Valerie's BBQ Pulled Chicken

This recipe is from my daughter-in-law, Valerie. Her notes say "makes ALOT" and great for a crowd. Easy, breezy crockpot recipe. It is best if made the night before; so flavors meld and chicken sops up the sauce. I made the Homemade Slider Buns (blog: March 2, 2020, label: yeast breads). Serve with extra BBQ sauce, pickles and chopped onions. Also would be excellent as the protein for nachos! Then add the CHEESE!

Ingredients:

• 5-6 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (I like thighs)
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 ounces tomato paste
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (I should have tried BAM)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or cayenne
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt (once cooked, season to taste)

Directions:

Grease your crockpot people. Add diced onion and garlic. Add rest of sauce of ingredients and then your chicken. Stir to combine.

Cook on low for 6 hours. An hour before cooking is complete; shred chicken with a fork and stir to coat with the sauce.

Crispy Chicken Wings with Two Sauces

This is another recipe from my Convection Cookbook with adaptation from Natasha's Kitchen.  As the description states: "crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and bathed in a zippy sauce or a traditional hot sauce. You have got yourself an "all star appetizer".

Ingredients:

• nonstick cooking spray
• 3 pounds chicken wings, joints separated
• 1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic granules
• 1 teaspoon paprika

Ingredients for Honey Mustard Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco
• fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Ingredients for Hot Sauce:

• 1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

Select Convection Bake and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place wire rack on top. Lightly spray rack with cooking spray.

Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels. Place chicken wings in a large bowl. Combine baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder and paprika.  Combine the spice mixture with the wings until nicely coated. Arrange the wings on the a parchment lined cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 45 minutes, turning every 20 minutes.

While wings are cooking prepare sauce of choice: 

Whisk the Dijon, yellow mustard, honey, vinegar and hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper.  

Whisk the  hot sauce, butter and honey. 

Once wings are finished cooking transfer them to a bowl and immediately toss with the prepared honey-mustard sauce or hot sauce. Let sit 5 minutes to absorb.

Reheat at 350-degrees till crispy. Also maybe frozen. Unthaw in refrigerator before baking.

Yum, I love wings! 

Printed

Homemade Slider Buns

This recipe is from thespruceeats.com and was was so excited my first attempt was a success! I did not add the sesame seeds to the egg wash tops as the picture; but brushed with butter right out of the oven. This time around; I filled with a pulled BBQ chicken and served with additional BBQ sauce, pickles and sliced onion. Check out the websites for additional good eats...

Ingredients:

• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2/3 cup milk (room temperature)
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons butter (melted and cooled slightly)
• 2 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• approximately 4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Combine the yeast and warm water in a bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar to activate the yeast. Allow to stand until foamy.

Whisk the melted butter, egg and milk together. Add to the yeast mixture along with remaining sugar and salt.

Incorporate the flour, one cup at a time; until dough is no longer sticky. Knead until smooth and elastic.

Grease a large bowl with butter or oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl. Turn over to coat the dough thoroughly.

Cover the dough with parchment paper and proof for about one hour; until dough doubles in bulk.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Punch down dough and pat down into a rectangle. Cut into 18-24 pieces depending on size desired.

Place 2-inches apart on cookie sheets.

Cover the buns with a light-weight kitchen towel and allow to rise in a draft-free place for about 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.

Bake about 15 minutes; watching bottoms carefully.

Cool on wire racks; brushing with a little melted butter out of the oven.

Split the buns halfway and serve with your favorite slider recipe.

  

One Pan Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice

This recipe is from thechunckychef and so is this amazing picture! I just had a hip replacement on January 27th and ever since I am craving "chicken". I will most likely grow tired of chicken; but in the interim; chicken it is! What is great about this recipe; besides "one pan", is it is delicious. Having made it last nite; I will make just slight adjustments to the original. I would stick with the chicken thighs, but will try boneless, skinless next time and add 2-3 more thighs to the recipe. Adding more chicken; I will increase the marinade by 1/2. I served fresh harcots verts purchased at Whole Foods. The bag was enough for 2 dinners. Lightly coat beans with olive oil and roast the harcots verts in a 400-degree roasted convection oven for about 15 minutes. I garnished the green beans with crisp cooked bacon and toasted almond slivers. Perfect accompanyment!

