Candied Garlic Chicken Wings

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups honey
* 6 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 pounds chicken wings

Directions
1. Heat honey, soy sauce, and garlic in a saucepan until boiling.
2. Place the wings in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, and pour the honey mixture over the chicken. Cover with foil. Marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
3. Bake, covered, at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 1 hour; turn the wings after 1/2 hour. Remove the foil cover, and bake for 15 minutes. Take the wings out of the sauce, and bake on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken wings, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Comments
Hubby lurves wings, but I thought I'd look for a new recipe since I found some on a really good deal last week. Found this here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Candied-Garlic-Chicken-Wings/Detail.aspx

I doubled it since we had so many wings (4 pounds) and they are almost gone (and my daughter doesn't eat much meat and chose not to eat these tonight). I added 1 tsp red pepper flakes for a bit of heat to the marinade. Oh, and I lined my 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil before I put the wings and sauce in so cleanup will be easier. I didn't follow the cooking directions exactly. I baked for 30 min with the foil on, turned them, did the other 30 min with the foil off. Then I took them out of the 9 x 13 pan and put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet instead of a rack and baked at 450 for about 10 minutes (this might have been too high as they "browned" very quickly). While they were in at the higher temp, I put the marinade in a pot and started it boiling again, adding about 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar to cut the sweetness a bit. My plan was to reduce the sauce to thicken it and then brush it all over them, but they cooked too quickly. So it did probably reduce a little but not much.

They are quite sticky. Our water heater sprung a leak today, thus leaving us without water for the evening ... if I'd known that was going to happen, I wouldn't have made these tonight but they were already going when I found it. I'll be washing the pans in the a.m. after it's fixed, but we had to use baby wipes to wash our hands. ha. Hopefully next time I make them, nothing like that happens.

I'd probably give it 5 stars -- if you're having a finger food dinner party sort of event. Otherwise, skip them and do something more elegant and less messy.

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

I went looking for water chestnut recipes and, like all of you probably, ran across a TON for bacon wrapped water chestnuts. Didn't sound like something I'd want to mess with since they'd be gone in about 30 seconds and were too much work for that (although they sounded yummy), so I decided to make a casserole sort of dish with bacon and water chestnuts.

1 package (12 oz) bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, diced
3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can sliced water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
1 c frozen peas

Saute the bacon in large skillet until cooked to desired doneness. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Add onions to drippings in pan and cook until translucent. Add chicken and cook until done. Add peas, water chestnuts, and bacon, and heat until warmed through. Serve over rice with a steamed vegetable on the side (because there's enough bacon you need more veggies so you don't feel guilty for eating all the fat).

*****

If you don't love bacon like my family, use just a few pieces for flavoring, but hubby and kidlet LOVE bacon, so I used enough so they could eat it. I didn't drain the bacon but probably could have -- it wasn't terribly greasy, but probably could've done without all the fat (there's a reason *I'm* fat). I'd probably also add another can of water chestnuts for a better ratio. It made enough I should have some leftovers for lunch. Hubby said it was delicious and filling and kiddo actually ate some and liked it. I'd only give this 3 stars, because it isn't fancy enough for a dinner party and is a little fussy for a potluck (serving over rice and all), and I might add some broth while it's cooking next time (there will be a next time) because I wanted some sort of sauce or something on the rice (but I'm like that).

Corn Flake Chicken Strips

I got the recipe here.

Crap, I just lit the kitchen on fire. Thank goodness for fire extinguishers. Ahem.*

Ingredients
4 cups crushed plain cornflakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Lawry seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
(I added garlic powder too)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in thin strips
Vegetable oil
Instructions
1. Mix together cornflakes, flour, seasoning salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.
2. Beat eggs with water. Dip chicken strips in egg mixture and then roll in cornflake mixture. Press mixture firmly onto chicken to coat well.
3. Pour oil into a large skillet to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat oil to 250F. Fry chicken strips 6 to 8 minutes or until done. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce. Serves 6.


