Super Wing: The Party Awakens

Okay, fair warning that is a post related to the big sporting event this weekend. However, this is an appetizer that ultimately will please any palate, I promise. If sports isn't your thing, no problem. Do yourself a favor, give this recipe a chance because we are talking about wings!! Oh yeah! This is one of the most recognizable foods you can find anywhere. Happy hour, hour of the big game or just snack hour, these little beauties will fit the bill. To prove my point, here is the finished photo of what you could be enjoying.

The best thing about these wings is the flavor profile is rather unique and can really deliver that wow factor. They are tangy, sweet, citrusy, and a balanced punch of salt. In addition, making these wings is so, so simple. Marinate and cook. Done. That is it, for real. Ready? Let's get it!


This is a recipe that I have adapted. So, if you want to see the recipe in all of it's glory, here is the original.

Super Party Wings

Ingredients:

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice 

2-4 tablespoons soy sauce 

1-2 tablespoons sugar 

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder 

1/2 teaspoon onion powder 

20 wings, cut in half at joints, without wingtips

fresh ground pepper

 Directions:

In a bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves.

Add the wings into a resealable plastic bag and pour in the mixture, make sure the bag is sealed, and toss the wings until they are all coated. Let the wings marinate for as little as two hours or let them go overnight.

Fire up your favorite grill and cook. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes or until the wings are cooked through. Be sure to turn these wings frequently because the sugars will carmelize and you can burn these wings easily. 

 If you prefer to cook these in your oven, place the wings on a foil covered baking sheet and set your oven to 400 degrees. This will take between 45 minutes to 60 minutes depending on your oven. Again, same rule applies, check on these frequently so your wings don't get too dark. If you are worried they are getting dark just throw another sheet of foil over the wings. This will keep them from burning, but still allow them to cook through. Trust me, it works really well as I have been there.

After that, well, serve with your favorite condiment and enjoy! May I suggest some homemade barbecue sauce. If you are more classic and would like a homemade ranch dressing, then you can find that too.

I have made a few changes relating to the ingredients on this list. First, I use a little less soy sauce because of the amount of salt in it. Even if you use the low sodium soy sauce the salt can add up quickly. I normally start with 2 tablespoons and then I adjust accordingly. Also, I start with less sugar to keep the wings from getting burnt and I really love the punch of the lemon juice and find I don't miss the sugar. You can always add, but it doesn't work so well to take stuff out of the mix. If you want a little spice add a little chili powder or chili flake to give these some heat. You can always taste the marinade before you add the chicken and I highly recommend it! The other option is to make a tester wing if you want to see how they are seasoned as well.

If you find that you have finished your wings before you are ready to serve and want to keep them warm, put them in the oven at 200 degrees until you are ready to serve. Go ahead and cover them with foil to keep the steam and moisture in the wings as well.
 

You might find that this becomes one of your go to dishes for entertaining anytime of the year. You won't need to even mention sporting to score with these! Can't wait for you to give these a try!

As usual, feel free to email me or comment on the post and let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy!

Superbowl: The Return of Ranch Dressing

You may not know this but besides cooking, I love sports. I know it isn't everyone's jam, but we are in prime Superbowl time. So, with that in mind, I thought I would dedicate a couple of posts to some super quick and easy game day dishes that are sure to please any palate. My philosophy on game day food is well, simple. If it can't be done with ease and doesn't leave you time to enjoy the game then forget it.

One of the most important items to have on your game day menu is an amazing condiment.  I'm not talking about your run of the mill ketchup, mustard, or anything like that. Although, they all have their place, but that is another post all together. No, I'm talking about reaching into your fridge for a homemade jar of ranch dressing. Seriously, there isn't anything better than that for a number of reasons. Those reasons include; you control the ingredients, you know what is going into the ranch, where it was made, and finally the satisfaction of knowing that you made it happen. Most importantly, you have made it for less than what it would cost to drive to the store and actually buy a bottle of ranch. How awesome is that?! I know, hold your applause. Also, I would be willing to bet that you have most of these ingredients around the house already.

Ready to rock the Ranch? Alright, let's do this!

                                         
                                           Homemade Ranch Dressing
This recipe has been adapted by me. To see the full recipe, please click here.

Ingredients

1/3 cup nonfat Greek style yogurt
1/3 cup lowfat buttermilk
3 tablespoons mayonnaise, homemade if possible
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
salt

white pepper or fresh ground black pepper

Directions

In a medium bowl, add the yogurt and combine the rest of the ingredients. Adjust seasoning as needed.

