Sticky Wings

Great addition to any super bowl party! And easy to make to boot. Most of the cooking is done in the slower cooker which makes it really easy. Then you use your broiler for a few minutes to finish up the wings. The flavors were not spicy but provided great taste. You can't go wrong with this dish.

Sticky Wings
Cooks Country Feb/March 2010

1 3 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 pounds chicken wings, halved at joint and wingtips removed
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste

Pulse ginger, garlic, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in food processor until finely ground. Add mixture to slow cooker insert. Add chicken and toss until combined.

Cover and cook on low until fat renders and chicken is tender, 3 to 4 hours. Using slotted spoon, remove wings from slow cooker and transfer to clean large bowl (discard the liquid in slow cooker). Let wings cool 20 minutes (or cool briefly and refrigerate up to 24 hours).

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Set wire rack inside rimmed baking sheet and spray rack with baking spray. Whisk water, tomato paste, remaining sugar, remaining soy sauce, and remaining cayenne pepper in bowl. Add half of sauce to bowl with cooled wings and toss gently to coat. Arrange wings, skin side up, on prepared rack. Broil until wings are lightly charred and crisp around edges, 10-15 minutes. Flip wings, brush with remaining sauce, and continue to broil until well caramelized, about 3 minutes.

Crossroads Coop 1/2010

Produce Share $10
5 lb bag red potatoes
1 red leaf lettuce
2 lb green grapes
5 roma tomatoes
3 grapefruit
2 red bell peppers
5 apples
3 cucumbers

For more information see their website.

Recipes for using up the produce:
Classic Potato Salad
Thai Beef Salad

Bountiful Baskets Coop 1/30

Mexican Pack cost $7.50
one pack tortillas
1 bunch green onions
3 avocados
1 bunch cilantro
2 yellow onions
1 garlic
10 tomatillos
10 limes
6 peppers ( I believe anahiem)
4 jalapeno's

Conventional Basket $16.50
3 lbs pears
4 zucchini
2 red bell peppers
7 small cucumbers
6 oranges
10 bananas
4 grapefruit
11 apples
9 tomatoes
1 lb carrots
1 romaine lettuce
1 bunch asparagus

If your interested in the program check out their website.

The Best Biscuits

I'm not making this up these are the best biscuits I have ever made. Plus, this is my favorite part of this recipe, I didn't have to struggle to cut in the butter. These biscuits had the best flavor of any biscuit I've ever made and they were so flaky. The recipe isn't hard and I promise you its worth the little effort required to make these. If all you've ever made are canned biscuits your in for a big treat. The recipe calls for vinegar and cream, both of which I did not have on hand. I used buttermilk when I made these biscuits as such I'm listing the buttermilk. If you'd like to try it with the vinegar and cream let me know and I'll post the amounts.

Best Biscuits
Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

1 cup (8 oz) buttermilk
1/2 cup (4 oz) frozen unsalted butter (needs to be in the freezer for at least 30 minutes)
1 cup (4.5 oz) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (3.5 oz) pastry flour (you can use all purpose flour)
1 tablespoon (.5 oz) sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons ((.5 oz) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (.13 oz) salt or 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.

Place a cheese grater over the bowl of dry ingredients. Remove butter from freezer, unwrap it, and grate it through the large holes into the dry ingredients.

Use your fingertips to separate and distribute the butter pieces evenly, breaking up any clumps but not working the butter so much it disappears or melts into the flour. Add the buttermilk and stir with a large spoon until all of the flour is hydrated and the dough forms a coarse ball. Add a tiny bit more buttermilk if necessary to bring the dough together.

Transfer the dough to a generously floured surface, then dust the top of the dough with flour. Working with floured hands, use your palms to press the dough into a rectangle or square about 3/4 inch thick. Use a metal pastry scraper to lift the dough and dust more flour underneath. Dust the top of the dough with flour as well, then roll it out into a rectangle or square about 1/2 inch thick. Then, using the pastry scraper to help lift the dough, fold it over on itself into three sections as if folding a letter.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees, then once again lift the dough and dust more flour underneath. Dust the top with flour as well, the once again roll it out into a square or rectangle about 1/2 inch thick and fold into thirds. Give the dough another quarter turn and repeat procedure again. Then, repeat one final time (four roll outs in all).

After the fourth rolling, dust under and on top of the dough one more time, then roll the dough out to just under 1/2 inch thick, in either a rectangle or an oval. Use just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface.

Cut the biscuits with a floured pizza cutter. Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased sheet pan (lined with parchment paper) placing them about 1/2 inch apart.

Let the biscuits rest for 15-30 minutes before baking. Even better, place the pan in the refrigerator to chill.

About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Transfer the biscuits to the oven and lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees, or 425 for a convection oven. Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 6-10 minutes. until both the tops and bottoms of the biscuit are a rich golden brown. The bake time will be shorter in a convection oven. The biscuits should rise about 1 1/2 times in height.

Place the pan on a wire rack, leaving the biscuits to cool on the hot pan for at least 3 minutes before serving. The biscuits will stay warm for about 20 minutes.

Hamburger Buns II

I've been playing with hamburger bun recipes for ever without finding the perfect one. This is the closest I've come to making the prefect bun. It was easy to make and they tasted wonderful. I added the optional onion powder and although I loved it if your not a fan of onion taste in your bread you may want to leave it out. You could taste it in the bun. Next time I make these I plan on topping them with sesame seeds or dried onion. I just love hamburger buns that have either of those two additions to the top. I don't know why I didn't think of adding it to the buns this time. I served these with the pulled pork from two day ago but you can use these for almost anything. The sloppy joes recipe I have would be great with these buns.

