Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes

Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes adapted from Rachel Ray
1-1 1/2 pounds ground chicken or turkey
1- 1 1/2 cups Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 cup Ranch dressing
1 grated carrot
2 grated celery stalks
1 onion finely chopped
1 handful of brown sugar (if needed)

Directions:  Brown ground chicken. Add in wing sauce, ranch dressing, carrots, celery and onion. If the sauce is too hot, add in a handful of brown sugar. Serve on a bun. Add extra ranch if needed.

Modifications:
-I couldn't find ground chicken anywhere so I just went for ground turkey
-I did not add the onions to the mixture
-I only used about 3/4 cup Frank's sauce for about 1 1/4lb ground turkey
-I used about 3/4 cup Ranch dressing in the mixture
-If you prefer Bleu cheese with your wings, you may want to substitute for the Ranch

Here's what you'll need:

Grate 4 small, baby carrots.

Grate 2 stalks of celery.

Brown the turkey.

Once the turkey has cooked for a bit, add in the celery and carrots.
Once the turkey has cooked through, add 1/2 cup of Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce.

Turn the burner down and let it simmer.

Add another 1/4 cup of wing sauce.

Add in 1/4-1/2 cup of Ranch dressing.

You might want to add in another 1/2 cup of Ranch (taste it) and maybe a Tablespoon of brown sugar to cool it down a bit if it is too hot for your taste.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Veggie Tales by Kris: PEAS!

Kris here from Behold the Metatron. Martha and I are swapping days just for now.

I think I'm one of the few in my family who LOVES peas. And when made like this they are scrumptious!  I first caught wind of this recipe on Top Chef. Carla made them and I've been dreaming about them for years!

It's very heavy on the butter but you can easily just put 2-3 tablespoons in. Takes out the fun, but if you need to watch your calories and fat I don't think you will miss it too much!

We served this with Red Snapper and mushrooms. I also added asparagus to it.

Ingredients
1 pound English peas, shelled or frozen peas
1 teaspoon tarragon, chopped 
2 ounces cold butter 
1 teaspoon chives, finely sliced 
salt and pepper
4 ounces butter
1½ teaspoons lemon zest
1½ teaspoons chopped thyme
¼ teaspoon salt 


Preparation
1. Prepare compound butter: combine butter, lemon zest, chopped thyme and salt & pepper. 

2. Blanch the peas in salted water until just tender (about 5-7 minutes). Strain. 

3. Toss peas in butter, tarragon, lemon thyme butter, salt, and pepper. 

4. Garnish with snipped chives.

Fire Day Friday: Grilled Chicken with Orange Chipotle Glaze

I have a love affair with chipotles.  It's true.  I don't know if Chris knows about it or not, but I'm thinking he does not, as he never seems to question the numerous times chipotle shows up for dinner.  Either way, it's not a love affair I am ready to give up yet, so let's just keep this between us... ok?

At least I am willing to share my love with you all :)

The orange chipotle glaze was pretty spectacular.  The citrus and the smokiness of the chipotles blended so wonderfully together that I would swear they were meant to be together.... but I know that isn't true as chipotle was meant for me ....and you of course!

Grilled Chicken with Orange Chipotle Glaze
Adapted from Cooking.com
- Serves 2 -
Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
1/2 of a whole chicken
3 cups water
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tablespoons chipotle puree
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon molasses

Directions:
Place the chicken in a large resealable bag or bowl.  Mix together the water, salt, sugar, pepper, and garlic until the sugar and salt has dissolved.  Pour mixture over chicken and allow to brine for at least 2 hours.  Remove chicken from brine and rinse thoroughly.  Pat dry with paper towel.