If you can believe it, that is it!! 

This is perfect for wings, veggies, salad, nachos, and the list goes on. There is a celebrity chef who says he hates single function kitchen tools. You know what? I agree! That is why you can use this ranch on just about anything! Pretty functional, right? 

I love the profile of this ranch dressing. It is a little more tangy than what most people think of when it comes to ranch. Also, I find there is some additional complexity as you can taste each ingredient too. I did find that I needed to adjust the seasoning when I was done. I adjusted salt, pepper, and I added a little more garlic powder as well. Remember to taste! 

Last piece of the puzzle for me is to talk about about the yogurt. If you decide to use plain yogurt as the original recipe suggests, place it in a strainer and place the strainer over a bowl. Let the yogurt drain and thicken for 20 minutes. You can line the strainer with a paper towel to help absorb more water. For me, greek yogurt wins every time. It adds some much needed body to the ranch and that is important. Plus, you don't have to fuss with straining it out. You add, season, stir, season again, and you are finished. You can't beat that any day in my opinion.

There you are! Perfect for your game day grub! Stay tuned because I will be doing another post on a must have for your game day menu! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

As always, feel free to comment on the recipe or send me an email and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

 

Butternut Squash and Beef Stew

I love stew. What is better than a nice bowl of warm, comforting, flavorful stew? Honestly, I don't think there is much better. Besides, you can stretch it out for a few meals, it is cost effective,  it is quick cooking, you control what goes in it, and well, it is absolutely perfect for this weather.

If you read my blog you know that I like to find ways to give dishes a little twist. Let's face it, like so many other dishes stews run the risk of always being exactly the same. So here I am, it is raining cats and dogs in the Pacific Northwest and I am looking for a twist on stew. Like an episode of Chopped, I look around the kitchen to see what mystery ingredients I have around. I keep noticing the butternut squash in the vegetable rack that I haven't really figured out what to do with that. Also, I want beef, but beef hasn't been my cooking buddy. I will talk more about a little bit later. The only thing that comes to mind is to throw a bunch of broth in with the beef, butternut squash, and let that come together. Although this method is perfectly acceptable, I wanted something else but I just wasn't sure exactly how to find that balance. First up, I needed to find a recipe that was going to to work for me.

Before I began the recipe search my brain began wrestle with the big elephant...err...beef in the room. Okay, it is cooking confession time. Most of the stews/braises I have made have all been pork for some time now. I know, why am I talking about about pork when the issue is beef? It will all make sense, but you may have to humor me a little bit. I have been using pork because it is pretty hard to mess up and it is darn consistent when it comes to flavor. The meat is always tender, flavorful, and never misses a beat regardless of how it is served.  Unlike the last few times I have done beef stew meat, which has come out dry and a little tough. What really makes that a mystery is when the recipe tells you the meat comes out tender and moist, and you get quite the opposite. This has happened the last two times I have made beef stew. I do the same thing every time; which is season the meat, sear it to coax some color and flavor out, and then add to the stew accordingly. The meat always comes out well seasoned, but misses the mark on texture and mouth feel. So I began to do some research on how to avoid this and learned something very interesting. Simply put, between the searing of stew meat and the meat cooking in the stew for a certain number of hours, you force all the moisture out of the meat long before the other components of the stew are cooked and have melded together. Since stew meat doesn't have a lot of surface area, it is hard to keep moisture in while trying to achieve all the other things you want. How do you resolve this problem? Cook your meat in one piece to achieve your color and flavor, cut it down to desired size, and then you can add this to your stew to ensure you have tender meat. If you want more information on the article, click here.

Now that the question of how to cook the beef was solved, it was time to find a recipe. Off to the google-verse I went to complete my search. Surprisingly, it took a few searches to find what I wanted. However, something in this recipe spoke to me. The recipe used spices that are synonymous with winter and the base of the stew was a combo of tomato products and beef broth. I was suddenly inspired when I saw cumin, ginger, coriander, and more. Although these can be very pronounced and can overpower, they create an amazing warmth in the back of your throat with each bite. Plus, the recipe claimed you could have stew in fourty minutes!! As Barney from How I Met Your Mother would say, "Challenge accepted!" Just like that, it was on!

The prep for this is pretty simple. The big challenge is how to peel, remove the seeds, and cut up the butternut squash. If you go to your local grocery store you might find some that is ready to go in your produce section. This is a great time saver for sure. Keep in mind, you will pay a little more for the convenience of the work being done, but it isn't worth losing sleep over. Alright, ready to look at a recipe? Lets do it!