NOTES: I only used 3 chicken breasts and most of the coating was gone. I'd measured out 4 c of corn flakes and then crushed them; I'm assuming the recipe really wanted 4 c of already crushed corn flakes.

Hubby has been craving fried chicken, so I decided on this rather than on cookies (which I always crave) or anything else I found recipes for. I've never had cornflake fried chicken ... so ... yeah. Hubby loved them and asked for more (and probably ate 2/3 of them by himself). Kiddo is flu-ish and didn't touch hers (she was feeling better earlier today but got sick again, ugh). I rather enjoyed them too.

I only give it 3 stars because I am too lazy to fry anything for anyone who doesn't live here. hahahaha.

*I'm exaggerating; I had a whole chicken roasting in the oven as well and the pan was apparently too small because it dripped all over the bottom of the oven and then smoked like mad. We didn't have to use the fire extinguisher, but I feel silly anyway since I was typing this post and hubby caught it. lol.

orange coconut chicken

I didn't have any curry but wanted some sweet/hot coconut chicken and had some chicken legs in the freezer (from an awesome sale not too long ago). So I made this:



Orange Coconut Chicken

14 chicken drumsticks
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 of 18-ounce jar orange marmalade
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp ground ginger (maybe less, depending on your liking of ginger)
1/2 tsp onion powder
dash or two of cayenne
1/4 c coconut flakes

In nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil, then place in drumsticks, skin side down, to brown. While browning, mix remaining ingredients in small bowl. Turn chicken over, pour sauce all over, cover, reduce heat to low or medium low. Cook for 1 hour. Remove cover, increase heat to medium, let cook an additional 15 minutes. Turn chicken and continue cooking until done and sauce is reduced.

Serve with rice and mixed oriental veggies.

*Perhaps the best compliments were:
Hubby -- "Very filling ... so good ... I guess I'm done." After only two drumsticks. If you know my husband, you know that's not normal. He just couldn't stuff any more in him. Of course, I'll put it in the fridge and he'll eat it when he gets home from work. lol

Kiddo -- "Mom, where did you get this recipe? It's so good!" "From my BRAIN!" "No, really. Where?" hahaha. Stinkin' kid.

Baby -- "nom nom nom ..."

Um, yeah ...

We had chicken bacon avocado wraps last night. Cut a package of bacon in half and cook, slice raw chicken breasts thinly and cook, and slice an avocado. pile it all in warmed up tortillas, roll up, add a sauce if you like (ranch or BBQ or something), and enjoy.

Tonight, I diced the remaining pork roast and made Asian pork instead of the Asian chicken last night. It was yummy and cooked quickly since really the sauce just had to come together as the pork was already cooked.

Guess I'm going to be cooking the zucchini with the soup tomorrow, maybe add some cornbread?

Guy Fieri's Chicken and Avocado Egg Rolls

YUM. The recipe actually made 19 (because that's how many wraps I had) with a little filling left over.

On the episode, he dips the wraps in the egg wash (I used almond milk in it) before filling and wrapping. The instructions in the recipe are different. I did what he did on the show.

I also left out the peppers on purpose.

Killer. :P

They are all gone. Hubby ate most of them. Which I expected.

Baby ate some of the chicken and avocado (not in the roll), and gobbled it up. The avocado apparently didn't agree with him though ... we'll try that again when he's older.

The ones with the avocado were awesome and I made a few without, too. They tasted more like a traditional egg roll, totally yummy.

I'll probably make them again in a couple of months when we can afford another fried day. lol.

(copied the following recipe/directions/notes from what's in your oven)
Chicken avocado egg rolls by Guy Fieri of the Food Network. Oh my gosh, a little piece of deep-fried heaven ... I left out the red bell pepper and used yellow onion. Also used almond milk in the egg wash because we are dairy intolerant, and didn't use a dipping sauce. The other difference was in the rolling -- I watched the episode where he did these, and how he did it on there is different than in the recipe. He dipped the entire wrap before filling and rolling it, so you don't have to dip it once it's rolled.

