Superbowl Snacks!

My team may not have been in the Superbowl, but that didn't stop us from watching. We drank beer and ate some yummy snacks. It was kind of like a complete meal made from appetizers. Delicious.
I served Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip, based on Alton Brown's recipe, which you can find here.  I also made boneless buffalo wings. That recipe is below. They were so yummy.

I like wings, as I believe we discussed in an earlier post, but I always feel like they are too hard to eat. Making them boneless solves that problem. You can just pop them in your mouth. MMM. I made some without sauce over them and served those with honey mustard sauce. Also quite yummy.

I am afraid I didn't take any pictures of these. We were too busy watching the game. The picture below is of the dip, which I served with pita crackers and cut veggies.

Boneless Buffalo Wings - Adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Classic Hot Wings
1 lb chicken breasts
1/2 c panko bread crumbs
1 egg

One 6-ounce bottle cayenne hot pepper sauce (I used Franks)
 1/2stick butter

Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Cut chicken into chunks that will take about two bites to eat. Beat egg in a shallow bowl. Place panko in a shallow plate or bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Coat chicken with egg then coat with bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet and spray tops of chicken with  light coating of chicken spray. 

Cook for 15-20 min or until cooked through and golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat the cayenne sauce and butter over medium-low heat. Add the Worcestershire and hot sauce to taste. Let it boil then turn off.

Place the wings in a dish and pour the hot sauce over the top. Toss to coat.

The Challenge Redux

January ended a few days ago and I completed the challenge!
But, I had so much fun that we decided to keep going, with a few tweaks.
I no longer have to make a new recipe every day, but I do need to pick a number at the beginning of the month and make that many recipes.
So, based on what I made in January I am going to pick a fairly conservative number for February. We are going to try for 12 new recipes in February. I think that should be easy enough.
Look to the next post for two that I made for Superbowl Sunday! We are off to a good start.

Spicy Sweet Chicken

This dish was adapted from a hot wings recipe. I love hot wings, but I find that they are a little difficult to eat and you leave a lot of the meat on the bone. I made these with boneless skinless chicken thighs. I like the thighs better for this than the breasts because they are more flavorful.
It was good, but I didn't make it spicy enough. I was worried it would be TOO spicy and it wasn't even all that spicy. Next time I'll stick with the recommended heat next time. 
This would also be delicious over tofu, but we had been very vegetarian for a while and it was time for a meat based dish.

Spicy Sweet Chicken - Adapted from Pioneer Woman's Asian Hot Wings

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3/4 cup plum jelly
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (this is what I should have used. I only used about 1/2 the amount)
3 jalapenos, minced fine

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place chicken thighs in an oiled casserole dish and spray with cooking spray. Cook for about 15-20 min or until internal temperature is 160 degrees.
Add the plum jelly to a small saucepan. Stir in the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Add brown sugar, ginger, red onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and hot peppers. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the sauce until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. 

Pour the sauce over top of chicken, reserving some sauce for serving. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Place the chicken on plates, and then spoon extra sauce over the top.
Serve with rice and a cooling salad. (I used jasmine rice.)

Cavatelli with Arugula and Tomato

This is the first pasta dish of the challenge (if you don't include the lasagna, which, obviously, I do not.)
It was different from what we are used to eating, this isn't just pasta with tomato sauce spooned over it. It was complex and fresh and I could have eaten it all day. It's a good thing I only made enough for two servings.
A lot of people don't like anchovies and I totally understand, but the paste melts right into the sauce and gives it a nice salty savory flavor. Trust me. It is so good.

Cavatelli with Arugula and Tomato - adapted from Pasta Galore

3 handfuls of baby arugula leaves
3 tbs olive oil
3 tbs garlic olive oil(or saute a garlic clove in the oil and remove the clove before adding ingredients)
3 large scallions, sliced
1 celery stick, diced
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 - 1 tsp anchovy paste (optional)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
6 oz cavatelli or similar pasta shape
Parmesan or pecorino romano cheese for serving

Wash and coarsely chop the arugula.
Heat olive oil in wide deep skillet and fry scallions and celery together until softened, about 4 min, stirring frequently. Set aside.
Bring large saucepan to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, in a small skillet heat garlic oil over medium heat and add tomatoes, anchovy paste and red pepper flakes. Fry together for about 10min, stirring frequently, then set aside.

Cook pasta and arugula together according to pasta package directions until al dente. Drain and tip into the pan with scallion and celery.

Mix together to coat the pasta and transfer to a serving dish. Pour tomato sauce over cavatelli. Sprinkle with cheese and serve at once.

Gingery Fish and noodles

This recipe was delicious, it was from Monday night.(I know, I know, I am WAY behind. I'm catching up now.)
 This was not only a new recipe it was a new technique. I've never steamed fish before, but it was so simple! I am definitely going to try steaming again.
I adapted this a little. I found that there wasn't enough of the ginger scallion mixture to toss, so I just made up some more. The amounts below are what I ended up using.
I also mixed the scallion/ginger at the end of the recipe with the soy and spooned it over the fish, instead of spooning it over separately.

