Baked Wings

I love chicken wings, but then again - who doesn't? I've started recently baking chicken instead of frying it and thought that I should try it with wings. It ended up delicious, with a nice spicy kick.

To make the chicken, I took a package of 6 wings - separated the drumettes from the wings and removed the wingtips. I pat the pieces dry with paper towels and sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper. Then I placed the pieces fat side down on a ceramic pan (cast iron skillet would work even better) and placed in an oven set at 425. I flipped over the pieces after 20 minutes, and cooked for another 15 minutes.

To make the sauce, I melted 2 tbsp of butter and added about 2 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp paprika, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp thai sweet chili sauce and some Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste. I poured this in a large bowl and coated the wings in them.

Sweet, crispy, tangy and hot. Simple and cheap to make and delicious!

Chinese Chicken Soup

One of the things that I have spent quite a bit of time on over the last few months is making stocks at home. Between making shrimp stock a few times for gumbo and other seafood dishes, i've made chicken stock from a raw whole chicken fryer. However, i've discovered that making chicken stock/soup from a store-bought rotisserie chicken is one of the quickest, cheapest and easiest ways to make a really tasty and comforting meal.

You really only need a few ingredients in addition to the chicken - some leafy greens and noodles - and you're set!

Step 1 is to de-skin and debone the entire chicken. It takes much less time that taking apart a raw fryer, for sure. I fill up a large saucepot with about 10 cups of cold filtered water and drop in the skin and bones as I prep the chicken, making sure to cut the chest cavity into at least 5 or 6 pieces. I typically add 2 dried red peppers, some sesame oil and soy sauce, bring to a boil and let simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

After its done, I add about 1/3 to 1/2 of the chicken pieces, cut and shredded into small pieces. This last time I diced up some fried tofu, which was a tasty extra touch.


In a separate pot, I boiled salted water and added chinese noodles, spinach, chinese lettuce and mung bean sprouts then combined with the broth and chicken in the serving bowls. This was a tasty meal on a cold night, with enough leftovers for another serving for 2 (in addition to the remainder of the 1/2 of the chicken, which we used for chicken biscuits) and cost less than $15.

Chicken and Broccolini in Lemon Sauce over Pasta

This is a dish that has evolved quite a bit over the years. It started as a standby during my college days, when i would cook up a pot of pasta, flavor it with butter, olive oil, salt and pepper and whatever dried green herb that I had from the supermarket.

It served to satisfy a lot of hungry days and at about $2 per box of pasta it was a cheap alternative to ramen. But as my tastes have evolved, so has this dish - and as my cholesterol number has risen, the butter has been replaced by all olive oil.


In addition to the pasta part, i've created a chicken and broccolini dish with lemon sauce to serve on top of it. This evolved from the stir-fry that dad used to always make at home (and when the wife lets me, I replace the chicken with fresh sweet sausage out of the case, but that and the loss of butter is another story for another post). The concept is the same though - saute small pieces of your protein in oil, then mix in the veggies. Of course, I've added dried red pepper for heat, onion for texture and sweetness and lemon for acid and sharpness.


recipe:

Chicken and Broccolini:

Sweat 1 diced small white onion, 1 dried red and 3 coarsely chopped cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add .75 lb of sliced chicken breast that has been lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Add the juice of one and a half lemons. Saute until light brown and add lightly boiled very roughly chopped broccolini.

Pasta:

Prepare 1 lb of thin spaghetti. Place in colander to rest. Place 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and dried red pepper in large pot under low heat for 1 minute. Add spaghetti in small batches while also adding salt, pepper, dried basil (fresh parsley or green onion or basil will work as well) and fresh lemon juice.

Serving:

Serve chicken and broccolini on top of pasta.