Sweet Suppertime

heavy on the butter and sugar...

Disneyland Bengal BBQ (copycat)

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If you hang around our family, or this blog, long enough you will have no trouble figuring out that we are Disneyland fans.  Let me think of a stronger term…fanatics.  We love Disneyland.  We have often talked about how Disneyland takes us to another land and it’s the land of our childhood.  Raising six kids with Disney movies and trips to sunny California (thank you soccer and baseball trips), we have created more than a few memories inside the park. 

I remember on one trip, we had been inside the park so often and had completely satiated our need to ride the rides.  One morning at the hotel my oldest pulled out a map of Disneyland.  He tore the map into “lands”.  The family brainstormed a game we could play together.  In the end, we all put our names in a hat and drew out teams.  Two people per team.  The rules were a simple game of hide-and-seek.  Once we had our teams, each team drew a folded “land” from the torn-up map.  Each team had to start in their land, ride one ride and then they could move about the park in any manner they chose.  If you found another team you took a photo of the team and sent it to the group.  That team was then “out”. The last team standing received some prize and I don’t think any of us could tell you what the prize was. 

I’ll never forget hiding behind a large tree near The Haunted Mansion with Michael and us both looking at our phones only to see a photo of our backsides as we hid behind the tree.  We had come out of hiding long enough to stand in a line to get a pass of all passes during the year of a million dreams.  We knew the risks.  We accepted them and we paid the price. If I’m not mistaken, Tod and Keven won The Game that day.  In all fairness, Tod had his wallet and he and Keven got new shirts and hats to go full incognito.

I don’t know when our tradition of stopping at The Bengal Barbeque started, but it was around this time.   Often, now, you will hear one of us say “hey, I am stopping at The Bengal BBQ for a banyan, I will catch up to you”.  Just as often that person is followed by several others to grab a skewer of meaty and saucy deliciousness.  We all have our favorites.  So much so that Lacey stopped at Town Hall and requested the recipe.

Earlier this week we celebrated Katey’s birthday.  For a family who is on a Disneyland Diet (due to Covid-19), it seemed appropriate to celebrate in Bengal Barbeque style.  Lacey has made a few adjustments to the recipe because that is what we do. It was delicious! As we reminisced about Disneyland and Katey we played music from the Tiki Room and Indiana Jones and hoped that some of those present would be able to use their season passes soon.

Here’s to family memories, holding out hope, great memories still to be had, season passes, and a family who is always game to be a child again.  Oh—and to the creation of The Game which will stand in Balser history forever.

Hope you have fun whipping up these magical skewers and don’t forget to turn on the tiki music.

Chieftain Chicken Skewers

Serving Size:
6-8
Time:
15 minutes
Difficulty:
easy

Ingredients

  • 6 whole cloves
  • 2 T. red wine vinegar
  • 1 C. ketchup
  • 1/2 C. crushed pineapple
  • 1/2 C. brown sugar
  • 1/2 C. soy sauce
  • 1/4 C. orange juice concentrate
  • 3 T. water

Directions

  1. Simmer cloves in red wine vinegar for 5-10 minutes
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes
  3. Brush on grilled or baked chicken skewers

Bengal Beef Skewers

Serving Size:
6-8
Time:
15 minutes
Difficulty:
easy

Ingredients

  • 1 C. teriyaki sauce
  • 1 C. soy sauce
  • 1 T. red wine vinegar
  • 1 C. brown sugar
  • 1/2 C. sherry cooking wine
  • 2 whole bay leaves
  • 1 T. ground black pepper
  • 2 T. fresh ginger
  • 1 T. fresh garlic

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a sauce pot and simmer 5-8 minutes
  2. Brush over sirloin steak skewers

Banyan Beef Skewers

Serving Size:
6-8
Time:
15 minutes
Difficulty:
easy

Ingredients

  • 1 C. soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 C. water
  • 1 T. ground black pepper
  • 3 T. sesame oil
  • 1 t. ground red pepper
  • 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
  • 1 t. fresh garlic
  • 1 T. corn starch

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients except corn starch, and bring to a boil
  2. Add enough water to the corn starch to make a bit of a paste, add it to the boiling mixture and remove from the heat once it is thickened.
  3. Brush over sirloin baked or grilled steak skewers

