Chicken Wings

I love homemade hot wings! This is the best I've done...

The actual recipe is in a book called Top Secret Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur. Of course any commentary is my own. I am a big fan of his clones. Don't confuse Frank's cayenne pepper sauce with Frank's wing sauce. The wing sauce is ready to use on wings. Frank's cayenne pepper sauce is the base for this hot wing sauce...I prefer this, even though it takes a little time.

Buffalo Wild Wings Medium Spice Wings

This coats 20 wings well. Make the sauce first:

1 cup Franks's cayenne pepper sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 egg yolk

2 tsp cold water

2 tsp cornstarch

Combine the first 7 ingredients (everything but the egg yolk, water, and cornstarch) in a saucepan. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes. Marvel in the smell of your house! mmmm.

While the sauce cools, vigorously whisk egg yolk and the 2 tsp water in a medium bowl for a full two minutes. It will be pale yellow and frothy. Then add the cornstarch and whisk to combine well.

Drizzle the hot sauce mixture into the egg yolk mixture in a slow thin steady stream while rapidly whisking. This creates an emulsion that prevents the oil from separating. Cover and chill until sauce is needed.

Wings:

Fry. That's it. Really. Heat a couple inches of oil in a frying pan or an electric fryer until very hot. Carefully drop in thawed, rinsed and patted-dry wings sections...I can do 15 at a time in my huge frypan. Fry at least 10 minutes, I do mine 12 minutes but no longer. Drain on racks or paper towels and then toss in the delicious sauce.

Spread a tarp over all exposed areas, wear clothing that is practically disposable, and be sure no one is present that has not already formed a first impression of you. Get plenty of blue cheese dressing, celery sticks, and napkins handy... and suck those wings off the bone like a screen door in a hurricane. ooooh yeah.

Old Fashioned Egg Salad

The white bread I made started a chain reaction. Trent remembered his mom made egg salad all the time to feed a crowd for cheap, and he loved it. So, I found a recipe, tweaked it a bit, and it is really good.

We only have this once in a while because even if you use fat-free or light mayo, the salad is mostly egg so it's pretty heavy on the cholesterol.

A note about boiling eggs: Use your oldest eggs. As eggs age, they become better candidates for boiling because fresh eggs are harder to peel. I boil eggs using a shut-off method. Place eggs in pan. Cover with hot water at least an inch over the tops of the eggs. Turn burner on high. Bring to full rolling boil. Leave the pan where it is on the burner but shut the burner off. Leave there for 13 minutes. Place pan in sink and run cold water over the eggs until the water is cool enough for you to easily drain. Then cover the eggs completely with cold water. To peel, crack eggs on all sides and gently roll to loosen shells. Dip in and out of the water while peeling to make it easier.

Egg Salad

12 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

3/4 - 1 cup cup mayonnaise, depending on the creaminess you like (light is ok)

1/4 cup fresh onion very very finely chopped (or substitute 1/2 tsp onion powder, I prefer fresh)

1 tsp lemon juice

2 -3 Tbsp regular mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper or to taste (I add a bit more)

Mix, chill and serve. I make the "sauce" (everything but the eggs) first and let it sit while I prepare the eggs, that gives the flavors time to blend.

You could add optional diced dill or sweet pickles, or very finely chopped celery, which I add to my portions but Trent does not like that.

Enjoy! Next assignment...chicken salad. Stay tuned.

Soft White Bread

Oh! I hear it in the background...the music...Survivor singing "The search is overrrr." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have found it. After years of baking brick bread, poof bread, weird bread, and some downright wrong bread, I found the best bread recipe ever. I made this after work last night and we had some for dinner. Trent said it's so good that I should CSI the recipe, cost it out, and decide if we should start making it for everyday use instead of buying wonder bread.

This was born out of necessity, grocery shopping money is all spent this week and we are adhering to a strict budget, as many are right now. Trent's kids coming for the weekend, so basically, I need bread. I know my kitchen is stocked well enough to solve the problem. I googled something like "Best soft white bread recipe" and found this. Tip: buy yeast in bulk at winco and keep it in the freezer to keep it fresher.

