Gridiron Grub

Buffalo Wings & Blue Cheese Dressing

5 lbs of chicken wings – split into drumettes and wings

2 sticks of butter

1 bottle of Frank’s Hot sauce

1 bunch of celery, leaves removed and cut into 2 inch pieces

One Recipe of Ruthie’s Blue Cheese Dressing 

Spray two large cookie sheets and place naked wings on sheets. Bake at 350 until juices run clear. Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan on the stove (this amount makes it difficult to melt in the microwave unless you’d like your microwave to be splattered!) and mix with hot sauce. Remove from oven and toss with buttery hot sauce. Serve with dressing and celery.

This recipe is an easy one, but pretty messy. You can also grill them on the grill if you are a true master at using tongs and moving quickly. That said, they are the quintessential football food. Please note these aren’t breaded and I preferred them that way – breaded tends to be heavier on grease and plus I feel like it personally supports those “family” establishments with the buxom women! ;)

If you have any leftovers strip them and use them next day on a great buffalo chicken salad if you chop up any remaining celery and add the dressing in. I usually serve this with kettle chips or a potato salad. Also enjoyable are some fried pickles or mushrooms in a good beer batter.

Now, a word about Franks Hot Sauce. This is an institution. I know there are many religions on hot sauce brands. and I know that I use many different ones for many different purposes. Being from Texas, Salsa on it’s own has it’s own time and place. So please, for me, try Franks. It sticks the best, and has the best buffalo flavor. Well worth the switch if you’re a die hard on another name. Like Dr. Seuss says…”Try it…you’ll like it.”

Sajeev’s Mama’s Cooking

1 large container fat-free plain yogurt

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped and set aside

1 diced cucumber

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 onion, chopped coarsely

3 chicken breasts, cubed

1 jar of Patak’s Garam Masala (or mild curry) sauce

Saute onion and chicken in a little oil. Wait until it gets nice and cooked through and soft. Add tomatoes, with a little juice but mostly drained. Add 1 – 2 Tbsp of curry sauce.

When serving, serve with yogurt and cilantro and cucumbers, aid the cooling process! I also buy premade Naan at my farmers market with butter. Serve with white rice. I prefer Jasmine!

Entree Du Jour

Coq Au Vin

1 split chicken
2 C Cabernet Sauvignon
Salt and pepper
1 package of bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 bag of frozen pearl onions
2 cups white button mushrooms, chopped
3 T flour
1 T tomato paste
2 T Cognac
2 bay leaves
5 fresh thyme sprigs
2 t herbs de Provence

Place chicken in a large bowl, and add wine. Cover, and let sit for 2 hours to overnight. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove chicken from wine, and pat dry; reserve wine.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat until crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate, leaving drippings in pot, add olive oil. Raise heat to medium-high.

Working in batches, cook chicken, flipping once, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add onion to pot, and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes. Add pearl onions and mushrooms, and cook until brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste, and cook 2 minutes. Add Cognac, and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Return bacon and chicken to pot. Pour in reserved wine, and add herbs. Bring to a simmer. Cover, and place in oven until chicken has cooked through and vegetables are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I cannot tell you how much this dish is worth the effort. It's classic, it's simple in it's preparation, just lots of steps and time. Perfect for that fall day inside where there's nothing better to do than watch a movie, get up, do a few things, and let this simmer. I make it while doing laundry and chores.

By the way, I know there are a million rules of thumb about the type of wine to get for cooking - i.e. "only use wine you would drink"...NOPE! Get the cheapest stuff you can. It's FINE!

You need a good hearty bread for this. I know french bread is the obvious choice, but ciabiatta is actually a fantastic change up here. or a sturdy sourdough. Depending on your number of guests I sometimes put fresh green beans and roasted potatoes with this.

For the roasted potatoes, just quarter (skin on) potatoes into a greased 10x13 pyrex. Sprinkle them with olive oil, salt and pepper (and herbs de provence if you feel especially French!) Turn the oven to 400 degrees and let them go until they are cooked through (at least 30 minutes).

Need more? Oui!