In a small bowl, mix together the orange juice concentrate, chipotle puree, balsamic, Dijon, and molasses until well combined.  Pour half of the glaze over the chicken and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Preheat grill to 375 degrees F.  Oil grill grates.  Place the chicken, skin side down directly over the fire.  Grill for 10 minutes.  Move the chicken to indirect heat (no longer directly over the fire), and continue to grill another 10 minutes.  Move chicken back to direct heat and flip over.  Baste skin side of chicken with some of the remaining glaze and allow to grill for 10 minutes.  Baste again with any remaining glaze and continue grilling until the chicken is cooked through - 160F in the breast and 180F in the deep thigh.  Enjoy!

ITALIAN BAKED CHICKEN

ITALIAN BAKED CHICKEN serves 8

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut in halves)
salt and pepper to taste
provolone cheese slices
prosciutto slices
1 large bunch green onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
fresh basil
1 cup white wine (I used zinfandel)
3 tablespoons butter

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Generously salt and pepper each piece of chicken.
• In a large skillet melt butter until frothy.
• Add chicken pieces, searing each side quickly.  Drain on a paper towel. Do not discard butter.
• Warp each piece of chicken in a slice of prosciutto and then lay a slice of provolone on top.  
• Arrange chicken pieces in a baking dish.
• In the skillet add the garlic and green onions, sauteing until soft and fragrant.
• Add the wine and lemon juice, simmering until starts to thicken.
• Pour sauce over and around chicken pieces.
• Bake 30 minutes.
• Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

SUMMER APPLE COLESLAW

I love coleslaw. And I love to combine different flavors to make new salads!  I am more of a celery and cucumber fan in salads.  The husband and my brother both prefer green pepper. So I made this for them. They put up with me putting beans into almost every meal so I can certainly cave and put green pepper into their coleslaw. It admit, it was good. 

We ate this salad with the most delicious grilled cheese sandwiches with a caramelized red onion jam.  It was an excellent meal.

I've actually made this a couple times as everyone loved it and it is an easy summer side dish.

Apple Coleslaw

4 cups coleslaw mix

1 green pepper, chopped

2 apples, chopped

1 - 8 oz. Yoplait french vanilla yogurt, light

2 tablespoons mayonnaise, light

2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon dill weed

Salt and pepper

Combine coleslaw, pepper and apples.  In a small bowl, combine yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper. Mix and add to coleslaw.  Mix and serve.

Total calories = 467 calories

4 servings = 117 calories per serving

Grilled Cheese with Red Onion Jam + Apple Coleslaw = 515 calorie dinner

Just in time for summer, Motor Oil Chicken

We have been busy here, getting the garage re-organized to bring in an upright freezer. I am happier about this than you might imagine. No more lost food. I know it seems silly, but someone in this household can only place new food on top of old food. And then the food is lost, not like lost in space, but lost to ruin. The small chest freezer can now be used to store large purchased items like, rice, flour etc until it is opened and put into the pantry.

Tonight for dinner, we had marinated chicken thighs. With a funny name, they sure tasted good though! This comes from The Friday Friends, and we will make this again. I also think this would be great for ribs too. You can make the sauce up and "mop" your meat with it and serve some on the side. Or reduce the vinegar and marinade your meat of choice until dinner time and then get grilling!

Motor Oil Chicken adapted from: The Friday Friends

1/2 cup white vinegar - I used cider vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

4 cloves garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons hot sauce -  I will increase this in future batches

1/2 teaspoons ground mustard seed

salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1-2 pounds chicken

Combine all marinade ingredients, add chicken (or ribs!) and marinate until dinner time, about 4-6 hours. You may let the meat marinate longer, however the longer it is in the marinade the stronger the vinegar taste will be. 

Remove meat from marinade, broil or gill until done. 

 (it is not pretty, but this is where the flavor is!)

Serves 4-6

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

For more great recipes, stop by Moms Sunday Cafe!