Ingredients for Marinade:

• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons minced onion
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• zest of one large lemon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 7-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Directions for Marinade:

Combine all the marinade ingredients and coat the chicken thighs on both sides. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Ingredients for Rice:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and fresh parsley for garnish

Directions for Putting Dish Together:

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil  to oven safe skillet. Heat on medium-high. Place thighs in skillet and cook 5 minutes. Turn thighs over and cook an additional 4 minutes. Remove the thighs from the skillet.

Reduce heat to medium and add onion to the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add rice, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir together and cook 1 minute. 

Pour chicken broth into skillet and raise temperature to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Once shimmering; nestle the thighs on top of the rice mixture.

Cover with a lid or foil and place in a preheated 350-degree oven and bake about 30-35 minutes. If liquid has not reduced enough; bake uncovered an additional10 minutes. (I did not have to cook any longer).

Garnish with fresh squeezed lemon, lemon zest and fresh chopped parsley.

Chicken Tikka Masala

So thank you pinch of yum for some of my photos and most of all the recipe! Now, it is a bit of work; if you make the masala paste on the same day. However, once you have a few in the freezer; voila, easy breezy... She also has directions for Instant Pot or Slow Cooker.

I stuck with the original recipe of the Masala Paste, except the cayenne I replaced with red pepper flakes. I found exactly the 3 tablespoons Garam Masala at Whole Foods!

Ingredients for Masala Paste:

• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
• 3 tablespoons garam masala
• 1 tablespoon each chili powder, turmeric and cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons Celtic salt (coarse salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne ( I used red pepper flakes)
• small pile of cilantro
• juice of one lemon ( about 1/4 cup)

Directions for Masala Paste:

Pulse all ingredients into a food processor until smooth. For each recipe use 1/4 cup of the paste. Freeze the rest. As pinch of yum says "Boom"!

Ingredients for Chicken Tikka Masala:

• 2 lbs bones skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt ( I used the whole container)
• 1 tablespoon Masala Paste

Directions:

Combine yogurt and Masala Paste. Add chicken and coat all pieces. Marinate in frig for 30 minutes.

This is where I deviate from pinch of yum. Instead of browning chicken pieces on top of the stove in a skillet; I chose to grill. 3-4 minutes per side. (Note to self: I did cook on top of stove; did not need to add any oil).

Rest of Ingredients:

• 2 cups tomato puree
• remainder of the Masala Paste
• 1 cup heavy cream or 14 - ounce coconut milk ( I used cream as had in the freezer)

Rest of Directions:

Combine the tomato puree, Masala Paste and add the chicken pieces. Simmer 15-30 minutes. Add the cream or coconut milk, stir to combine, heat gently and adjust salt.

Serve with Curry Rice Pilaf with Apples (blog: May 9, 2020 label: rice) and chopped cilantro OR for the bomb: Cilantro Lime Sauce (blog: April 7, 2019 label: sauce) & toasted almond slivers.
This is one I think will benefit from cooking ahead and allow the flavors to meld.

New Granddaughter ~ May 2020

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust

Ok folks; this is spectacular. Now I cannot have regular pizza crust; so perhaps my excitement is overrated. However, I will make this is again. I cooked a very large spagetti squash for another recipe and had about half leftover. I used shredded pepper jack goat cheese in replacement for the mozzarella and shredded pecorino romano in place of the parmesan; simply because I had on hand. I topped the crust with cooked choizo sausage and more shredded pepper jack. My icing on the cake; chopped fresh jalapenos! A simple salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic; you are in heaven! Of course the sky is the limit as far as what to top with. I wanted to keep the crust firmness; so did not want to add anything saucy. sharedappetite.com

Ingredients:

• one small to medium spagetti squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon shredded parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

I soften the spagetti squash in the microwave on high for about 4 minutes. This allow you to easily cut the ends off the squash and then cut into four rounds. Remove the seeds once cut.

Place the rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 400-degree oven for one hour; turning rounds over halfway through.

Scrap all the flesh into a beautiful pile of spagetti strands and allow to cool. Wrap cooked squash into cheese cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

In a medium bowl combine the squash, egg, cheeses, salt and pepper. 

Press squash in a thin even layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 400-degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully flip and cook another 10 minutes. Use a spatula to loosen from the parchment paper easily.

Add desired topping and bake until done.