The best part of this recipe...if you have a bread machine, you do almost nothing. If you have a kitchenaid mixer instead, you do a little more than nothing, but still very little work in comparison to most bread recipes.

The directions called out in the recipe (and what I did) were for the bread machine on the dough setting, keep in mind my dough setting takes about one hour because it proofs (raises) the dough the first time in a two-raise loaf, then the 40 minutes of additional raise time in the loaf pan, then bake.

If you use a kitchenaid, one of the comments on this recipe said to mix the ingredients with the paddle attachment (the regular one) then switch to the dough hook and work the dough for 7 minutes with that, then go on to the raising process (raise once in the bowl in a warm place for about an hour, shape into a loaf pan, raise again in warm place about 40 minutes until it's loaf-sized, bake.)

Raising: I always raise any dough I make in my oven, turn the oven on for about two minutes to 350, shut it off, put your hand in there to make sure it's not too hot but nice and toasty warm and raise the dough in there.

Last thing! (I know, I know, get to the recipe already!) A note about yeast...packet yeast contains 2 and 1/4 tsp yeast, so you would not use a whole packet, you have to measure it. Ok! Here's the recipe, geez.

Soft White Bread (makes one loaf)

Add ingredients to your machine in the order called for by your machine (nearly all I have seen are liquid first, then dry over that, then yeast on top, that's how mine is.)

1 cup milk, warmed in microwave for one minute
1 tsp salt
3 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
1 tablespoon honey
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar (necessary for browning)
1-1/2 tsp yeast (a teaspoon and a half)

Select dough cycle on bread machine. Oil a loaf pan. When cycle is done (which is mixing and raising the dough once), lift dough out with slightly floured hands, DON'T knead it...just shape into a loaf shape. Place dough in oiled loaf pan and flip it over so oil is on all sides of the dough. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and raise in a warm place for about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Bake 30 minutes until golden brown.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are different from yams. If you go to walmart, they don't make that distinction, because in the south, sweet potatoes and yams are considered the same. But they are very different. Winco has both kinds...sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes are the pale yellowish root-looking potatoes. Yams are the red/orange root potatoes that are often canned under the name of sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes

3-4 large sweet potatoes

1 cube butter

Canned milk if needed

Do yourself a favor and do not try to peel these before you boil. What a colossal pain that is. Wash them well and cut into 3"-4" sections. Boil in a pot of water for about 30 minutes until a fork pierces the center easily. Drain carefully. Peel the hot potatoes at this point by slitting one side with a sharp knife and pulling the skins free.

Place a cube of butter in the bowl and plop the peeled sweet potatoes on top of it to melt it. When they are all peeled, mash them with a masher and blend them up with the butter. You can use an electric mixer if the potatoes are a little stringy or lumpy, but usually a masher works well. Add canned milk a tablespoon at a time if the potatoes appear dry. These kinds of potatoes can vary in consistency...different crops can be dry or moister, depending on the growing conditions.

Keep warm until ready to serve. The flavor of these is like a slightly sweet mashed potato but not as starkly sweet at candied yams. Yes, I make both on holidays....my husband likes the yams and me and my daughter like the sweet potatoes. Enjoy!

Candied Yams

Mashed, candied yams like Trent's mom used to make. Can be made before hand, just don't add the marshmallows until they are reheated and ready to serve.

2 cans Princella Cut Sweet Potatoes in light syrup (29 oz each)

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup condensed milk

mini marshmallows

Drain potatoes but don't rinse. Mash in a 4 qt saucepan. Add melted butter, brown sugar, and canned milk. Cook on low/med stovetop until sugar is dissolved and incorporated. Don't be afraid to use an electric hand mixer to mash and blend, these can be slightly lumpy and stringy so an electric mixer is the way to go.

Place into a serving dish, a casserole, or foil pan (the round foil ones like they give at Bajio's work perfect.) Cover with foil and bake at 350 or so until the potatoes are heated through. Cover with a layer of mini marshmallows and bake until the marshmallows are puffy and very slightly browned.

