Boneless Buffalo Wings

I am suuuuuch a sucker for buffalo wings. There are several places here in New York that consider themselves to have "the best" wings and of course, I've had to try out most of them. It also doesn't help that co workers are always ordering them for lunch and I smell that spicy tang and immediately want to head out and find some wings of my own!

These are a great alternative to the usual fried and harshly breaded wings. The breading uses whole wheat flour and they are pan fried as well. These turned out nice and spicy and I instantly fell in love. I used a blue cheese dip that I made with greek yogurt and topped off the wings with several extra splashes of hot sauce! 



Boneless Buffalo Wings with Spicy Blue Cheese Dip
Eating Well

• 2/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream


• 2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese


• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar


• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 3 tablespoons nonfat buttermilk


• 3 tablespoons hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot, divided


• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, divided


• 2 pounds chicken tenders, (see Ingredient Note)


• 6 tablespoons whole-wheat flour


• 6 tablespoons cornmeal


• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided

1. To prepare dip:Whisk sour cream, blue cheese, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.


2. To prepare wings: Whisk buttermilk, 2 tablespoons hot sauce and 2 tablespoons vinegar in a large bowl until combined. Add chicken; toss to coat. Transfer to the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.


3. Meanwhile, whisk flour and cornmeal in a shallow dish. Whisk the remaining 1 tablespoon hot sauce and 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small bowl; set aside.


4. Remove the chicken from the marinade and roll in the flour mixture until evenly coated. (Discard remaining marinade and flour mixture.) Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne.


5. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken, placing each piece in a little oil. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and chicken, reducing the heat if necessary to prevent burning. Transfer to the platter. Drizzle the chicken with the reserved hot sauce mixture. Serve with carrots, celery and Spicy Blue Cheese Dip.

BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken is one of my favorite meals. When I went through a particularly picky eating period in my life, my dad had to make me either BBQ chicken or lemon chicken every night for dinner. What a boring existence! I also had to have the chicken be boneless and skinless (which I still prefer, even with BBQ chicken). In college, I had limited access to my obsession and it quickly fell out of popularity for me.

Good thing this popped up on Eating, etc. awhile ago. I have since been making it quite regularly and this summer was no exception, although I am just now getting around to sharing it. Spice and I both agree this makes the most tender, flavorful BBQ chicken we've ever eaten. As a native Syracus-ian, Spice always has Dinosaur BBQ Sauce around, so we use that most of the time when we make this.

BBQ Chicken
From Eating, etc.

1lb-2lb chicken pieces

favorite spice rub, to taste

salt & pepper, to taste

1 large onion, sliced

3/4c port wine ( we use any red wine)

favorite bbq sauce

Rub chicken pieces with spice rub, salt, & pepper to taste.

Sear chicken on preheated grill on each side for 5-15 minutes (10-30 minutes total, depending on whether using bone-in or boneless chicken).

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Transfer chicken pieces to oven-proof covered pot (we use a cast-iron dutch oven), adding sliced onion, port wine, & barbecue sauce.

Bake at 325° for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Lettuce Wraps

There's a world called P.F. Chang's where everyone is happy and food is always delicious. It is one of my favorite restaurants and my favorite thing on the menu is the lettuce wraps. I can never get enough of them! I'm not sure if its the texture of the meat and vegetables together, or the fact that you wrap it in a lettuce leaf, or the sweet and slightly spicy sauce, but I go nuts over these.

Thank goodness Steamy Kitchen recreated them, or I would be up the creek without a paddle because no P.F. Chang's are in the city! Gulp!

It has been awhile since my last run in with my favorite restaurant, but these lettuce wraps certainly got the craving out of my system! I loved the muted asian sauce and especially the green apple that was in these!

Instead of appetizer portions, I served a heaping pile of the meat/vegetable mixture on a large lettuce leaf and called it a night.



Lettuce Wraps
From Steamy Kitchen

The Sauce:
1-1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce

Filling:
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 stalks, scallions
1 pound ground turkey or chicken
2 cups mixed vegetables (frozen pea/carrots, finely diced bell peppers, etc.)
1/2 green apple, finely diced

Toppings/Wrap:
1 head boston bibb lettuce, leaves washed and separated
2 medium carrots, Use vegetable peeler to peel cut carrot into paper thin strips.  Use knife to further cut into super duper thin strands.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat a wok or large frying pan on high heat with cooking oil. Add the scallions, ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add the turkey or chicken (I used ground turkey) and fry until cooked almost through. Add the vegetables and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Add the sauce ingredients and stir. Let simmer for 1 minute to thicken slightly. Add the apples at the last second and toss to coat. Remove from heat.

Serve over the lettuce cups, with carrot shavings.

Swine Flu, Easter Edition

I know, Easter was a long time ago. But I thought better late than never, so here goes. I love ham and pork, its my thing. So Easter is just my big excuse to get a huge hunk of delicious ham and eat the leftovers for weeks! This Easter I had big plans; a huge meal, lots of friends, good desserts... But this was all before Easter Eve, where Sugar and I decided to party like rockstars and get home at 4am... Needless to say, we were both in rough shape (Sugar more so). But I pulled the ultimate rally and made my ham! It was amazing and surprisingly helped with our hangovers from hell. This is a Tyler Florence recipe, and so worth your time.

Tangerine Glazed Ham with Baby Carrots

1 (8 to 10-pound) smoked ham, bone-in, skin on
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch fresh sage leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
2 tangerines, sliced thin, seeds removed
2 cups tangerine juice
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
11/2 pounds carrots, peeled

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the ham in a large roasting pan, fat-side up. I would also recommend putting on a rack, depending on tha ham, you could get a ton of fat drippings. Score the ham with cuts across the skin, cut diagonally down the slashes to form a diamond pattern; season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Chop about 8 of the sage leaves and put it in a bowl; mix with the oil to make a paste. Rub the sage-oil all over the ham, being sure to get the flavor into all the slits. Bake the ham for 2 hours. Now it's time to start that glaze.

For the glaze: Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chunks of butter, tangerines, tangerine juice, brown sugar, water, and spices. Slowly cook the liquid down to a syrupy glaze; this took me almost an hour, but I was scared of burning it. For those who are more daring with the heat it should only take about 30 to 40 minutes.

After the ham has being going for a couple of hours take it out and drain away some of the fat drippings now pour the tangerine glaze all over it, with the pieces of fruit and all. Scatter the remaining sage leaves on top and stick the ham back in the oven and continue to cook for 11/2 hours, basting with the juices every 30 minutes.

Scatter the carrots around the ham and coat in the tangerine glaze. Stick the ham once again back in the oven and cook for a final 30 minutes, until the carrots are tender, the ham is dark and crispy, and the whole thing is glistening with a sugary glaze.

Just one more pic, its just so darn pretty!