Three Cheese Pasta Bake

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baked ziti, baked pasta, pasta dishes
Pasta.  Comfort food.  Family-style.  Leftovers.  Make-ahead.  This dish covers so many of the elements required of being a mom and the one in charge of dinner.  Because I love to cook and I love to bake you might imagine that I spend blissful days in the kitchen listening to Sinatra, happily cooking away.  This just isn’t the case.  I have a busy family.  I try to help my dad.  I watch my granddaughter several times a week.  I help my son with homework.  I love a chance to either visit or have my other granddaughter and grandson come to visit.  Sometimes I clean the house.  I’m busy with my church activity.  I enjoy taking my son lunch.  I write to my missionary.  I work in the yard. I want to take a yoga class.  I go to baseball and football games.  In other words, I am a lot like you.   Life can be hectic and sometimes you need something simple but incredibly delicious for your family.  That is why I enjoy making and serving this dish.

To me, days have moods.  Part of the reason that this recipe is awkwardly lacking in photos is because I made it on a very overcast day and had next to no lighting.  The mood of the day called for something that would fill the house with a delicious aroma while providing something filled with flavor and substance to a family who felt like eating their dinner in pajamas.  This dish was a perfect choice.  Bake or pick up a nice crusty loaf of artisan bread to serve with this dinner.  And then, tomorrow, enjoy the other half of why I love this dish–leftovers!

Three Cheese Pasta Bake
 
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This pasta bake is a great make-ahead dish. Pasta as a comfort food always works.
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 5-6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 pound hamburger, Italian sausage or both or go meatless
  • 2 14 oz cans tomato sauce
  • 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 pound fresh mozarella, cubed
  • 2-3 cups mozarella cheese, grated
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 15 oz tub ricotta cheese
  • 1 16 oz package of ziti or penne pasta
  • additional cheese for topping
  • white pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat.
  2. Add chopped onion and saute until softened.
  3. Add minced garlic and continue until garlic is just browning.
  4. Add beef in crumbled portions to the onions and garlic and continue to saute until the beef is well-browned.
  5. Remove from heat and add ricotta cheese and stir to incorporate.
  6. Return to heat and add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and reduce heat to simmer.
  7. Stir in Italian seasoning, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
  8. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes while you prepare your noodles and cheeses.
  9. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once it has reached a full boil, add 1 Tablespoon of sea salt and add the noodles.
  10. Cook the noodles until they are not quite done, usually shortening the cooking time by 2 minutes.
  11. Drain and set aside.
  12. Preheat oven to 350°
  13. Cube 1 pound of fresh mozzarella.
  14. Grate 2 cups additional mozzarella.
  15. Grate 1 cup parmeson cheese.
  16. In a large baking dish (larger than a 9 X 13 if you have it) begin layering your Three Cheese Pasta Bake starting with a thin layer of sauce, followed by one-half of your noodles, one-half of all cheese and one-half of your sauce. Repeat the process.
  17. Top with additional cheese, a sprinkling of Italian seasoning and a little white pepper.
  18. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
  19. Allow the bake to stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
    **this is great to make ahead and refrigerate or freeze

 

 

Steak with Rosemary and Garlic

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steak, steak marinade, steak sauce, steakhouse steaks

There are times when you want to make something really special for dinner.  You want a restaurant-style experience without the price and without hiring a babysitter.  I have six kids.  Most of them are grown and gone but I remember those early years of motherhood with fondness and sometimes fatigue and frustration.   We didn’t always have the budget for a nice evening out and we didn’t always have a babysitter available.  Enter the rosemary and garlic marinated steak. This meal has been served on many special occasions at our house.  Events like anniversaries, birthdays and New Years Eve are ones that quickly come to mind.  Sometimes we would put the kids to bed and make dinner and other times we put out our best dinnerware and had a beautiful etiquette-teaching meal.   My favorite steak to use is a 2-inch thick porterhouse steak but the process for any steak is the same and it always packs big flavor.  Use whatever steak you have available to you or splurge and ask the butcher to cut you a nice thick porterhouse.

