I've made chicken wings for years, however I've only made a few attempts at making my own signature sauce. Usually it was easier to pick up a bottle of wing sauce and slather it on while baking. I can proudly say that I don't deep fry them anymore, haven't in a while! Trying to eat healthily is a full time job it seems!
Supposedly, the future is bright when it comes to food prep. According to the media we will run out of food and will resort to eating crickets for our protein source so this whole blog will be in vain! The sound of that almost sends me running to buy acres and acres of land and produce my own food. Or, at least, get a greenhouse. Any solutions?
As long as there are chicken wings out there, this is a nice sauce to slather over them. Try it!
Spicy Wing Sauce
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1/4 cup your favorite barbecue sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp sweet Thai chili sauce
1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tsp sriracha sauce
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
about 20 wings or wing parts
Spray a cookie sheet with pan spray. Put all ingredients, except wings, in a bowl, mixing well. Cook the plain wings for about 15 minutes, turn and brush both sides with sauce. Continue to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until done.
As the heat rises, I don't know about you but the oven mitt comes off and we fire up the grill! I like to spend more time outside with my garden instead of being cooped up in the kitchen. I've never been a beefaholic, so a well marinated thinly sliced piece of meat is a great alternative to a hunk of steak. And, if you're lucky enough to have leftovers, it makes for a great sandwich the next day.
I can't justify buying a marinade already bottled from the store when it's just as easy to mix up your own. You can purchase a decent sized flank steak for less than $10.00, which would be a quarter of what you might spend for 4 steaks.
Grilled Flank Steak
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and place the meat into a gallon plastic bag. Pour the marinade into the bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Lay it out flat in the frig so the meat sucks up all the juice!
3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup seasoned (or plain) rice wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
for added flavor you can add some herbs like chopped parsley, cilantro or rosemary (optional)
Next, grill it until done and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing as thin as you can. Delicious!
If you're looking for an alternative to hamburgers, this fits the bill. For me, one slider is enough to satisfy a burger craving! I've always had trouble finishing a big juicy home made burger...sliders where were you all my life? Turkey hamburgers can be overly dry, but over the years I've gotten more savvy or just simply more creative about how to overcome dry turkey.
The secret to these sliders is diced mushrooms. They add moistness and flavor to an otherwise dry burger. Try these..turkey isn't just for Thanksgiving!
Grilled Turkey Sliders
1 1/4 lb ground turkey, preferably a mixture of white and dark meat
2 finely diced mushrooms
pinch of garlic powder
1 egg
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
dash of salt, pepper and herb de Provence
Mix together and form into small patties. Grill until almost done, add optional cheese slices and melt. I used smokey cheddar. I also used Hawaiian sweet buns...tasty. Garnish with sliced avocado, lettuce and red onion, if you wish. To give it extra spice slather on some wasabi mayo. If you want fries with that, make some baked sweet potato fries.!
Seriously, chicken again?! I had good intentions of posting my chocolate chip espresso biscotti, but the powers that be and the inability to download pictures to my computer from my phone won the battle. No apologies necessary for this chicken, though.
For this recipe I used chicken breast "strips". Once they go on the grill they'll cook very quickly, so have everything else (side dishes) ready to go!
Ingredients:
8 pieces of chicken breast strips
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp rosemary (I used dried)
2/3 cup of apricot preserves
2 Tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1/8 - 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
In a shallow pie plate mix the brown sugar and 1 tsp of the rosemary. Lay the chicken in this and turn to coat and rub.
In a small saucepan, add the apricot preserves, soy sauce, chili flakes and the rest of (1 Tbsp) of the rosemary. Heat on low until it begins to bubble.
Put the chicken onto skewers, threading through the middle so they are stable. Place on to your waiting grill. It helps to "grease" the grill before putting on the meat. After turning once brush the glaze on, turn again and brush, brush, brush.
These are sweet, smokey with a bit of heat from the chilies. The best part is....they were simple!
Last Saturday we were blessed with spectacular Springtime weather...sunny and almost 70 degrees! Naturally, we dragged out the grill and outdoor patio furniture from the shed. (We don't have a covered patio and the winds can gust upwards of 100 mph. We also didn't want to have to chase our grill as it rolled down the street!) So, we waited until weather permitted to unleash the hubby grill master!
For our first official barbecue I marinaded some shrimp..simple stuff. Something I've been wanting to attempt is barbecued oysters...yum! On a trip to San Juan Island there was a restaurant on the oceanfront as we disembarked the ferry. The giant barbecues set up on the sidewalk at the entrance were covered with rows of fresh salmon and oysters. We were hooked! Now, I've never been fond of oysters, but I remember these to be different from the kind you send raw down your throat as fast as you can without choking to avoid (sorry) the snotty slimy texture. Even if you don't care for oysters...that may change after you've tried these! The only problem was that I only bought 4 to sample!
Barbecued Oysters
This is obviously a sampling. If you dare to make more you'll need to increase the measurements.
4 cleaned oysters (Have a sharp paring knife, tongs, potholder and plate handy.)
For the sauce:
In a small saucepan heat 2 Tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup of Thai sweet chili sauce and 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro. Heat this up before you put the oysters on the grill, bring outdoors with a basting brush.
Heat the barbecue to about medium. Lay the whole oysters flat side up. Keep on for about 2 minutes. They will steam inside and barely open. Remove from the grill. Use the tongs to remove, the knife to pry open being careful not to let the juice seep out. Use the potholder so you don't burn yourself. This is an easy process.
Toss the empty half shell out. Place the oysters back on the grill, baste with the sauce and close grill top. Continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Remove to a serving dish and eat immediately! Soooo good!
For Father's day this year we invited some talented caterers over to work their magic! Actually, my son and his beautiful girlfriend showed up, once again, with a feast for the father's. Most of the prep work was done, all I had to do was provide an appetizer and make a salad! How nice!
They prepared a Hawaiian theme barbecue with marinated and grilled skewered shrimp, grilled sweet potato fries and grilled juicy pineapple. Children can be such a blessing and these two, although not children, are truly a gift. Everything was delicious! To complete the day and the Hawaiian theme, simple ice cream cones! More new flavors! A butter yellow colored Persian ice cream with floral rosewater, a hint of earthy saffron and pistachios! Then a Hawaiian rocky road, dedicated to my husband's father who passed over 25 years ago. It was always his favorite! He would have loved his grandson's ice cream making ability! I know my dad did!
My contribution to the menu was garden salad made with more spinach from my garden, and a new edition to my line of homemade salad dressings. Apricot Ginger. I'll post the recipe tomorrow.
Thanks, again, to Jeremy and Leilani for being such gracious, creative and talented human beings, who selflessly honored their dad and grandfather with their Father's Day Feast and just their presence! I Love you!
And I especially love my husband who is the greatest hubby and father, and my dad (above) who has always been there for me. I appreciate you, both!
