Oven baked wings

Leave it to Alton Brown to come up with the perfect way to make wings without a deep fryer. This is a time consuming recipe, but the results are definitely worth it. We chose to make 12 wings with two different sauces; our own 6 ingredient bbq sauce, and a honey sriracha sauce. 

Here's the recipe, according to Alton: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/alton-browns-buffalo-wings-recipe.html

Some notes: 

• When steaming the wings, you'll know when they are done with the meat is a little darker and loots like boiled meat
• Don't skimp on the drying off time. The oven baking will only be successful if the wings are dry
• With the honey sriracha sauce, melt the butter first before adding the other ingredients

Prep time: 1 hour and 15 mins
Bake time: 40-50 mins

Wings: 

• Using a steamer basket, steam the wings for about 10 mins. You'll know they are done when they look a little darker. 
• While the wings are steaming, line a baking sheet with paper towels and place a cooling rack on top.
• When the wings are done, pat them dry and line them up on the cooling rack. Place them in the fridge to dry for at least an hour
• Once they are out of the fridge, pre-heat the oven to 425. Replace the paper towels with parchment paper and ditch the cooling rack. Line the wings in a single layer on the parchment paper and bake for 20 mins. Flip them and bake for another 25-30 mins, or until the skin is crispy and browned.
• Toss the baked wings with your sauce of choice. Serve and enjoy! 

How to fake a barbecue

Summer in an apartment is missing one big thing: a grill. We've toyed around with the broiler and wanted to share some key lessons. Combine this method with our six ingredient barbecue sauce and you've got yourself a summer cookout (in your kitchen).

Prep time: 4-8 hours (plus marinating time)

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

What you'll need:

• Your favorite barbecue sauce (you can use ours)
• 3 pounds of legs and thighs 

What you'll need to do:

Marinate the chicken pieces in the barbecue sauce for at least 4 hours. 

Once it's good and soaked, preheat your broiler and place the pieces skin side up. Broil for 5-7 minutes until the skin is just a bit fire kissed. 

Preheat your oven to 350. Place the chicken in a rack above a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until juices run clear. 

Ta da-barbecue in your kitchen. 

Chicken with Feta, Vegetables

Low carb meals don't necessarily have to be dry, tasteless affairs. We consulted old, reliable Cooking Light and added to the delicious Feta Chicken and Vegetables recipe. 

We needed more on the vegetable front and added mushrooms and yellow and orange peppers to their mix. The original recipe only accounted for two servings, so we increased it to about 8. 

The dish is savory and filling, and the vegetables add a satisfying crunch. 

This is a bit time consuming, but the effort is worthwhile, as the dish heats up well and makes great leftovers.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 thin sliced chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon olive oil 
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 orange pepper, diced
• 2/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 
• 10 oz sliced white mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350. 

Combine flour, chili powder, black pepper and salt in a shallow dish and coat each chicken breast in mixture. 

Heat oil in a deep pan and cook chicken for 3 minutes on each side, until browned. Transfer chicken to a 9x13 dish, sprinkle with 1/8 cup feta and bake in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. 

Saute vegetable mix in the same pan for about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and vinegar and stir until tender, about five minutes. In a separate bowl, mix vegetables and 1/8 cup of feta cheese.

Serve!

Baked Chicken Noodles

Another great adaptation from Cooking Light. This chicken and pasta recipe combines two unlikely companions, Asian and Italian staples. Using linguine instead of chow mein noodles, and a soy sauce based sauce instead of a marinara dish yields a surprising new family favorite. While on paper the taste combination may not instantly sound appetizing, they somehow work together to create a light and non-greasy tasting noodle dish. 

Of course we've added a bit of sriracha, but even with just the red peppers, the dish has a subtle heat that doesn't overwhelm the other flavors. 

As always, we used the Cooking Light recipe as a guide and edited it to our tastes (and, admittedly, what was currently in the pantry). The recipe below yields a 9x13 dish and can easily yield 8 servings. Bonus: it heats up well and make for great leftovers or packed lunches. 

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 17-20 minutes, depending on how brown you like your bread crumbs

Ingredients:

• 1 16oz package of linguine 
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 medium sized red bell pepper, diced
• 8 oz mushroom caps (shiitake or portobello work nicely)
• 1.5-2 lbs chicken breast, cubed
• 3 small to medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 less-sodium cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons sriracha (optional)
• 2-3 heads of bok choy, leaves thinly sliced
• .5 to 1 bunch of green onion
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Cook the pasta according to your taste and preheat the oven to 400.

Heat peanut oil in a large pan or wok and add the bell peppers and mushroom. Saute for 2-3 minutes then add the chicken and garlic. Add the soy sauce and coat the mixture, stirring frequently.