Start by placing sprigs of fresh rosemary on both sides of the steak along with several slices of fresh garlic.  Wrap the steak and refrigerate for about 8 hours.

steak and herbs About 20 minutes before you are ready to start cooking the steak remove it from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.  Heat a heavy (cast iron if possible) to medium heat and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet.  Sear the steak on both sides WITH the rosemary and garlic.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Steak and Rosemary Reduce heat and add 1/2 cup red wine, apple juice or bouillon.  I found this nice little cooking wine that I used because I don’t have alcohol in the house.  🙂  Preheat your oven to 375°.

cooking wine Simmer 2 minutes while the oven is heating.  Place the steak, uncovered, in the oven for about 25 minutes.  Turn the steak every 10 minutes.   Cook to your desired doneness.  During the last 5 minutes of cooking place a tablespoon of butter on top of the steak.  That’s just a delicious idea.

Remove the steak from the oven and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.  This is where I add a bit of salt to the steak.  Cover with a piece of foil to keep the heat in.   (The steaks I made today were plated as individuals, not sliced.)  While the steak (or steaks) are resting,  we will work on the sauce that is poured over the steak for serving.

Remove the large sprigs of rosemary from the pan.  To the drippings add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 2 green onions chopped, 1 rounded tablespoon of jalapeno jelly and 1/4 cup additional red wine or your substitute.  If I don’t have jalapeno jelly handy I use 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes with about a tablespoon of brown sugar.  Look at us making rational substitutions!   Whisk together until well incorporated over a low simmer.

sauce for sliced steak Pour warm sauce over steak and serve immediately.  You know what is a great side dish for this steak?  Loaded Red Potatoes!  Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Look at your calendar and see what special occasions you have coming up in your life.  My kids still remember feeling so important when I cooked this for them as young children.  Something I couldn’t afford to do with them at a fancy restaurant became a happy memory.

Steak with Rosemary and Garlic

 

Steak with Rosemary and Garlic
 
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With just a little preparation you will end up with a delicious restaurant quality steak. Make it for a special occasion in your family.
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Ingredients
  • Steak, your choice. I love to have a butcher cut me a 2-inch thick porterhouse steak. For this post I used 4 rib eye steaks because I was feeding a crowd.
    For The Marinade
  • 4-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • olive oil
  • butter
  • ½ cup red wine or use apple juice or sweetened broth
    For The Sauce
  • drippings from pan
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 green onions chopped
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • ¼ cup addition red wine, apple juice or broth
  • 1 rounded tablespoon of jalapeno jelly or ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Layer steak or steaks with sprigs of fresh rosemary and garlic slices.
  2. Wrap and refrigerate for about 8 hours.
  3. Remove the steak from the fridge 20 minutes before you are ready to start cooking.
  4. Preheat oven to 375°
  5. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet and bring to medium heat.
  6. Brown steak, with rosemary and garlic, on each side for about 2-3 minutes or until it develops nice color.
  7. Reduce the heat under the skillet and add red wine.
  8. Simmer 2 minutes.
  9. Put the skillet with the steak/steaks in the oven for approximately 25 minutes; turning them every 10 minutes.
  10. During the last 5 minutes of cooking place 1 pat of butter on each steak.
  11. Remove from the oven and place on a plate.
  12. Lightly salt the steak and cover with foil.
  13. To the drippings in the pan add tablespoons butter, soy sauce, green onions chopped, jalapeno jelly and ¼ cup additional red wine.
  14. Over low heat whisk together until completely incorporated.
  15. Slice the steak, especially if you are using the thicker porterhouse cut. Or plate the steaks you have cooked an individual steak for your guests.
  16. Pour sauce over the cooked steak.
  17. Garnish with fresh rosemary.
  18. Serve.
  19. Great with Loaded Red Potatoes.

 

Apricot Glazed Pork Chops with Sweet Chili Sauce

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Pork Chops, Slow Cooker Pork Chops Sweet Suppertime First.  Let’s be very clear about those words up there in the title “sweet” and “chili”.   They are both there.  What this means is that the sauce for this dish is both sweet and a bit spicy.  It’s also delicious.  Let’s see… that makes sweet, spicy and delicious.  Let’s add easy because I cook these in my crock pot.