COCOA FUDGE CAKE

COCOA FUDGE CAKE

1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 stick butter
1 cup water
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs, beaten

• Set oven to 350 degrees, and grease your cake pan. Kat used a silicon Bundt pan, but the original recipe calls for a 9"x13" tin.  I decided to also use a Bundt pan.
• Sift the flour and sugar together into a large bowl. Set aside.
• In a separate mixing bowl, mix the milk, vanilla, baking soda and eggs. Set aside.
• Bring the butter, water and cocoa to a boil over medium heat. 
• When done boiling gradually pour into the flour/sugar mixture and stir to combine. 
• Follow this with the milk mixture and fold all ingredients together.
• Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Because this is a fudge cake - you don't want the center to be cooked all the way through, but the outside should be firm enough to hold its own when removed from the pan. Joanne Fluke suggests this should take 20-25 minutes.
• Best served warm, and reheats brilliantly.  Enjoy!

CHICKEN PUFFS

Tamy here filling in for April.  I'm not quite sure where I originally found this recipe, but we fell in love with it and it makes a wonderful presentation for company.  The pictures are from when I originally made it with whole chicken breasts, but I have since changed it to using bite sized pieces.  Using chicken tenders works best.  It bakes better and is much easier to eat!

CHICKEN PUFFS

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders

4 Pepperidge farm puff pastry sheets, defrosted

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 pound bacon, cut into quarters

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 handful flat leaf parsley

sea salt and white pepper to taste

1 large egg, beaten

PURE

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Add cream cheese, green onions, parsley, salt and pepper to a small food processor and process until well blended.  Set aside.
• Cook bacon until crisp.  Drain on paper towels.
• Cut chicken into bite size pieces.
• In a large bowl, toss chicken pieces with cream cheese mixture until well coated.
• On a large jelly roll pan that has been sprayed with PURE, lay out your puff pastry pieces and seal any stray seams.
• Divide chicken evenly among the 4 sheets.
• Top evenly with the bacon.
• Pull up all four corners and give them a little twist in the center.
• Brush with beaten egg.
• Bake 30 minutes until golden brown.
• Serve immediately.

Fire Day Friday: Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Manchalapeno sauce

Never heard of Manchapeno sauce before?

Me either until I made it up the other day when I made up this summery grilled chicken sandwich inspired by the Kentucky Hot Brown. Manchapeno sauce is a white sauce powered by a fire roasted jalapeno pepper and the salty nutty taste of manchego cheese.

The result was decadent. If it wasn't for the sound of the crispy bacon as I bit into this, I think I would have been able to hear my taste buds sing.

Open Faced Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Manchapeno Sauce

source: www.nibblemethis.com

3 large chicken thighs, boneless, skinless

Chicken Rub (see recipe)

3 sliced Italian bread

2 ea roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/4” pieces

6 slices bacon, cooked

Manchapeno Sauce (see recipe)

NMT Basic Chicken Rub

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp turbinado sugar

Manchapeno Sauce

1 Tbsp butter, unsalted

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp flour, all purpose

1 cup milk

1 cup manchego cheese

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp salt

1 jalapeno (red if possible), fire roasted, peeled and seeded

2 Tbsp parsley, finely diced

Season chicken with the chicken rub. Feel free to substitute a purchased chicken rub if you have it on hand.

Make the “manchapeno sauce”. Melt the butter and saute garlic over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and stir until well blended in (2-3 minutes), starting to form a roux.

Add in the milk and lightly simmer for 5-6 minutes. Stir in the cheese in small batches until all blended. Stir in the salt, pepper, jalapeno, and parsley. Keep warm on low, stirring occasionally.

Grill chicken over direct heat at 400f for 4 minutes. Flip can cook another 4 minutes.

Boneless thighs are thin and cook quick, keep an eye on them.

Flip again and cook 1-2 minutes. Flip last time and cook 1-2 minutes until chicken is an internal temp of 160f.

Toast both sides of the bread over the flames. 

Top each piece of bread with a piece of chicken, slices of tomato, and 2 slices of bacon. Then ladle the sauce over the sandwich and serve immediately.

Note: I used a red jalapeno from our front yard. Fire roasting the pepper gives it a smokiness like a “quickie chipotle”. Feel free to use a regular jalapeno or any other fire roasted chili. If you don't like heat, you could use a roasted red bell pepper instead.

