Kickin’ the ’cocks Boneless Buffalo Wings

Posted on September 6, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

{Disclaimer: I am aware this title is a bit on the edge. We are playing South Carolina this week and they’re the gamecocks. Come on, you know it’s funny. The twelve year old inside you is laughing right now.}

It’s Friday friends! It’s finally here. This week has been d.r.a.g.g.i.n.g. Why? Because the Kiwi’s parents are coming to town! We love having folks over, but we especially love it when those folks are our folks.

But before I run pick them up at the train station, I wanted to share a quick game day recipe for your tailgate this weekend. Last week was close, but my dawgs didn’t finish the drill. Hopefully they can make it happen this weekend, and hopefully I will be able to convince the crew that what they really want to do on their only Saturday night in Munich is watch an American football game.

Kickin’ the ’cocks Boneless Buffalo Wings

The Chicken
2 chicken breasts
buttermilk

The Breading
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp chili flakes
salt and pepper

To Cook
1/2 cup canola oil {enough for there to be about 1cm of oil in your pan}
1 cup hot sauce {or for the lightweights, BBQ sauce}

Get started by slicing your chicken breasts into strips. Put the strips in a tupperware container and pour in the buttermilk until the chicken is just covered. Let the it soak in the buttermilk for at least an hour, but if possible, overnight is best.

When you’re ready to eat, start heating the oil in a frying pan on medium heat and preheat your oven to broil {or grill for the Kiwis}.

Mix together all of the breading ingredients in a shallow bowl. When the oil is hot, coat the chicken strips with the breading and pop them in the oil. Shallow fry for about 3-5 minutes on each side. When the breading is crispy, transfer the chicken to a paper towel and let some of that grease drain off. Discard the used cooking oil that’s still in the pan.

Grab a bowl and pour your hot sauce {or BBQ sauce} in it. One by one dip the chicken strips in the sauce and then return to the frying pan. Once all of your chicken is back in the pan, pop it in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. This will finish cooking the chicken and crisp that breading even more. Yum!

Serve it up with some blue cheese dipping sauce and dig in!

Turkey Joes

Posted on August 29, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

When I was cooking just for myself, Sunday nights I would make a big batch of something and then just eat on it for lunches and dinners that whole week. I had about four things that I would rotate between which is good because when you’ve been eating something pretty much every meal for a week you don’t really want to see it again for a month. I will eventually get around to sharing all of these recipes {in their new and improved versions} because they really are still some of my favorites, but today we’re just going to talk about one.

Sloppy joes.

Or rather, turkey joes since I make them with ground turkey breast as opposed to ground beef which, after one of my foods classes, really freaked me out in college.

Ground turkey breast is pretty hard to find here in Deutschland, so these days, more often than not, I end up using beef. I will say that the grass-fed cows that led happy lives in the Alps before they ended up on my plate freak me out a bit less that the stuff we talked about in that class.

However, if I ever see ground turkey in the shop here, there is usually a squeal of delight {which gets many disapproving looks from nearby Germans} and I snatch that sucker up like they’re going to take it away from me {which they probably are because they think I’m insane}. What can I say? Turkey joes are a comfort food for me, and there is nothing like having your comfort food made just right.

I’m curious, what is your ultimate comfort food? When I was sick as a kid my grandmother would make me a fried bologna sandwich. You probably won’t be seeing it on the blog anytime soon, but man! Nothing says you’re safe and loved like mixed meat fried in bacon grease slapped between two pieces of Sunbeam, the whitest white bread imaginable, with globs of mayo. Am I right?

Probably not.

Turkey Joes

The Slop
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 of an sweet onion, diced
1/2 of a red pepper, diced {capsicum for the Kiwis}
200 grams ground turkey breast
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

The Assembly
1/4 cup BBQ Sauce
2 buns

Heat a deep sauté pan on medium high heat and add the olive oil. When it’s hot, throw in the diced onion and red pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook until the peppers are soft and the onions are translucent. This usually takes about 5-7 minutes for me. When you’re happy with the veg, push them to the side of your pan then add the ground turkey, chili powder, paprika, and cinnamon. Use your stirring device to break the meat up and slowly incorporate it into the veggies. Cook until the meat is no longer pink and appears to be cooked through.

{If you’re using ground beef instead of ground turkey breast, I advise doing the meat in a separate pan and draining off all the grease before adding it to the onion+red pepper mixture.}

Reduce the heat to medium low and stir in the BBQ sauce. Let the whole thing simmer away for about 5 minutes or until the BBQ sauce has reduced by about half.

