Danny's Favorite Meal: Bacon Bourbon Chicken Wings

It's been so long since I've cooked something new because I am still full from Easter! Last week while watching The Chew, a daytime foodie show I record, I saw a really cool wings recipe. Even though I am highly allergic to bacon (and all pig food), our son's fav food group is "bacon" and I thought it would be fun to make something that he really digs. He had to help me because I can't even come in contact with bacon, but I did the sauce, adjusting the recipe to what we had. My hubby had to go buy some Bourbon, came home with Whiskey Bourbon. Don't know if there is a difference, but when we make this again, that's what we will use.

What a hit! Our son kept thanking me over and over after his first bites. My hubby keeps growling like a happy bear. This is a keeper - even if I can't eat it! "How can this get much better!?! Bacon and wings!!!" - Daniel

INGREDIENTS
24 chicken wings
Vegetable oil and a deep fat fryer
12 slices of thick bacon, cut in half (get 2 short fat pieces)
toothpicks

WINGS PART I:
Cook wings in batches til golden brown (but not fully cooked) at 370 degrees. Depending on your deep fat fryer, this will take up to 11 minutes a batch. (Our fryer does not hold heat well) Place cooked wings on paper towel covered paper bag to cool slightly while you cook the rest of the wings.

SAUCE:
While wings are cooking, prepare and heat sauce in medium sauce pan. Over medium low heat, melt 4 TBSP unsalted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 5 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 tsp+ horseradish, 1/3 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3/4 cup bourbon, 3/4 cup ketchup. Heat and stir infrequently for 10 minutes. Turn to lowest setting and keep warm til you finish the wings.

WINGS PART II:
Tightly wrap a piece of bacon around the "fat" part of each wing, secure with 1-3 toothpicks. You don't want the bacon to fall off when you cook the wings again. Use enough toothpicks to adhere the bacon. Cook the wings again until bacon is done, approximately 3 minutes per batch.

FINISHING:
Using tongs, dip each wing in the sauce, coat well. Set wings on plates and chow down!

This recipe made 24 wings and served two. My hubby and my son.

Spot gives this 4 paws for sure. She even tripped me on the stairs as I was heading toward the kitchen to cook!

My Daring Easter Feast

I had no idea what I was signing up for when I decided to make Prime Rib for our Easter dinner. Yes, I've had it now and then over the years (and even once at Sardi's as an unknowing 6th grader) but never understood how hard it is to make, how special it truly is and crazy expensive. I was just thinking it was time to have a holiday meal without fowl on the menu.

With my ignorance fresh in hand, I began searching the internet for recipes. When I asked a dear friend who has about 600 cookbooks and is my cooking guru for her suggestions, I got nervous when she told me she had never made Prime Rib. Ack! She sent me a bunch of ideas and they are my bibliography for a recipe I morphed when I casually mentioned to another friend what I was about to tackle. "Oh, you should talk to my sister, she makes this all the time and it's great!" She gave me the confidence to venture forth.

OUR MENU (everything with a # is made from my lov'n kitchen)

* Brie & Bruschetta

* Organic Greens and Parmesan Salad Dressing#

* Rosemary Prime Rib#

* Gruyere & Parmesan Potatoes Au Gratin#

* Fresh Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes# (recipe straight from allrecipes.com)

* Hershey's Chocolate Cake# with Buttercream topping

* And why not a Pumpkin Pie with New York Vanilla Ice Cream while we're at it?


For this entry, I will focus on the main meal. In the next blog, I will share the recipe for the cake. That way, I get points for two entries this week!

Seriously, I broke all the rules by making so many new recipes all at once!



ROSEMARY PRIME RIB
I bought a boneless 5 lb Prime Rib Roast, so adjust as needed... (I wanted leftovers cuz COLD PR is wonderful!)

Night before cooking: season with Kosher Salt, Ground Pepper and Paprika on all sides. Place in a jumbo Ziplock and refrigerate. Turn the bag whenever you are near the fridge. No stress, even if you just flip it twice - great.

3-4 hours before cooking: take the PR out of the fridge and set on a plate on the counter and bring to room temperature.

When ready, preheat oven to 450. Remove meat from bag, brush all sides with Kitchen Bouquet. Shake on Garlic salt, more ground pepper, paprika and generously cover all with fresh Rosemary. All sides need to be covered. Insert Meat thermometer into a side. Place on roasting rack inside roasting pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven temp to 275 and continue baking until temp reads 133 for medium rare. (This took us 2 1/2 hours)

Remove and cover loosely with foil and let sit for 20 minutes, (now you can finish up your side dishes and get that gravy going) then slice and serve.

AH MAZE ING!!


