Buffalo Wings

After our success with ribs on the grill, we decided to do some searching for the perfect buffalo wing recipe. We found grilling tips on YouTube, a great bleu cheese recipe on another YouTube video and a spicy sauce recipe on google. We put them all together for our superbowl party Feb 2011 and they were fantastic!

Prepare chicken wings either by thawing prepared wings or by cutting fresh wings at the joints into 3 pieces (discard the wing tip that has no meat). In a large bowl toss wings with 2-3 Tbsp olive oil, a splash of sesame oil, and 2 Tbsp lime juice. Let stand until coals are ready.
Set up grill for indirect heat....hot coals on one side of the grill. Add smoking wood to the fire. Applewood is nice for poultry. Brown wings a couple of minutes on each side over direct heat. Move wings away from coals and cook over indirect heat about 30-40 minutes allowing time for wings to develop a nice smokey flavor. Interior grill temp should be 350-400F. Coat wings with sauce during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking or you can simply remove the wings from the grill and toss with sauce in a large bowl. Serve with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Sauce

3 cloves garlic
4 Tbsp butter
2 Serrano chile peppers
2 1/4 cups franks red hot sauce
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper

Sauté peppers and garlic in butter until soft. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Simmer over low heat 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Bleu Cheese Dressing

3/4 cup mayo
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup bleu cheese
1 chopped green onion
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt

Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans

I decided to try this new recipe in honor of Andrew serving his mission in Northern Italy (part of which includes Tuscany). While Amy and Casey, picked at the vegetables and beans, David and I loved the dish. The flavors are amazing! Its not a quick fix but much of the preparation can be done while cooking so it really isn't time consuming to prepare.

1 (3 1/2 lb) roasting chicken....or I just use drumsticks and thighs with the bone-in
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
6-8 slices center-cut bacon
1 cup chopped onion
1/8 tsp salt (or more to taste)
2-3 cups baby spinach leaves, packed
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary ( I actually put in about 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary straight from the herb garden)
1 (16 oz) can canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

Preheat oven to 350. Cook bacon in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. While, bacon is cooking, prepare chicken. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Trim excess fat. Cut chicken into 2 breast halves, 2 drumsticks, and 2 thighs. (To save time, I used 1 package of drumsticks...about 5...and 1 package of thighs with the bone-in) You might save some money buying the whole chicken but its so much easier to just buy drumsticks and/or thighs.) I also removed the skin at this stage. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, or more to taste.
Remove bacon from pan; chop and set aside, reserving drippings in pan. Add chicken pieces to reserved drippings in pan. Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side or until browned....I found it took longer than 2 minutes to brown the way I like it. That may be because I removed the skin in advance. I like to eat the browned l part of the chicken, though, and since the skin is discarded before serving, I preferred to remove the skin at the start. I chopped the onion and the rosemary while the chicken browns. When chicken is browned on both sides, remove from pan and set aside. Add onion and 1/8 tsp salt to pan. Reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Stir in bacon, spinach, rosemary, beans, and tomatoes. Remove from heat. Arrange chicken pieces on top. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes. Discard skin before serving.

Samoan Buns

This is a favorite recipe Evan brought home from his mission to Australia. He learned to make them while serving in the Samoan Ward and some of his Polynesian flatmates told Evan that he made better Samoan buns than their mothers did at home. They are very similar to Chinese Buns and you could probably use the dough with a variety of other fillings.

Dough:
8 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cups water

Dissolve the yeast in warm water and Tbsp of sugar. After the yeast foams, add flour and sugar and mix well. Add additional water until dough is the right consistency. The dough should be slightly sticky. Set the dough aside in a bowl covered with a towel to rise for approximately one hour. When you are ready to make the buns, remove a ball of dough (slightly less than a tennis ball) and pat it into a circle approximately 1/2 inch thick. Set aside and allow to rise slightly.

Filling:
2 onions
4 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup soy sauce

Saute onions in a heated skillet with a small amount of oil. When onions are tender, remove them from the skillet and add chicken and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Cook until chicken is done. Drain. Add onions to chicken and additional 3/4 cup soy sauce. Blend.

Take one circle of dough. DO NOT pat it down. it needs to be slightly raised. Place several spoonfuls of chicken mixture in center of dough. Fill as full as possible and then seal the bun closed around filling. Place a small square of wax paper over seam. Repeat with remaining dough and meat. Place buns in steamer, wax paper side down. Steam for 15-20 minutes or until dough is cooked. Do not make more buns than you can steam at one time. While one batch is in the steamer, you can prepare the dough for the next batch. Making the buns too far in advance of placing them in the steamer will cause them to leak.
Serve immediately. Store leftovers in fridge and reheat in microwave for one minute to obtain soft dough consistency.

Chicken Scallopini

4 6oz skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
1/4 cup white grape juice
1 Tbsp butter

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap, pound to 1/4 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Brush chicken with lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in the bread crumbs. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan, cook 3 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove from pan, keep warm. Add broth and grape juice to pan, cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Top chicken breasts with 1 Tbsp sauce each.
Yield: 4 servings = 206 calories

Serve with garlic bread and Orzo, tomato and zucchini toss

I tried this recipe recently with a bruschetta style salsa using fresh tomatoes from the garden and it was to die for!

For Bruschetta Salsa:

2 medium tomatoes, petite diced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp orange juice

Mix all ingredients and serve over top of chicken

Simply Chicken and Rice Casserole

8-10 chicken drumsticks, thighs or breasts, bone-in
salt and pepper
paprika
1-2 tsps poultry seasoning
3 cups cooked rice
1 can creamed sour (chicken or celery...low-fat is fine)

Remove skin and visible fat from chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Brown in 1-2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir together rice, soup and 1 tsp poultry seasoning. Spread in greased 9x13 pan. Place browned chicken over rice mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Japanese So-Mein

The boys love to hate this dish but it really is great and very tasty! My mom got this recipe from a friend in Singapore. It was one of the favorite dishes served for Church pot-lucks there.

1 package So-Mein Noodles (thin rice noodles)
1 head Romaine Lettuce (cut into thin strips)
1-2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken or Chinese style BBQ pork
4 Eggs, soft scrambled
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
Sauce:
3 Tbsp Rice vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
Cook So-Mein noodles in boiling water. Drain and run under cold water. Spread noodles in a 9x13 pan. Garnish with chopped lettuce, chicken, eggs and onions. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a tight container. Shake well to mix. Pour over the noodle dish just before serving. Note: you may not need to use all the sauce.

Chinese Sundaes (Hawaiian Haystacks)

The first time I had Chinese Sundaes was a Mutual activity when I was around 14. I loved them immediately. My kids and David were never really big fans but I made Chinese Sundaes occasionally. I was happy when I found out they were a regular part of the Girls Camp menu for the Philadelphia Stake.

White rice, cooked (approximately 1 cup per person)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup (can use another cream soup)
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or diced

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour and salt and stir. Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. DO NOT allow milk to boil. Add cream of... soup and chicken. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Pour sauce over rice then add toppings of your choice. (grated cheese, finely chopped celery, chowmein noodles, pineapple tidbits, petite diced tomatoes, coconut, toasted sliced almonds, chopped green onions, soy sauce, mango, etc)