A-1 Wings

It’s that time of year again—Super Bowl. Every year, I make a new batch of wings. This year I went with something everyone loves, A-1 Steak Sauce. I worried that the steak sauce would be overwhelming, but after it was mixed with the butter and honey, I think these may be my favorite ever! Try these and my other wing flavors and decide for yourself.

Servings:  2 dozen wings

Hardware:  Kitchen scissors, measuring spoons and cups, food prep gloves, a small bowl, tongs, a baking sheet, a cooling rack (optional), foil, a sauce pan, a rubber spatula

Time: Active time: 10 minutes- Cook time: 50 minutes-Wings in an hour

Ingredients:

• 2 dozen wings
• 1 + 1 sticks of butter at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons Montreal Steak Seasoning (I like McCormick)
• 1cup A-1 Steak Sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Cooking spray

A-1 Wings

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Use the kitchen scissors to separate the flaps from the drumettes. Also, snip the points from the flaps.
3. Line the baking sheet with foil. If you have a cooling rack place it over the foil-lined sheet. Spray with cooking spray.
4. Place one stick of softened butter in the small bowl. Wearing the gloves mix the Montreal Steak Seasoning with the butter by sort of squishing them together as if the butter were Play-Doh. Rub the mixture all over the wings, making sure they are thoroughly covered.
5. Lay the wings in a single layer on the cooling rack. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Flip and roast for 20 more minutes. Turn the oven up to broil for 2-4 minutes to crisp up the skin. Turn the heat off and leave in the warm oven for 10 minutes.
6. When you turn the oven off, mix the other stick of butter, honey and steak sauce together over medium. Stir until the butter melts.
7. Remove the wings from the oven and pour all the juices from the pan into the sauce. Toss the wings in the sauce and make sure the wings are completely coated. Serve warm.

Sweet Chili Shrimp

The New Year usually means resolutions to get healthy, exercise more and change our diets. I used to make all kinds of resolutions but have decided not to lie to myself. Even so, my first recipe of 2019 is healthy, low in calories and low in fat. Sweet Chili Shrimp also happens to be delicious.

You can make this even healthier by serving it in lettuce wraps, rather than over pasta. You could also add in 4 ounces of matchstick carrots and/or shiitake mushrooms with the veggies.

Serves: 6 servings

Time:  Active time 20 minutes; Cook: 15 minutes, Dinner in about 30 minutes

Hardware:  A cutting board and knives, measuring spoons and cups, a plate, paper towels, a heavy skillet (frying), a large pot, tongs, a wooden spoon

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds large shrimp (21-25 count) You can buy them cleaned without tails
• Vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the skillet
• 1 medium red bell pepper (6-8 ounces)
• 4 green onions
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (¼ teaspoon ground ginger)
• 5-6 large basil leaves (1teaspoon dried basil)
• ¼ cup Sweet Chili Sauce (I used Mae Ploy. I found it in my local grocery store)
• ½ cup water
• 8 ounces of a wide lo mein noodle (I used Ka-Me)
• Sriracha to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ a lime

Sweet Chili Shrimp

 1.     Remove the white ribs and seeds of the red pepper. Cut it into long, then strips. Chop the green onions. Keep both the green parts and the white parts but separate them. Roughly chop the garlic. Grate the ginger and tear the basil into tiny pieces. Set everything aside.

2.      Rinse and pat the shrimp dry. Generously salt and pepper the shrimp. Set aside. Put the large pot of water onto boil.

3.      Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Heat it on medium high. When the pan is very hot, add the shrimp. As soon as the shrimp begin to color, flip them. Then remove them from the pan to the plate. You only want to partially cook the shrimp. You will finish them later.

4.      Add the bell peppers, the whites of the onion, the garlic and the ginger (if using fresh) to the hot pan. Use the tongs to continually toss the veggies until the red peppers begin to soften a little. I like my veggies crispy, so I only tossed them for about 3 minutes. You can cook them longer if you like.

5.      Add the sweet chili sauce and the water to the pan, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the sauce to simmer.

6.      The pot of water should be boiling by now. Add the noodles. The noodles only take 4 minutes to boil.

7.      Return the shrimp with the basil to the sauce. If you are using ground ginger, add it now. Flip the shrimp to make sure that they cook through.

8.      As soon as the noodles are finished, use the tongs to remove them from the boiling water and add them to the sauce. Toss everything to make sure that the noodles are coated in sauce. Add sriracha to taste. Adjust the salt.

9.      To serve, toss in the onion greens and squeeze the lime over the entire dish.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

What are you doing for New Year’s Eve? We usually go to my cousin’s, but she is visiting her son this year. So, we are staying home. We are still dressing up and having snacks and cocktails. We are just doing it alone.

I’m making Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers and Wings. I know poppers are very mid-90s. I also know that I don’t care. I eat what I like. These are super delicious.

Thanks for following my blog this year. I hope next year brings you nothing but happiness.

Servings: 12 poppers

Time:  Active: 15 minutes; Freeze: 1 hour; Cook: 40 Minutes; Pops in about 2 hours

Hardware:  A cutting board and a paring knife, food prep gloves, a food processor, a silicone spatula, a mixing bowl, a mixer, a spoon, a large plate, foil, a baking sheet

Ingredients:

• 1-8oz package cream cheese
• 12 large jalapeños
• 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon (just buy the pre-cooked bacon you can find with the salad dressing and croutons in the grocery store)
• 6 pieces of good bacon
• Cooking spray
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing

1. Put the cream cheese out to soften.
2. Make sure to wear the gloves while working with the peppers. Wash the peppers. Leave the stems on them. Lay them down to discover how they can lay without rolling. Cut a long section from the top of each pepper so it resembles a canoe. Remove the seeds and white ribs from inside the jalapeños.
3. Place the pieces you removed from the peppers into the food processor. Pulse them until they are the size of gravel. Scrape them into the mixing bowl. Repeat with the bacon and the cheddar cheese.
4. Add the cream cheese to the crumbled bacon, jalapeños, and cheddar cheese and mix until thoroughly combined.
5. Stuff the mixture into the peppers. You can mound it up a little. Place the peppers into the freezer for at least on hour. If you have any stuffing left over, it makes a great cheese spread.
6. Cover the baking sheet in foil and spray with cooking spray. Pre-heat the oven to 325˚.
7. Cut the bacon long ways down the middle. You should now have 12 thin bacon strips. Remove the poppers from the freezer. Wrap a piece of bacon around each one. Try to have the ends under the pepper. Place the poppers onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes. If the bacon isn’t crispy enough for you at this point, you can turn on the broiler. However, monitor them carefully, as they will burn quickly.
8. Serve right away. Offer your guests ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.