Butternut Squash and Beef Stew

This recipe has been adapted by me, but you can click the link if you want to view the original. 

Ingredients

 

 

• 2 tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil
• **1 pound stew beef (round or chuck), cut in chunks
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound peeled cubed butternut squash, cut into 1 inch cubes or so (about 2 cups)
• 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 cups lower-sodium beef broth
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander, if desired
• 1/4 teaspoon of all spice, if desired
• 1/2-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 cups cooked whole wheat couscous
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted*
• 1 - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Add your oil in a dutch oven or heavy duty, high sided cooking vessel over medium-high heat. Cook whole piece of meat until it is browned and carmelized, 5-7 minutes a side.

 Set the meat aside on a plate. Add onion to pan, and a little extra oil if needed. Cook the onion, stirring often, until softened and translucent -- I added a pinch of salt to coax out some of the water in the onion, but this isn’t required. While the onions are cooking, cut your beef into chunks to a similar size as your butternut squash so everything cooks evenly. After your meat is cut up, add ginger and garlic to the onion mixture. Stir this into the mixture for at least one minute to allow the oils in the spices to bloom.

2.  Place the cut beef back in the dutch oven. Add squash, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flake, and all other spices.

 Bring the mixture up to a boil, stirring to make sure everything is incorporated. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, stir occasionally. Cook until beef is tender, about 35-40 minutes.

3.  Serve with couscous, rice, bread or add a dollop of yogurt. Sprinkle with almonds and parsley, if desired. This recipe makes about 8 servings.

That is it! Just that simple. You know what is most surprising about this to me? You really can have delicious, tasty stew in less than 90 minutes! The idea that stew will always take 8 hours are gone! Honestly, I can't believe it.

In case you are wondering why almost every item in the ingredient list is in italics, that is because those are changes I have made from the original. Parts of the recipe were just clunky, weird, and didn't make any sense. Hopefully my changes will help smooth things out and make the recipe easier through and through. 

I have a couple of final thoughts to share about this recipe as well. This stew will intensify in flavor as it sits and the flavors have a chance to merry together. It will be better the second and third day than on the first day. Don't believe me? Ask any Italian grandmother and they will set you straight. This would make an awesome vegetarian stew as well. Just substitute beef broth for vegetable broth, remove the beef, add a few more long cooking veggies and consume! I think the best thing about this recipe is it is a killer option to freeze the leftovers for a quick weeknight meal or on the days where you don't feel like cooking. 

As always, feel free to send me an email or comment on the recipe and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!!

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta with Mushrooms and Spinach

Okay, I have to confess that I have been really bad about about posting lately as I'm sure you have noticed. Why you ask? Well, I think I have been lacking that creative spark to write a post that really made sense. Also, I am trying to mix new recipes with some of my old recipes to keep the blog moving. Honestly, I am proud to just get dinner on the table as of late. In addition, I have been making a lot of stuff that I have already talked about on the blog. When that happens, it can be hard to find inspiration and energy to put together a new post. Funny to think that with the billions of recipes and food shows out there that there would be lack of material to talk about. My theory has been if it feels right and makes sense, then post it. Otherwise, don't post it until you are sure it is what discuss on the blog. I am going to try something a little different with this post. It won't have all the usual pictures, but enough that you will get the idea. Also, I am going to try a change in my naming convention too. Don't worry, I'm not going to change the premise or the purpose of the blog for this one post. This is still about me, a home cook, just sharing my passion and some useful tips and tricks. 

Okay, on with the show! This is a super easy, weeknight dish that you could realistically put on your dinner table in about 30 minutes. Here is what the completed dish should look like.

I think what makes this dish is the roasted tomatoes, which is an underutilized technique and very easy, in my opinion. You cut the cherry tomatoes in half, season with salt and pepper, apply heat--400 degrees, wait a few minutes, and consume. That is it! Even better, you can achieve the same affect on the stove top or you can even use your grill.  Like any other vegetable or fruit, you are trying to get the tomatoes to give up their liquid and sweetness. Also, if you broil or grill the tomatoes you can get some of that charred flavor as well. It is amazing and worth the time to treat the tomatoes this way.

Ready to make this little bit of magic? Here we go!!


Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta with Mushrooms and Spinach

Ingredients

2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

4 quarts water  

8 ounces uncooked favorite pasta

2 1/2 tablespoons chopped basil

2 1/2 tablespoons spinach

5 sliced button mushrooms

¼ chopped chicken(optional)

3 tablespoons chicken stock

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

  

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot or dutch oven.