MADERIA GRAVY
In large saucepan, melt 3 TBSP of unsalted butter. Whisk in 2-3 TBSP Wondra until thick paste is formed. Boil briefly, continuing to whisk. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of Maderia red wine, in small quantities. Be sure fully mixed before adding more. Slowly add a 32-oz carton of low sodium beef broth. Whisk in enough Kitchen Bouquet to tint gravy a medium-dark brown. Go crazy with ground pepper. Bring to boil, then simmer, covered for about 20 minutes til slightly thickened.


GRUYERE & PARM POTOS Au GRATIN
I will never use cheddar cheese again!

1. Wash and slice 5 baked potatoes as thin as you can without harming yourself
2. Place slices in 5 quart pot with enough water to just cover potatoes (you will add more water as you slice)
2. Thinly dice 6+ cloves garlic, add to pot
3. Add generous pinch of Kosher salt and ground pepper to pot - bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat to simmer and cook @ 8 minutes more - just don't let them get mushy
5. Drain in colander, add ice cubes to keep potos from sticking
6. When ready, layer 1/2 of the potatoes in a 9 x 13 baking pan
7. Drizzle 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream over all, generously cover with ground pepper, sprinkle 1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese over all
8. Layer the rest of the potatoes, drizzle 3/4 cup more of heavy whipping cream, cover with pepper and 1 cup freshly shredded Gruyere cheese, then sprinkle with 1/2 cup more of the freshly shredded parm
9. Bake at 350 for 1 hour... or as we did, 30 minutes in the oven with the P R at 275 and then 30 minutes alone at 375 til cheese just bubbles


GREEN BEANS WITH CHERRY TOMATOES
Surprise... I pretty much followed this allrecipes.com recipe except we did not chop up the beans or halve the tomatoes.

Not only did Spot give this 4 paws, so did my hubby, my son and our other son! This is our new Special Dinner. Now I just need to watch for the meat sales in order to find out when we can have it next.

My First Panko Chicken

Drool! This is going to be a regular go-to dinner. Low fat and fast. You can't beat that combo! Inspired by being a faithful watcher of The Chew (a daily food show on TV), here's my version:

INGREDIENTS
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1+ cup flour in a gallon ziplock bag (enough to lightly coat each breast)
2 eggs, whisked in a pie plate
2 cups Panko in a gallon ziplock bag (again, enough to coat breasts)
3+ TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 stick unsalted butter
3 large lemons
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Take each breast, coat with flour, dip in eggs, then shake with Panko. Place in large skillet with the heated olive oil and cook until golden on both sides.

Place cooked breasts on serving platter, remove oil residue from skillet and melt butter over low heat. Squeeze in the fresh juice from 3 lemons. Drizzle over all breasts, sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley to taste.

We served this with our favorite rice (see earlier blogs), but Fettucine would be another option. Leftover breasts would also make a terrific chicken sandwich if you use gormet bread.

Spot gives this a solid 4 paws... and loved her tastes!

Homemade Chips N Dip

Thank you Michael Symon! Last weekend I was channel surfing and on a cooking channel found he has a new TV show. After he showed a pork recipe (I am allergic), I froze. He was making homemade poto chips with a blue cheese fondue complete with rosemary. Hold the phone!

To make the CHIPS:
We used a deep fat fryer, and once the oil was hot tossed in three whole garlic cloves, peeled and smashed a bit. Use one and a half large russet potatoes for each eater. Since we made this as our dinner, we made even more. Slice them thin and chip-like. Toss into a large bowl of water to keep fresh til frying. Keep the outer skin on.

Cook chips til medium brown. We have an older deep fat fryer so that meant about 9 minutes.

Layer paper towels over a flattened paper bag. Once the chips come out of the fryer, pat them dry with another paper towel and generously salt with Sea Salt. Move the chips to a larger pasta-style bowl lined with paper towels and toss with 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (pictured). Continue this until all potato pieces are cooked and tossed.

In order to make this recipe, I needed a new kitchen implement! This is the thing I've seen in other people's houses and on the "gadget wall" in cooking sections for years and just wondered about.

Still don't know what it's called, but it worked great tonight and I want to kiss it.

Okay, the recipe Symon mentioned called for a Blue Cheese Fondue dip. My son and I love, love, love the nip of Blue Cheese, so that's what I made. My hubby shudders at the idea, so I bought him some salsa and chilled it. He loved the chips and his version of the dip.

To make the Blue Cheese FONDUE:
In a heavy bottomed pot, cook 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil with 5 minced cloves of garlic, one minced shallot and 2 sprigs of rosemary, removed from the stem. Add a nice fat pince of Kosher salt. Cook til garlic and shallot are softened. Just a couple of minutes. Whisk in 1/4 cup white wine and reduce. About another minute. Then add 3/4 cup heavy cream, stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat. Add a generous dose of ground pepper to taste and stir in 8 oz. crumbled Blue Cheese. Let sit a minute.