Hamburger Buns II
King Arthur Bakers Companion

1 cup (8 oz) water
2 tablespoons (1 oz) butter
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups (13 3/4 oz) unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 oz) sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)

Combine all ingredients and mix and knead them together- by hand or mixer- until you've made a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a flattened ball. Place the buns on greased baking sheets, cover, and let rise 30-40 minutes, until they're quite puffy.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the buns for 12 to 15 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool them on a rack. Split and use for burgers or sandwiches.

Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce

Loved this sauce. Honestly after having tried dozens of recipes for bbq sauce and knowing how simple most are to make I'm surprised anyone still buys the way too sweet sauce at the store. This ranks up there as one of my all time favorite bbq sauce recipes. The flavors blended together wonderfully and really complimented the pulled pork I posted yesterday. If you haven't tried making your own sauce you really should give it a try.

Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce
Cooks Illustrated Jan/Feb 2010

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup light or mild molasses
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, defatted, from yesterday

Whisk all ingredients together. Serve.

Indoor Pulled Pork

I love pulled pork. I don't think there is a recipe I see for pulled pork that I don't make. My favorite way is outside with tons of smoke for flavor. During the summer I meet so many neighbors who find their way to our house due to the smells coming from the grill. When winter hits I don't do much smoking on the grill but I still crave the dishes I can make. This recipe, while not as perfect as the outdoor smoking, did help with my craving. It is quite easy to make although the cooking process takes time. I made my own bbq sauce for this dish, which I'll share tomorrow, but you could substitute your favorite kind of store bought or your own homemade sauce.

Indoor Pulled Pork
Cook's Illustrated Jan/Feb 2010

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons table salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 boneless pork butt (about 5 lbs), cut in half horizontally
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons smoked paprika (you can substitute sweet)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Dissolve 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons liquid smoke in 4 quarts cold water in large container. Submerge pork in brine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

While pork brines, combine mustard and remaining 2 teaspoons liquid smoke in small bowl; set aside. Combine black pepper, paprika, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and cayenne pepper in second small bowl; set aside. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

Remove pork from brine and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub mustard mixture over entire surface of each piece of pork. Sprinkle entire surface of each piece with spice mixture. Place pork on wire rack set inside foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Place sheet of parchment paper over pork, then cover with aluminum foil, sealing edges to prevent moisture from escaping. Roast pork for 3 hours.

Remove pork from oven; remove and discard foil and parchment. Carefully pour off liquid in bottom of baking sheet into a fat separator and reserve for the sauce. Return pork to oven and cook, uncovered, until well browned, tender, and internal temperature registers 200 degrees on instant read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer pork to serving dish; tent loosely with foil, and rest for 20 minutes.

To serve: Using 2 forks, shred pork into bite-sized pieces. Toss with one cup sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

Meatless Tomato Macaroni Soup

I love the tomato mac soup that a local diner sells. They make it meatless (unlike most tomato mac soups) and I decided to attempt making my own. When I set out on this journey I realized I hadn't eaten their soup in probably a year so I really had to think hard when creating this dish. The soup turned out delicious and I have made it a few times since.

Meatless Tomato Macaroni Soup

Chop one medium onion and slice three celery ribs. Heat about 1 tablespoon butter in a dutch oven. After butter melts add onion and celery and cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Add 2 garlic cloves (less if your not a huge fan of garlic), minced. Cook thirty seconds. Add 1 cup fat free half and half, one can tomato soup, and one can diced tomatoes. I did not bring my soup to a boil. I just heated it till it was hot. Season with about 2 teaspoons chicken soup base and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Banana, Wheat Germ, and Oats

I'm not a big breakfast eater at times and I'm always searching for new recipes that I may want to eat. I stumbled across this one in the latest issue of Cooking Light and had to try it. It was so easy to make and oh so good. I loved the bananas and brown sugar together. According to Cooking Light this dish is 336 calories, 8.4 grams of fat (sat 3.2g, mono 2g, poly 2.3g), protein 12.1g, carbs 59.1g, fiber 8.3g, chol 10mg, iron 3.9mg, sodium 226 mg, and calc 35 mg. This dish makes 3 servings.

Banana, Wheat Germ, and Oats
Cooking Light Magazine Jan/Feb 2010

3 3/4 cups water
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sliced banana (about 2)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 6 minutes or until thick and thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Divide cereal evenly among 3 bowls. Top each serving with 1/2 cup banana, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 teaspoon butter.

Baked French Fries with Parsley, Garlic & Parmesan Cheese

These are my newest addiction. I am totally in love with these fries. Not only do I love them but my husband loves them too, which if you know him he normally does not like this type of food. The kids won't touch them because they have green things on them. I love garlic and I love Parmesan cheese so once I noticed this recipe on Cookin Canuck's blog I knew these had to be tried as soon as I could make them. I think I made them for dinner the day she posted the recipe. Give these fries a try, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Baked French Fries with Parsley, Garlic & Parmesan Cheese
Cookin Canuck's blog

4 medium russet potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds), unpeeled
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut potatoes lengthwise into slices that are 1/3-inch thick and then cut each slice into 1/3-inch thick strips. Dry the potatoes between paper towels or kitchen towels. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Divide the potatoes between 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spread into a single layer.

Bake until the potatoes are golden brown, about 40 minutes, turning the potatoes every 10 minutes and rotating the racks halfway through baking.

Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl and toss with garlic, parsley, and Parmesan cheese. Taste (careful - they'll be hot!) and season with additional salt if necessary. Serve.