In large saute pan, on medium high heat with a 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cook the mushrooms until browned on both sides. This should take 4-5 minutes. Once they are done, you can set them aside. *On low heat, in the same pan, let the garlic warm in the pan with a little bit of olive oil and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Pull the garlic out and set it aside with the mushrooms.

Combine first five ingredients and place them in a baking dish, mixing well to coat. Bake mixture at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and lightly charred in places.

While the tomatoes are cooking, season boiling water liberally with salt and add pasta. Cook until your pasta is just slightly under cooked. The pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.

When you pull the tomatoes out of the oven, add three tablespoons of chicken stock to help loosen brown bits off the bottom baking dish and to help reinforce the tomato sauce. To your pan, add garlic, mushrooms, protein (if you want), tomato mixture, and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes to thicken sauce. 

 
Finally, add pasta and cook another 2 minutes until pasta is warmed through and still al dente. Last but not least, sprinkle in basil and spinach and stir for 30 seconds. Top with cheese, if desired.

Serve and enjoy immediately.

 
Let's talk about a few quick things to help you make this dish count:

Time management. This recipe has one pit fall, which is the timing between the tomatoes and pasta. We want the tomatoes to retain some of their shape and texture while not letting the pasta get overcooked. Start the tomatoes first and after about five minutes you can start your pasta. From my experience, most pastas cook in about 12-15 minutes, and if the tomatoes have to hang a little longer it won't be the end of the world. As I have said before, mistakes happen and we just move forward to fix them. 

*Garlic. Garlic is one of my favorite ingredients and pretty much gets eaten with every meal except when it comes breakfast and cereal. I have yet to find a good combination for that. Anyway, the real point is that garlic can go from delicious to overpowering in a New York second. So, as I was mentioning earlier, if you cook the garlic low and slow you can retain the flavor but will remove the chance of having bitter, burnt garlic. Take it from me, it doesn't make the dish taste good and will take over! If you like a little more intense flavor add it into the pan right before you add the roasted tomatoes and still just let it mellow in the sauce from about 5 minutes. If nothing else, roast the garlic with the tomatoes and just keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

If you are looking for a few ways to take this to the next level, then here are a few ideas for you. If you want a little more heat, you could add a pinch of red chili flake when you are starting to pull the sauce together. Also, you could make your own pasta to make this dish spectacular. Speaking of that, fresh pasta would make time management of this dish a breeze. Since the pasta cooks in less than five minutes you can cook the pasta at the very last second before you serve the dish. Also, you could add some fresh mozzarella chopped up or some goat cheese right when you sprinkle in the basil and spinach. Or, you could do one of my favorites, which is sprinkle in some arugula just until it begins to warm through and wilt. I should mention this would a great vegetarian dish as well! The sauce gives plenty of body and you hardly miss the meat. In addition to the mushrooms, any other vegetables would be a perfect fit into this pasta dish. If you want, you can add a little chopped up meat, your choice, to this dish. Again, you could go either way and it would still be delicious.

Guess what? That is it! We are done! I know, hard to believe right? Well, once in a while even a blind squirrel finds a nut. 

As usual, let me know what you think about this recipe. Comment on the post or send me an email. I would love to hear your thoughts. Enjoy!

Keller Burger!

My Dad and I love burgers, especially burgers that are homemade. He began telling me about this burger he made before I went to visit him in preparation for a little road trip. My dad said it was the best burger he had ever had. That is a big statement from coming him because he has been making burgers all his life and he doesn't give high marks for food unless it is really special. So when I arrived and we started talking food, I asked him what was in this burger and he replied with, "The burger uses buffalo meat, gorgonzola cheese, apples, and brown sugar." My jaw just about dropped to the floor and I shot him a sideways look trying to comprehend what I had just heard. "Brown sugar?" I asked. Without batting an eye he nodded and said that I wouldn't be disappointed. Although I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I had to find out about this burger. Let me say this right now, I wasn't disappointed.

Disclosure: Before we go much further,  I just want to say a quick couple of things. First, this is a very rich burger and isn't friendly to the waist. However, this is a specialty burger and it will change the game when you think about burgers all together. Don't worry, this isn't something that I would make every day as my lunch. As much as I would love to do that, this would not be good for anyone. My approach to food is all about moderation. Therefore, it is okay to splurge once in a while and enjoy some crazy food.

Ready to keep reading? Here we go!

With that, he threw a package of ground buffalo into a bowl with some previously sauteed onions. He very gently worked the onions into the meat to avoid the mixture getting tough. This would allow the burgers to be nice and tender once they were cooked. Then he shaped the burgers into patties between a quarter to a half pound. We went big! You can certainly make smaller patties if you choose.