In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and chicken broth, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved completely. Add the mixture to the pan and cook until the liquid is slightly thick. Be sure to stir, stir, stir. 

Remove the pan from heat and add the vinegar, red pepper, and if using, sriracha paste. Then drain the pasta and add it to the mixture, followed by the bok choy, onions and 2 teaspoons of the sesame seeds. Toss to combine.

Grease your 9x13 dish (glass works best) and spoon the pasta mixture evenly into the dish.

Combine the melted butter and breadcrumbs, then sprinkle evenly on top of the pasta.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the bread crumbs are slightly browned. 

Arroz con Pollo

Fresh spices have taken over our lives. We've moved on from our vanilla beans and onto saffron. While expensive, you use a very small amount to achieve a very satisfying flavor. Adding saffron to rice gives it a subtle flavor and a wonderful yellow color. 

Chicken and rice is an easily customizable dish, with a savory flavor made up of a number of vegetables. We put our spin on the classic Joy of Cooking recipe and did without the Dutch oven, ham and green olives. 

Very important tip: make sure the chicken is very brown and almost crispy before combining it with the rice mixture. This prevents overcooking the rice from cooking too long and sticking to the bottom of the pot. Making sure the chicken is well cooked also avoids a mushy dish, where all the textures melt into each other. 

This meal takes some time to prepare, but the reward is almost a whole week's worth of dinner for at least two people. 

Prep time: 30-40 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3.5-4.5 pounds of chicken parts. The more variety the better
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups uncooked long grain white rice 3 cups chicken broth
• 3-4 strands of saffron, roughly 1/4 teaspoon 
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 red pepper, diced
• salt, pepper to taste

Optional:

• 1/4 cup chopped green olives
• pimentos
• 1/2 cup of diced ham
• pinch of oregano
• 1 green pepper, diced

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a pan and brown the chicken well on both sides. Once browned, take the pan off heat and set aside. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of pan drippings in a large pasta pot. Add the onions, garlic, red and green pepper. Cook until onions are tender but not yet brown, then add the rice. Stir and cook for another minute, until the grains are coated with fat, then add the chicken broth and saffron. Bring the mixture to a boil, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pot in case rice begins to stick. 

Place the chicken in the pot and cover. Allow the mixture to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the unthawed frozen peas. 

Cover again and cook until the rice is tender, about 10-12 more minutes. 

Chicken Pot Pie, The Remix

An old school recipe that is not for the faint-hearted or time crunched. Chicken pot pie, even with store bought pie crust, is an involved recipe. However, the payoff is immeasurable! Eating this pot pie right out of the oven makes all the chopping, waiting, and baking worth it. This recipe adds a bit of heat to the classic recipe, with touches of red pepper flakes and Sriracha.


One way to cut down on prep time is to buy a frozen vegetable mix. Be careful not to overdo it with too many vegetable varieties. This recipe's charm lies in its simplicity.


Quick note: if using frozen pie crust, don't forget to defrost it the night before. Also, don't worry if the crust breaks. Most store-bought crust can be put back together just by re-rolling the crust.


Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes


Ingredients:

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk

2 unbaked pie crusts

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, and celery. 
3. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
4. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, red pepper. 
5. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk, creating a roux. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Set aside.
6. Line a nine-inch pie plate with one of the crusts. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid, onion mixture over. 
7. Cover with top crust, making sure you have a tight seal. Cut away excess dough. Make about four slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Techniques: Shredding Chicken

One of the most useful techniques I've come to appreciate is how to shred chicken. You don't need any fancy machinery or technical know-how, just two forks and some elbow grease. Chicken is very much a utility meat, and shredding is just another way to use it.

I start with thinly cut chicken breasts. Brown the chicken and once cooked, go to town with the two forks. Use one fork to hold the meat while the other pulls away from it.

I've used shredded chicken in soups and casseroles, but I'm sure there are a hundred other uses.

The Weekend Meal: Tonkatsu

Who doesn't love fried things? Tonkatsu is fried pork cutlet usually served over cabbage, but I prefer some kind of starch or carb with some veggies. I find the veggies make me feel better about eating fried pork.

Tonkatsu:

• 4 thin sliced pork loin chops (seriously, thin. if you are using chicken and want to save some money, you can buy regular chicken breast and flatten it yourself by wrapping the piece in cling wrap and rolling over it with a rolling pin or something comparable)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup panko (Japanese style bread crumbs. They're coarser than regular bread crumbs)
• Enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan (about 1 inch)
  

Heat the oil and set up the dredging station: flour, egg, panko.

Coat the pork/chicken in that order. Cook until brown, crispy, and delicious.