A Taste of Thai

Gang Ga Lee (Yellow Curry)

4 red potatoes, quartered
2 yellow onions, sliced and halved
3 carrots, chopped into 1 inch pieces
4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 can of coconut milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 Tbsp yellow curry powder
4 C. Jasmine Rice, cooked

Boil potatoes and carrots until soft. In oil, saute chicken and onion until cooked through and soft. Add carrots and potatoes. Add coconut milk and curry powder. Heat on low for 20 minutes until combined. Serve over rice.

This was my first Thai curry ever. If you aren't an Indian fan, and we'll get to those recipes one day, Thai might still work for you. It's a little less of a stretch flavor-wise. As you can see, most of these aren't your "exotic" ingredients.

I love this dish for comfort food on a wintery night. You can adjust the spice as necessary. Salt and pepper aren't insanely necessary here, but change at will. This is also, for a strange twist, good over pasta as well, omit the rice.

Have fun, try new things -- you may never know!

Papri-what?

Chicken Paprikash

2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 T. flour
3 cups of sour cream
1 stick of butter or margarine
2 T. garlic, minced
1 whole chicken
1 large can of whole tomatoes (32 oz)
1 package of spiral noodles, cooked
salt, pepper, paprika

Boil entire chicken until it's cooked through. Remove all meat and discard carcass. Saute garlic, bell peppers and onions in butter. Add flour to thicken. Add tomatoes with juice, breaking up with spoon. Add sour cream, salt, pepper and about a tablespoon of paprika. Stir until combined and add noodles. Serve hot!

It's said Chicken...Pop-Ree-Kosh. It's another recipe from mum, and my favorite go-to for a crowd pleaser that isn't your basic spaghetti or chili. Everyone tends to love it - hello sour cream and butter - and it's easy on the wallet as well. If you want to make it easier, grab a rotisserie chicken or even just grill up some chicken breasts. Get canned diced tomatoes instead of whole. They also sell chopped onions and green bell peppers in your freezer section, so at some point this entire dish becomes dump into pot, stir, cook, eat.

Out of respect for mum, I'm going to give you the recipe as it should be...and then tell you how I might make it easier now. I have come to appreciate very much the long handed method of cooking certain dishes, but when applicable, the fast method is just easier, you might lose some pride, but it's on the table and still fabulous.

This dish doesn't really have a side dish to it, we throw a little bread and salad on the table and call it an evening. But it does highlight one of my mom's favorite qualities about a dish - the one pot use. I am a big pot user - okay Clintonites, calm it down - I love dishes that require a little bit of a stove challenge. This is relatively easy if you do the footwork (or the easy route!) on the chicken and noodles and set it aside and then make the sauce.

This dish reminds me of the coming of fall, it's fabulously warm and rich. Don't expect to eat tons of it, and honestly, it's not a great leftover item. The sour cream and butter tend to separate. It's not terrible, but don't expect the same product to come out. It's sorta like heated up boxed macaroni and cheese the next day - not the same. Okay, so it's rare that I want to save that stuff, but every now and again....

One of My First Recipes

Chicken & Rice

1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can of Chicken and Rice Soup
2 "cans worth" of water
2 "cans worth" of instant rice
4 Bone In Chicken Thighs - 2 skin on, 2 skin off.

Mix first four ingredients in 9x13 Pyrex dish. Put the skin on thighs in opposite corners and put skin off thighs in remaining corners. Place foil on pan. Bake at 400 for 45 -1 hour until chicken is done.

This is one of my favorite recipes from my mum. Upon giving it out, she'll also tell you that they used water because they were poor, and if you really want a good one, replace the water with milk and the chicken with pork chops. That works too. Oddly enough, I've never had this one with pork chops.

You'll learn quickly through my blog here that I love, live, breathe and of course, eat, food. So I figured why not devote a huge portion of my blogging to another passion entirely.
I have several blogs:
http://randomthoughtsofananalyticalmind.blogspot.com/ - personal
http://latoomuchfortheman.blogspot.com/ - humor
http://prettysmartphotography.blogspot.com/ - my budding almost business
and even...
http://ralphthomas.blogspot.com/ - yes, my dog.

But I digress, you'll learn about me that when it's my mum's recipe, there's almost always a preset side dish to go with it. This one is a can (must be can) of french cut green beans. Over the years this has attempted to get a dish of frozen peas, or even canned peas. But it's not right. And don't get regular green beans either. It doesn't work, they don't stick on the fork with the rice well. It's wrong on many levels.

So there's your first recipe. Get to getting on it.