While the slop is reducing and caramelizing and becoming awesome, you can be prepping the buns. Slice them in half and spread about a tablespoon of BBQ sauce on the top and bottom slices. When the slop is ready, spoon a big ol’, sensible size portion of it on the bottom bun. Add the top bun, smush a bit, and dig in.

Prepare to get messy.

Maple Baked Beans with Apple Salsa

Posted on July 3, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

I think it’s high time I share my favorite baked beans recipe with you. No Southern get together seems to be complete without baked beans and everyone has a slightly different way of making them. I think that the apple salsa really takes mine to a whole new level in terms of taste as well as nutrition. I might go as far as to call these beans…healthy. {Or maybe not, there is still a good bit of sugar!} I can easily say that these are the best baked beans I’ve ever had. {Sorry Mama.} Give them a try this July 4th, and let me know if you agree!

Maple Baked Beans with Apple Salsa

3-4 slices of bacon {depending on the size of the dish you’re cooking the beans in}

The Beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

The Apple Salsa {inspired by Tupelo Honey Cafe}
1 granny smith apple
1/2 of a red pepper
1/2 of a green chili
1/4 of a sweet onion
1 tbsp honey
a dash of salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C.

Put your bacon in a cold pan start heating over medium heat. You’re just doing this to render the fat, so once the white bit has become shiny and a bit translucent remove it from the heat. The bacon will cook completely in the oven, don’t worry.

In a medium bowl, combine your beans and BBQ sauce. Peel and dice your apple and add it to the bowl. Remove the seeds from the pepper and the chili. {Be careful with the chili seeds. Wash your hands with hot water and soap afterwards and avoid touching your eyes–ouch!} Dice them up and add them to the bowl. Peel and dice your onion and add it to the bowl too. Add in the bit of honey and salt and pepper and give it all a big stir.

Pour it into a baking dish. I used a 6in pie pan, but a 9×9 should be fine too {plus you’ll have room for more bacon}. Make a layer of bacon over the top and put it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes and you’re done!

{This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. That means that if you head over to Amazon from the link and choose to buy the book, a tiny bit of the money you spent on the book will come back to me for the referral.}

Spicy Baked BBQ Hot Wings

Posted on June 10, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

The Kiwi and I are big fans of the spicy stuff. We like that added kick of flavor, and the fact that it gives us an excuse to pair whatever we are eating with cheese {you know, for the casein}. We aren’t that crazy though. This one time, in the States, we went to this wing joint where you had to sign a release form to order their hottest level of spicyness. Insane! There is a point where things stop being flavorful and become straight up painful. {I’m looking at you Mr. Habenero.} This sauce is the perfect mixture of flavorful spicyness and savory sweet–the way that BBQ sauce should be. {Sorry Carolina style fans.}

Seeing everyone on Facebook getting their football tickets for next season {sob} reminded me of the first time I made these. We were ‘tailgating’ in our living room for the first UGA game of the season. We started in on the wings and naturally, once we had the sauce all over our hands and faces, the video feed freezes and continues to do so every couple of minutes through out the game. {face, palm} Moral of the story? Don’t eat these wings when you’re going to have to tinker with fancy electronics.

82 days people. Go Dawgs!

Spicy Baked BBQ Hot Wings

The BBQ Sauce {makes 1 cup of sauce}
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
2 Tbsp hot sauce

The Bird
10 pieces bone in chicken wings

Preheat your oven to 400.

Combine everything in a large sauce pan and bring it to a boil stirring constantly. Once the mixture starts getting darker {from the sugars caramelizing}, turn the heat off and keep stirring. Let it cool and then taste test it. Add more of any of the ingredients you think it needs. If it’s too spicy, add more ketchup.

Line up your wings on a lined baking sheet and brush the sauce on the top of each wing. Flip it over and do the same thing on the other side.

Put it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Get the pan out, brush the tops with more sauce, flip, brush the other side with more sauce, and put it back in. Repeat until they have cooked for a total of 30 minutes.

While the wings are cooking, whip up a blue cheese dipping sauce because you’ll want something to cut the heat {or at least I do}. I usually pair the wings with a green veggie side like steamed broccoli or green beans, so I feel better about the fact I’m eating wings. But sometimes we have it with fries too.