Honey Balsamic BBQ Wings

We made these for New Years Eve. They were very tasty and very easy. If you love balsamic, you will love these. You might love these even if you don't like balsamic vinegar. They are a bit sticky, so you might want to have some wet-naps handy.
This recipe is from Giada Delaurentis

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
  
• 5 sprigs of rosemary
• 5 garlic cloves, halved
• 10 to 12 chicken drumsticks
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Combine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves, in a large, re-sealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken drumsticks to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Place the chicken drumsticks on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.

Use a pastry brush to brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken. Place the chicken on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the chopped parsley.

Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper diced
• 3 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes - drained
• Pepper
  
• Ground cumin
• Chili powder
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 package chili seasoning mix
• Shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onions, for garnish

Directions

In a skillet brown ground beef, drain and set aside.

Spray large pot with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the onion, and green pepper, and saute briefly. Stir in the diced and whole tomatoes. Add pepper, cumin and chili powder, to taste, and cook for about 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add the beans, browned meat, and chili seasoning. Partially cover, and let simmer for 4 hours.

Serve with Cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions.

Curry BBQ Chicken Wraps

This is a really easy & quick recipe that is delicious!! We made a few changes from a Sweet Pork Recipe to come up with this. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but it turned out really really good. This recipe feeds about 4, so adjust for more people.

Tortilla Tip: Use the uncooked tortillas from the store and cook them yourself. They are much much much much better than the pre-cooked tortillas. TRUST ME!!!

Ingredients

1 store bought rotisserie chicken - can use any chicken really
1 small bag shredded cabbage
Tortillas
Shred the chicken and set aside in a bowl.
1 21 oz Dr. Pepper
4 Tbs. Brown sugar
2 Tbs. Vinegar
1 Tbs. Curry Powder
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 Tbs. Taco Seasoning


Directions

Pour bottle of Dr. Pepper into hot saute pan to simmer reduce down to about half the liquid on medium high heat. Add the brown sugar & vinegar and continue to simmer for a minute. Add the curry powder, BBQ sauce, and taco seasoning. Simmer for another minute, then pour over chicken and stir.

In the wrap: Put chicken, top with cabbage & Jalepeno ranch dressing. You can also add cheese, tomatoes, or anything else you would like. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup...mmmm

This soup is so delicious. I know I say that about everything on here. But I only put the stuff I really love on here. This soup is very easy, just requires a little bit of time. I really love butternut squash soup, and I couldn't find a recipe that I love, so I came up with this.....

Ingredients

1 medium Butternut squash - 2-3 lbs
1 medium onion
3 tbs butter
4 cups chicken broth - may need more if soup is too think
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ginger powder (you can add more of each of these for a stronger taste)

Directions

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half in half again, long ways, to have four pieces. Put squash on a greased cookie sheet, skin side down, and put into a 400 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, until soft. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the squash. In the mean time saute the onions in the butter until soft. Once onions are soft add the chicken broth, curry, and ginger and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Once squash is done, let cool enough to handle, then take skins off and put squash in with onions. Then add the applesauce. Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. You only want to fill the blender a little over half full each time, or you will have a big mess. You will probably need to do it in 4 batches or so. Put the soup into a pot, stir together. When serving, top with a little sour cream for a little extra bite.

Ingredients

1 pound prepared pizza dough

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Olive oil, for deep-frying

Directions

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out doughnut rounds. Using a floured 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and reroll. Cut out more doughnuts.

Whisk the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend. Set the cinnamon-sugar aside.

Pour equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, generously coat each 2 times with the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.

Cheese Rolls!!

These cheese rolls are sooo good! Jen found a picture of these rolls and they looked amazing. There wasn't a recipe with the pic, so this is our awesome version! You can really use any cheese you love. We used cheddar with a little parm.

Start with your favorite dinner roll recipe. While the dough is rising prepare the butter to slather in the dough.

Butter:
1 cube softened
1 to 2 TBS. chopped garlic - depending on how much you like garlic

Once dough is ready, roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4" thick. Spread the butter mixture on the dough, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle several cups shredded cheese all over, we used about 5 cups, and I could have handled more :). So use however much you want. I know that isn't very exact, but everyone is different. Roll and cut the dough just as you would for cinnamon rolls. Cut about 1- 1/2" thick. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and let rise again for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, or until doubles in size.

Bake @ 375 for 15 - 20 minutes, until turning golden brown.

Pizza on the Grill

We have made pizza on the grill several times now, and it is tasty stuff. We have found a crust that we really like. We made some with Mat & Jen this week that turned out fabulous! It didn't hurt that we had fresh tomatoes from Mat & Jen's & Missy's garden. You can do so many things for toppings. What ever you little hearts desire.


Dough:

1 C, plus 3 TBS warm water (105 F to 115 F) 2 1/4 tsp yeast 3 tsp sugar 3 C flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 TBS olive oil

You should prep this dough one day in advance for best results.

In a small bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let it sit for 5 minutes until the surface of the mixture turns foamy. (If it doesn't foam, your yeast is bad or your water was too hot or cold) Sift together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a hole in the center of the flour and pour in the olive oil and yeast mixture. Use a fork to stir the liquid, pulling in the four slowly as you stir, until everything is combined. When you can no longer stir with a fork, use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Knead the dough with the heels of you hands on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes (give or take), or until the texture of the dough is smooth. Form the dough back into a ball, coat it lightly with oil, and place it into a clean bowl covered with plastic wrap. Keep the bowl in a warm place for about 2 hours to allow the dough to double in size. Punch down the dough and put it back into the covered bowl and into your fridge overnight. Take the dough from the fridge 1 to 2 hours before you plan to build the pizza so it can warm up to room temperature.

This will make 4 8" pizza's (approximately)

Marinara sauce - The is the easiest thing ever!
Use a can of the flavored diced tomatoes, such as Italian, or Garlic Basil
Drain the juice of and either mash really well, or put into a food processor or blender till smooth
Either leave as is, or put in some Italian seasoning
If it is too runny add some tomato paste, and season accordingly to make up for the extra tomato flavor.

Toppings:

Here are a few options that we have really liked:

Margarita
Marinara Sauce
Mozzarella
Fresh Basil

BBQ Chicken
Favorite BBQ sauce as the marinara
Chicken, cut into bit size pieces, we through our chicken on the grill first to have it all ready to go
Mozzerella
Red onion, through this on the grill with the chicken also
You can also throw on some tomato if it sounds tasty.

CHeEse
Use any fo you favorite cheeses. Some that we have loved are:
Smoked Gouda
Smoked Swiss
Parmasean
Mozzerella

Veggie - the guys loved this one!!
Grilled or sauted onions
grilled or sauted bell peppers - all colors
grilled or sauted mushrooms