POLLO DIABLO CASSEROLE

Sorry for the lousy picture, but dinner was over and it was already in the tupperware on the way to the fridge before I remembered to take it.  While the picture is only so-so, the casserole was AWESOME!

POLLO DIABLO CASSEROLE
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch strips
1 pound lean hamburger, browned and drained
6 cups grated potatoes
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
scant 1/2 cup Frank's buffalo hot sauce
1 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded Colby cheese
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
PURE

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray 13x9 inch baking dish with PURE.
• In a medium bowl, toss chicken strips and ground beef  with the buffalo sauce until well coated. Set bowl aside to be used again.  Do NOT rinse.
• Layer chicken and ALL the sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.
• In a small saucepan melt butter. Whisk in flour until well blended.  Gradually add milk until well incorporated and begins to thicken.  Remove from heat.
• In the same bowl, stir together the potatoes, onions, dressing, 1/2 of each cheese and soup mixture until well blended.  Spread over the meat mixture.
• Sprinkle the panko crumbs and then remaining cheeses over top evenly.
• Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the foil and bake another 30 minutes until potatoes are tender an d chicken is cooked through.

CHICKEN & RICE Healthy Meals

Chicken and Rice

This is possibly the simplest recipe ever - only 5 ingredients!  But when I made it, you would have thought I spent hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove the way my son and husband raved over it.  Crazy, huh?

You need...

3 boneless chicken breasts

1 cup uncooked rice

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups water

1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

I don't like to follow any of the recipes I have tried over the years where you cook the chicken and rice in the oven at the same time.  The rice never gets as soft and fluffy as I like it, and the chicken tends to dry out.  So, I do mine separately then combine them in a casserole dish.

Cook the chicken breasts in baking pan.  To keep them moist, put water in the pan, enough to cover the bottom at least 1/4 inch.  Season any way you like.  I use garlic salt.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Cook the rice on the stove top.  I use Adolphus brand.  Put two cups of water, 1 cup uncooked rice, 1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine, and  little salt in a saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a vigorous boil.  Stir.  Turn to lowest setting, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

Cut the chicken into bite size chunks.  Combine chicken, cooked rice, and soup in a casserole dish.  Stir well.  Cook for 20-30 minutes in oven at 350 degrees.  Serve with green beans or another vegetable for a tasty, healthy meal.

(If divided into five servings, each serving has only 264 calories and 2.5 grams of fat.  Amazing!)

Try A New Recipe Tuesday= Stewed conch

Nothing says Caribbean quite like the conch to me. Conch fritters, conch Chowder, stewed conch. Along with whole fish (head on) and lobster this is one seafood I grew up eating. You should be able to find frozen conch at your grocery store or Asian or Caribbean specialty shop or from Amazon... who knew? The texture of conch is somewhere between that of calamari and scallops. The flavor cannot be compared.....

Today we are making stewed conch a Caribbean staple.

You will need:
A pressure cooker (if you don't have one you will need to cook it a very long time on the stove or use the slow cooker).
Conch meat is tough and needs to be pressure cooked to soften. I put the cleaned conch meat with water, garlic and thyme in the pressure cooker and let it cook for 30-45mns until tender.

This is what the pressure cooked fresh conch meat looks like, the one available from your grocer will be more 'white'.
the recipe:
2 cups of cubed pressure cooked conch meat
1 med onion, cubed
1 large tomato, cubed
2 sprigs chives, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 dash soy sauce
1 half packet Goya seasoning (It's a dry seasoning containing garlic powder, cumin, Mexican saffron)
1 tbsp butter

First cube the cooled meat
Sautée the veggies until soft in Butter
Add conch
Goya seasoning and enough water to cover and boil until all flavors combine (about 10-15mns)
Serve over brown rice, with a side of fried plantains for a truly authentic Caribbean meal
Bon Appetit!