Gingery Fish And Noodles - adapted From Everyday with Rachel Ray Magazine

4 scallions thinly sliced
1 2in piece fresh ginger peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 pieces firm white fish (I used Alaskan Cod) 
6oz rice noodles
1 tbs vegetable oil
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tbs soy sauce

Bring 3 inches of water to a boil over high heat in a steamer pot. Meanwhile, mix the scallions and ginger in a small bowl. Scatter about 1/3 of the mixture in the center of a piece of foil large enough to wrap the fish pieces. Place fish pieces side by side on top. Season with salt pepper and half of remaining ginger mixture. Make a sealed packet. Steam until cooked, about 10 min. Discard ginger and scallion.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package, drain and rinse. In large nonstick skillet heat 1/2tbs oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 min. Increase heat and stir in broccoli rabe; season with salt and black pepper. Cover and cook 1-2 min. Add noodles, toss.

In a small skillet heat remaining oil over medium high heat. Add remaining ginger mixture and cook for 10 sec. Spoon ginger sauce over the fish along with soy sauce.

Pinto Pie

This dish was ok. It was very edible...I know that isn't a great way to describe a meal, but it was. I didn't dislike it. I just thought it was a little bland. It is basically a chili with cornbread baked on top. There is nothing wrong with this concept. I followed the recipe exactly the first time, but if I were to make this again I would add some different spices and maybe some other veggies to the chili part. The opportunities for adaptation are high.
It is also a really fast dish to make. Perfect for a busy weeknight.

Pinto Pie - from Vegetarian Times
2 14.5 cans of pinto beans drained, 1 1/2 c of liquid reserved (this was all the liquid in the cans)
3tbs tomato paste
3tbs olive oil
1 large red onion diced
2 1/2tbs chili powder
3 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
6tbs whole grain cornbread muffin mix (I used hogdson mills brand)
1 1/2c plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I used soy sour cream, because I can't eat yogurt)
1 large egg
1 1/2tbs sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Coat 9in pie dish with cooking spray. Whisk reserved bean liquid with tomato paste in small bowl and set aside.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 cups of the onion. Cover and cook 4 min or until onion begins to soften, stirring occasionally. Add chili powder and stir 10 sec to coat onions. Stir in tomato paste mixture, 1 cup tomatoes, and then beans. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, 6 min or until thickened. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Meanwhile, combine cornbread mix 1/3 c yogurt, egg, sugar and 1tbs water in medium bowl.
Spread chili beans in prepared pie dish. Pour cornbread batter over beans, spreading with back of spoon. Bake 10 min or until cornbread is set and golden.
Meanwhile, finely chop remaining 1/2 c onion. Place in small bowl, mix in remaining 1/2 c tomato and season with salt and pepper if desired. (I also squeezed in a little lime juice)
Serve pie with tomato salsa and remaining yogurt.

You can also serve with any other taco toppings you would like - I used shredded lettuce, limes and shredded cheese.

African Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans

I love my slow cooker. I don't use it as often as I probably should, mainly because I have a limited recipe repertoire for it, but when I do use it I am reminded of how wonderful and useful it is. 
This stew comes from Wednesday night. It was my first day of my externship, and I had no idea when I would be home or how tired I would be. This is the perfect time to pull out the slow cooker, I thought to myself. And because I had to be up pretty early on Wednesday morning I actually did most of the prep for this the night before. I sauteed the onion and garlic and chopped the sweet potato and just put it all in a big bowl in the refrigerator so that all I had to do the next morning was toss it in the slow cooker.
Is this stew authentically African? I have no idea. It does taste similar to some things I have had at Ethiopian restaurants I have eaten at. It was filling and hearty and perfect for the cold, cold weather. (The high on Wednesday was 16 degrees! 16!) I ate it for lunch on Friday and on Sunday. It keeps really well and would probably freeze nicely too.

African Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans - adapted from Cooking Light Slow Cooker

2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 c chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
4 c cubed peeled sweet potato, about 1.5 lbs (1/2 in dice)
1 16 oz can small red beans
2 c vegetable broth (low sodium if possible)
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 tsp grated peeled ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 14.5 oz can diced tomato, drained
1 4.5 oz can chopped green chiles, drained
3 tbs creamy peanut butter
3 tbs chopped dry-roasted peanuts
lime wedges

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook 5 min or until tender.
Place onion mixture and next 10 ingredients into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Spoon 1 c cooking liquid into a small bowl. Add peanut butter. Whisk until completely incorporated. Stir mixture into stew. Ladle stew into bowls and garnish with peanuts and lime wedges.

I served this with some rolls I made from refrigerated pizza dough. Super easy and delicious.