needed. Continue to cook until level of personal done-ness is achieved.  During the last 15 minutes of cooking crank up the oven to 425*F and baste again with OJ Syrup or BBQ sauce to give the ribs a crispy crust.  I like them falling off the bone, so I cooked mine for 6.5 hours.  Oven levels will vary.

Slow and low is the name of the game.

Meatball Malice, part II of sad-cooking-Sunday

October 24, 2011 By in Baking, Comfort Food, Healthy Eating, Recipes, Turkey Tags: , , , 2 Comments

In an effort to cook healthy and be somewhat inventive, I decided to dream up my own meatball. I thought it would be a perfect night for homemade bread, spaghetti, and meatballs. Well, it was certainly a fun learning experience and also one of the first times I had seriously failed in awhile.   My efforts started when I was milling around in my fridge to see what I could scrap into a Sunday dinner dish for one.   I had meager  supplies; 1/3 of an onion,  half of a red bell pepper, some basil that was about to go bad, and 1 egg.  Bread crumbs are a staple, and I’ve acquired enough spices recently that making a meatball seemed like a reality.  A quick trip over to whole foods to grab some meat and I’d be all set.

I’m not usually a fan of ground turkey, but eating lean was the goal and after the weekend I had entertaining, drinking and dining out,  I could afford to eat a little lighter.  To add some flavor and fat content (for moisture) I mixed the ground turkey with 2 sweet Italian sausages.  I would have preferred regular over sweet, but Whole Foods was out.

Here’s what I used:

  • 1/2  lb Lean ground turkey
  • 2  Italian sausages, removed from the casing
  • ½ cup bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup of cremini mushrooms, chopped and sautéed lightly
  • ½ red pepper, brunois (1/8” x 1/8” x 1/8”) sweated
  • ¼ onion, brunois, sweated
  • 2 tbsp, basil, chiffonade
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ tsp cayenne Pepper
  • ½ tsp Paprika
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
When I make these again, I will add/use:
  • 1/2 lb ground beef or equal parts light and dark meat ground turkey to add fat.
  • 1 tbsp  of cream
  • a sprig of thyme
  • maybe a 1tbsp of olive oil
  • Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F

2. Sweat peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Toss in the garlic 30 seconds before taking off the heat.

2. In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together. Best mixed with clean, bare hands.

3. Using a tablespoon, form 1″ meatballs and place on a baking sheet.

4. Bake for around 15-18 minutes.

This meatball was flavorful, but it was seriously dry.  I thought the ingredients were spot on and the flavor profile worked, however there just wasn’t enough fat to give these meatballs the moisture they needed to combat the lean turkey.    The next time I try this I will most certainly be using ground beef and sausage together or a more fat aggregate mixture of white and dark turkey meat.  It was a fairly successful first try, but dry meat-anything is lack luster.

Between the Focaccia Bread and these meatballs, I gave myself a nice humble reality check.  I researched why I thought I went wrong and I proved myself right; my fat ratio was off, it should have been 80/20 and I was probably somewhere around 90/10.  I might have failed slightly, but at least I know why.  Even though the end product wasn’t that great, it was still a successful recipe test. Hey, at least it photographed well!

4 star look, 1 star flavor

Sad-cooking-Sunday, part I

October 24, 2011 By in Comfort Food, Pasta, Recipes Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Turkey & Italian Sausage Meatballs

Looks good, right?  I was pretty excited about it… until I tasted it.  The results?  Meatball FAIL.      It was a shame really, and I didn’t even  see it coming.  I wouldn’t say it was terrible, but I was certainly glad I didn’t have any dinner guests last night. This post does not go with out a bit of humility, I made some simple mistakes that a lot of home cooks can. (read more about my meatball mistake in part II…)

I should have known that my cooking day was doomed when my first project, Focaccia bread, flopped.  It was a good dough, evenly smoothed, kneaded, and ready for a quick 30 minute rise, but nope, that didn’t happen.  When I tempered the yeast I was sure to keep the water under 110*F so I know it was not my hand that killed the little organisms. Faulty product? (I now assume the yeast was dead or old).  Staring at it wasn’t going to make it rise anytime soon, so after 35 minutes I decided to throw it in the oven and see what happens.  It came out looking like a focaccia bread, but the inside was too moist and too dense.   I knew immediately what I did wrong and this is why being exact in baking is extremely important.   For starters, I rushed myself. I wasn’t as meticulous measuring the water as I could have been. I also did not sift my flour (partly because I don’t have a sifter or the space to do so).  After adding the 5 cups of flour I knew the dough was too wet, so I kneaded more flour into it. I’m pretty sure I over kneaded and the ratios of water and flour might have been just a little off. The softness coupled with dead yeast was quite literally a recipe for disaster. When the bread came out, it looked like a tasty, crusty bread, but the flavor just wasn’t there.  Yeast.  Never-mind the marginally off measuring, it was the yeast that didn’t develop the flavor or texture!

Here is what I used:

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 cups warm water (around but not over 110*F)
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Method:
  1. Dissolve honey in the warm 110* F water in a large bowl, then sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to foam. In a mixer with a dough hook stir in 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon olive oil, onions, and 5 cups of flour, mix until the dough comes together. Knead on a well floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 415 degrees F (215 degrees C).
  3. Place dough onto oiled baking sheet, and flatten to cover the whole sheet evenly. Use the tips of your fingers to make indentations all over the dough spaced about 1 inch apart. Drizzle the focaccia with 3 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle rosemary, Parmesan cheese, and remaining 1 tablespoon of kosher salt over the top. Let rise for 10 minutes
  4. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes until golden brown.

I used this recipe from allrecipes.com, care of MichaelGlassCook. Based on the 4,758 positive reviews, my conclusion is that it was my own human error or yeast defectiveness that crippled my Focaccia.  Feel free to use this recipe with confidence that it will work, if over 4000 people followed it, you should too.  Off to the market later to buy fresh yeast and give it another shot.

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