In a saute pan he added a few tablespoons of canola oil, turned the heat to medium heat and waited until the pan was hot. How do you know it the pan is ready? You should see little wisps of smoke rise off the pan. Don't forget to season the burgers with salt and pepper before you put them down in the in the pan. He placed the patties in the pan and didn't touch them! Yes, don't touch the patties. Why? Well, like any other meat, we need to let the meat caramelize and get that beautiful color on the outside. If you are pressing, poking, prodding, and moving the patties you won't allow the crust and flavor to form. Again, don't touch! Okay?

While the patties were sizzling and crackling away, I was tasked with cutting planks off some apples we had around the house. We were using granny smith apples and a sweeter red skinned apple as well. Just use whatever apples you like and that will be just fine.

After the burgers had cooked for a few minutes and formed that crust, we flipped them over, and added the apples to the same pan. He explained we just wanted to soften the apples a bit, but we wanted to have some texture as well. After he had sauteed the apples for a couple of minutes, he sprinkled the apples with a little brown sugar before he flipped them over. Finally, we added some brown sugar to the side of the apple that hadn't had any sugar and just allowed that to caramelize another minute. He pulled the apples out and set them aside.

At this point, the patties were just about finished and ready to be rested--like what we do with any other meat based protein. He applied gorgonzola cheese to the patties to allow the cheese to melt while the patties rested. You could also add the cheese to the burgers while they are on the heat, but just cover the plan with a lid or foil as the steam will help melt the cheese.

Finally, the time had come to build the burger. We grabbed our buns, which in this case was sandwich bread, but you could use any other bread/bun option you like. You could even omit the bread all together if you wanted.

On the bread goes the condiments of your choosing, but may I recommend some homemade mayo and some good dijon mustard to start? Place 3 to 4 slices of apple on one side of your bun and sprinkle with a little more brown sugar.

Place the patty on top of the apples slices thusly. Add your top bread and eat the extra apple slice. Wait....what? Yes, quality control is always important. So, make sure you taste everything!

 

When you are finished you should have something that looks like this. This is absolutely the best! Enjoy!

Just a minute............you didn't think I was going to leave you with just that did you?? You were right. How about I leave you with this photo instead?

Here you can see all the elements of this burger. There is the mayo, the cheese, the bits of onion running through the meat, and finally, the apple.

As I ate the burger I couldn't believe the amazing flavor that was coming through with every bite. This burger had everything I could have imagined. It was sweet and tart from the apples and sugar, had a little crunch and texture from the onion, some beautiful richness from the cheese and meat, a little zing from the mayo, and a bit of earthiness from the pockets of gorgonzola. All of that formed into a symphony of perfect bites.

I was floored. My Dad just watched me eat for a few minutes as my brain and palate danced with some spectacular flavor. As hard as it was to fathom, this unlikely combination was nothing short of a knock out. However, one question remained. Where did he land on this recipe and why hadn't we known about this before? It turned out that he had seen an article and a recipe by renowned chef, restaurateur, and cook book author, Hubert Keller. Keller is considered by many to be a legend among men when it comes to proper burger basics and techniques. In fact, at one of his restaurants in Las Vegas, the ingredients for one burger are so treasured that the total cost of the burger is about $5,000.00 dollars!!! If  you are curious, follow this link to learn more about Keller, http://www.hubertkeller.com/. My Dad told me had made it a few times before and was never disappointed.

Here a few finals thoughts to help you make this burger a success:

Use ground beef or any other meat if you can't find or don't want the buffalo as your protein. However, the benefit to using the buffalo is that this a much leaner meat than ground beef. Keep in mind, that just means you will have to watch to make sure your burgers don't get over cooked. That is the reason for the onions as they add a little moisture as well as a little flavor.
You could make this a veggie burger option and still would have a spectacular burger.
As usual, feel free to substitute as you see fit. Heck, you could even just cook the apples and melt a little cheese over it and that would make an amazing snack or part of nice end to a meal.

Lastly, I have included the recipe so you can have a little more detail on how to bring this burger together by clicking on this link http://www.hubertkeller.com/recipes/mod/recipe_309SignatureBurgers.html. We made a few changes, but they were related to our choice of herbs and breads we used based on what we had at hand.

There it is. This is the most unique and flavorful burger I have had. I hope you think so too!

Feel free to send me an email about your thoughts on this, or any other recipe that I have shared. I can't wait to hear what you think!

Enjoy!