If there are any chips left, serve this with them.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza Casserole

Yesterday I was watching the TV show The Chew and got inspired by a skillet pizza that Iron Chef Michael Symon made. I followed his template, but changed most ingredients. Made it tonight. Drool!

INGREDIENTS
1 12" cast iron skillet
2 Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough tubes
1 lb. extra lean hamburger, browned
1 large white onion, diced and sautéed
1 pkg. fresh mushrooms, sautéed and sliced in thirds
1 jumbo jar of Classico Four Cheese spaghetti sauce
2+ cups shredded parmesan cheese
8-10 slices deli-packaged Gouda cheese

PREPARE
1. Brown meat, sauté veggies and set aside til ready to cook pizza (this will take 30 min.)
2. Preheat oven to 400
3. In cast iron skillet, unfurl pizza dough to cover bottom, press into sides and let drape over edges
4. Layer parmesan, spaghetti sauce, meat, onions, mushrooms, gouda and repeat. End with more parmesan sprinkled on top
5. Twist dough to form a crust
6. Bake for 30 minutes and enjoy

Here is the salad I was planning to serve with the pizza, but never got around to it. Also, due to my excitement about this recipe, I put everything together and forgot the sauce so had to dig tunnels and infuse. Not to worry, this tastes amazing! Our son was sleeping over at a buddy's house and wanted to know "what food" he would miss. And if there would be some left tomorrow.

Spot hid upstairs I'm sure because of the onions, so alas, no paw rating

Mac N Cheese N Meat!

"Mom, this crap -- I mean stuff is really, really good," said our 16 year old son tonight. And it truly was a compliment.

Here's a variation on the traditional Mac N Cheese if you take just 20 more minutes. And dig Blue Cheese...

INGREDIENTS
1 box interesting open tube short pasta, cooked al dente
1 cup+ blue cheese, crumbled
2 TBSP unsalted butter
3 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1 generous TBSP minced or squished garlic
1 petite top sirloin per person, salted, grilled and sliced in strips

COOKING
1. Melt butter and garlic in medium skillet, cook slightly about 2 minutes. Add cream, whisk. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Stir often.
2. Heat coals.
3. Bring 3 quart pot of water to boil, add pasta, cook al dente.
4. Season meat, go out and grill!
5. Add cheese to skillet, whisk til smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and keep warm til everything else is done.
6. Toss cheese mixture with pasta, serve with yummy meat!

The blue cheese gives this an unexpected nip. This recipe can serve 6 with 1-cup pasta servings...although my boys had more! In the past I have added fresh Italian parsley to the pasta, but it was the nasty Daylight Savings day so I rebelled.

Spot? She is so self-serving! She only gives this 4 paws because when we slice the meat, we toss tidbits into her bowl

Daylight Savings Luscious Meatloaf

This recipe is morphed from the Lost Summer, the one where I had two broken feet and had to learn to walk again, and my hub had emergency appendicitis surgery. It's a blur to us but we were well-fed by many church friends. This meatloaf recipe was from the famous "Cooks" recipe. At that time, we gobbled it up. De-lish! Haven't tried to make it since then, and that's back in the day when I thought lots of cooking was complicated.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs mixture of extra lean ground beef and low fat turkey
1 large red onion, casually diced
8 cloves of garlic, minced (less if you fear garlic breath)
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
2 large eggs
Up to 1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 - 6 TBSP whipped butter
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 cup fresh Cilantro flakes
1/3 cup mayonaise (Hellmanns!)
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups Italian bread crumbs

COOKING:
1. In large skillet (to be be used later when you make your gravy), cook onion and garlic in olive oil with pinch of salt til soft. Cover and stir every once in awhile. Leave some of the onions to flavor your gravy...

2. Preheat oven to 350.

3. While onion mixture is cooking, set up large bowl with the following: Big smatter of Kosher salt, ground pepper to taste (we like lots), eggs, Dijon, Mayo, Worcestershire, Cilantro, 1/3 cup Whipping cream - whisk well

4. When onion mixture is cooked til soft, add contents to big bowl, whisk - then add the meat (This is where I ask my hubby to mash up the ingredients b/c his fingers hold less water than mine = ring comes off easier)

5. Hand-mix all to fit baking dish. Pat firmly. Bake until instant temp reads 160, approx 1 hour and 10 minutes.

6. While meatloaf is cooking, prepare side dishes. We like mashed potos and gravy. Tonite I made the potos with heavy cream and whipped butter. Very smooth!