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1/2 cup finely minced red onion
* 1/4 cup finely minced red bell peppers
* 2 tablespoons minced ginger
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/4 cup sliced bamboo shoots
* 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
* 2 cups chopped chicken breast
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1 cup julienned green cabbage
* 1/2 cup shredded carrots
* 4 cups rice bran oil or canola oil
* 12 egg roll wrappers
* 2 avocados, sliced into 24 pieces
* 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk
* Jarred sweet chili sauce, for dipping

Directions

In a saute pan over high heat, add canola oil. Saute red onions and bell peppers until translucent. Add ginger, garlic, bamboo shoots, celery, chicken, and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Deglaze pan with soy sauce. Cool mixture.

In large bowl combine cabbage, carrots and chicken mixture.

In medium saucepan, heat rice bran oil to 350 degrees F. Oil needs to be deep enough to keep egg roll from touching bottom of pan. Add more oil, if needed.

To roll egg rolls, layout egg roll skin with corner facing you, place approximately 1/12th of mixture on roll and place 2 pieces of avocado on top of mixture. Fold corner over mixture, and then fold outside corners over the mixture, making a roll, 4 to 5-inches wide. Roll firmly, being careful not to tear wrapper, and seal the final edge with egg wash.

Dredge the egg roll in egg wash, allow excess to drain off and submerge egg roll in oil. Fry until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on sheet tray lined with a cooling rack.

Asian Chicken

I'm sure Chinese or Japanese purists may freak out over this, but it tasted good. Hubby used the leftovers to make sushi and took it to work for lunch, so that was awesome, too.

2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/4 c hoisin sauce*
1/4 c teriyaki sauce*

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add sauces and cook all the way through. Sauce will reduce after chicken is thoroughly cooked.

*I used Dynasty hoisin and Kikkoman teriyaki glaze, both purchased at Wal-Mart in the Asian section. I eyeballed these amounts, so it's not a perfect measurement.

Jambalaya

I will be looking for a from-scratch recipe for this next time, but for a box or two of Zatarain's, it wasn't bad. First, I took about 1-1/2 c of frozen, raw, peeled, and deveined (but still with a tail) shrimp out of the freezer a couple of hours before it was time to start dinner. They didn't quite thaw completely, but that was okay.

Then, I sliced the smoked sausage and cut each slice in half. Next, I diced and cooked 1 chicken breast in about 2 Tbs of olive oil. Then removed the chicken and, per the boxes' instructions, added water and brought to a boil. When it was time to put stuff in, I added the chicken and the sausage and the Zatarain's, then set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer went off, I drained and added the shrimp (so it didn't overcook), and let cook the remainder of the time on the box.

It was still watery.

I took the lid off and let it cook for a bit longer, but it was still soupy, which it wasn't supposed to be. So annoying.

So I served it with a slotted spoon and ate all the shrimp. Except a few pieces I let hubby have. lol. Kiddo ate some chicken and sausage and the rice, hubby ate a lot of the food, and I rather enjoyed it. There's enough left for lunch tomorrow or the next day (depending on if I'm in the mood).

I am changing tomorrow's menu though. We're having salmon and spaghetti squash instead of the salsa chicken soup.

Orange Chicken

2 large chicken breasts, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 c milk (note: I used vanilla almond milk)
Vegetable oil (about 1/2 inch in your pan)
1-1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c honey (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of red pepper flakes

Heat veggie oil to medium to medium high heat. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in one bowl and pour milk in another. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in milk, then dredge again. Pan fry over medium to medium high heat 3-4 minutes on each side then set aside. After all the chicken is cooked, pour off all but 2 Tbs of oil, then add OJ and deglaze the pan. Add honey, ginger, and pepper flakes, then cook over medium heat until sauce is reduced by half. Pour sauce over chicken and serve over cooked rice and with stir-fry veggies on the side. Wooo!