Grandma Helen's Cheese Soup

As I've mentioned before, I didn't appreciate my first mother-in-law as I should have, she was an incredible babysitter for my daughter Shea! And, among other talents, she was a great cook and had great recipes and I learned so much from her....her cheese soup was fantastic! The only problem was, I was a naive twenty-something when I knew her so I never really appreciated her as I should have. Regret.

BUT...sadness aside...this cheese soup is her recipe, Helen Gertrude Henrie Gohr's. And let me tell you it has caused riots...there was an actual documented kidnapping over this recipe. It involved a ladyfriend coffee cup, gagged and tied I'm sure, held for ransom until this recipe was divulged to a very shrewd relative, of whom we will not identify. She knows who she is :)

Cheese Soup

4 russet potatoes

2 large carrots

1 large onion (I use sweet a sweet onion)

water

1 or 2 bricks velveeta (32 oz each)

1 pint half and half

Peel and shred carrots, peel and shred potatoes, peel and shred onion. I use a salad shooter to shred it all...works great.

Place in a stew pot. Cover with water, to about 1/2 inch above the vegetables. Do not add salt! Bring to boil and keep at a low simmer until vegetables are completely done, about 20 - 30 minutes. Turn heat down to very low.

Add cheese. Grant uses one brick, and the soup is delicious but a bit thin. I use about one-an-a-a half bricks for my big pot. You can always thin it with more water. Cut velveeta cheese into 1/2 inch cubes. Gradually add to the pot with the vegetable mixture. This soup should never boil after adding the cheese, boiling will ruin the texture. Keep cooking on low, stirring frequently to incorporate the cheese to make a creamy soup. Add half and half as a thinner if needed.

Delicious. Thanks Grandma Helen.

Peppermint Pistachio Chocolate Bark

This is a CUTE gift! Easy, we're talking a couple of steps, some chilling time, and the kids can help. I plan to do these for neighbors and co-workers this year. Oh, and it's delicious, my kids couldn't stay out of it tonight. Success.

2 bags Milk Chocolate Chips

2 bags White Chocolate Chips

4 regular size candy canes

about 3/4 cup Pistachio nuts (shelled) (Winco bulk food, of course)

Line a cookie sheet (preferably a jelly roll pan) with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with a light coat of Pam (y'know, or the cheap stuff from Winco. Whatever!)

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave. I did 50% power (medium) in a glass bowl for one minute, stirred, then did another minute. After that do 15 second intervals until it's nice and melted, stirring each time.

Spread the milk chocolate onto the tin foil in a sheet with a scraper or a spatula, I used this **awesome** scraper thing I have that has a flat edge. A thin even layer just about filled a full jelly roll pan, not quite but pretty close. Try to get it even, working quickly because the chocolate will start to cool. Put the pan in the refrigerator. It will take 45 mins to an hour to set up.

While you're waiting for the first layer of chocolate to set up, smash the candy canes inside a ziploc bag. Don't quite pulverize it, you want a few "crunchable", recognizable pieces. Set aside.

Chop the pistachios with a knife on a cutting board. Set aside.

After the milk chocolate has set up well, melt the white chips the same way. Pour it IN LINES on top of the milk chocolate, meaning pour it all out at once so you can spread it, but pour in two or three lines to keep the heat distributed so you don't melt the milk chocolate too much. Quickly quickly quickly use a spatula or the cool scraper edge thing (that I have!) to spread the chocolate evenly over the milk chocolate. You MAY have some bleed through here with the milk chocolate, but a little is ok. Just work fast, because you want the white chocolate on the top...not a big deal if it's a bit swirled though. It's just prettier if the white stays on the top.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes onto the white chocolate layer first. Then sprinkle the chopped pistachios on the top. When the chocolate cools a little, press the peppermint and pistachios into it, so it is firmly in the chocolate. Refrigerate until firmly set, 2 hours at least.

Break the chocolate into pieces. You can do this by breaking with your hands or cutting with a sharp knife. Pack into gift boxes! I used the chinese take-out style cartons at JoAnn's fabric for 80 cents each with some tissue paper. Cute, cheap gift for family and friends!