I have six kids.  At one point I bought a giant wipe board to keep their weekly schedule straight.  I remember finishing writing one week’s schedule down, complete with color coding, stepping back and wondering how in the world I would get them all to where they needed to be.  Enter the crock pot.  This lovely little invention allows me to run the kids everywhere they need to be and still bring them home to a home-cooked meal.  Can I make a confession here while I’m at it?  I’m not a fan of carpools.  Rarely, selectively,  I entered into shared ride.  Don’t get me wrong.  A carpool seems like a great idea and it can be a lifesaver but, for me, I cherish the time I have with my kids in the car.  You would be surprised what you find out about your kid when you have a bit of one-on-one time after school.  Sometimes it would only be a few minutes between drop-off points, but I have had the best time with my kids just hanging out in the car.  We listen to the music they love and sometimes even crank up the volume.    We talk about school, love interests, friends, worries, excitements.  We pretty much cover the spectrum.  It’s been a pleasure to be their chauffeur.

Let’s get back to the crock pot.    This is a tasty slow cooker meal.  Feel free to just finish it on the stove-top or in the oven but if you are looking for a warm meal that is hours away in carpool years… grab out your crock pot.  I like to pair it with cooked baby carrots and dirty rice.    You will need bone in pork chops, sliced onions, apricot preserves and

Pork Chops, Slow Cooker Pork Chops, sweet chili sauce.  We love Mae Ploy.

Sweet Chili Sauce, Mae Ploy Brown pork chops in 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet.  Get a nice little golden color on each side.  This usually takes about 3 minutes per side.  Salt and pepper them to your liking.  Place the chops in a crock pot and top each with a heaping tablespoon of apricot preserves, a teaspoon of sweet chili sauce and top with sliced onions.  Now… this is your dish.  If you want to cook your carrots with the pork chops go ahead.  That’s the beauty of a slow cooker.   Here they are in the dark abyss of the crock pot 🙂

slow cooker pork chops, apricot pork chops, pork chops, best pork chops Add about 1/4 cup water to the bottom of the crock pot and set your cooking time.  Some days I start mine in the morning and let them cook on low for about 6 hours.  Sometimes I am running very late and throw the crock pot on high for 3-4 hours.  Slow cooking is pretty basic but it will vary from crock pot to crock pot.  Most important is that you let the chops cook until the inner temperature reaches 160°.  This has never been a problem for me since most of the coaches my kids have played for usually don’t end practice on time.  Anyone else experience this?  Again we are back to the beauty of slow cooking.  Those chops really aren’t going to burn, so relax and do some pinning while you wait for your little athlete or dancer…

pork chops, glazed pork chops, slow cooker pork chops, sweet suppertime, shanon balser

 Keep that sweet chili sauce near the table just in case someone wants a bit more spice on this sweet and tender pork chop.

pork chops, best pork chops, apricot glazed pork chops Enjoy playing chauffeur tonight.  Talk to the kids.  Listen to the kids.  Dinner is waiting.

Apricot Glazed Pork Chops with Sweet Chili Sauce
 
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Let the crock pot do the work...you have more important things to do. This is a yummy slow cooker meal.
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Ingredients
  • Pork Chops--you choose how many
  • sliced onions
  • ½ cup apricot preserves
  • sweet chili sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Brown pork chops in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 3 minutes on each side works out nicely. Salt and pepper the chops on each side to your desired taste.
  2. Transfer the chops to a slow cooker/crock pot.
  3. Spoon one tablespoon of apricot preserves on top of each pork chop.
  4. Add 1 teaspoon of sweet chili sauce to the top of each pork chop.
  5. Top each chop with sliced onions.
  6. Add a scant ¼ cup of water to the bottom of the crock pot and cook according to your crock pot's instructions.
    For 6 chops I cook 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low. I can tell mine is done because the meat starts to fall from the bone. If you are worried, just take the pork's temperature. It should read 160°.
  7. Baste during the cooking process if you are around.

 

 

Fabulous Fish Tacos

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fish tacos, spicy fish tacos For our family, no trip to California is complete without a trip to Wahoo’s Fish Taco.  Most often we frequent the restaurant in Laguna Beach.    The menu is unique, fresh and delicious.  The atmosphere is fun and friendly.   By the reactions we have gotten over the years, most eating establishments are not accustomed to having a family of 8 walk through the door.    The folks at Wahoo’s have always been more than kind and so it has become a place we love to visit when California makes a bid for our vacation time.

Lately our trips have become few and far between so it became apparent that I would need to come up with some type of fish taco to satisfy the cravings of this family in between jaunts to the beach cities.

So this is what I have come up with.  It’s become just popular enough around here that one of my daughters dubbed Friday as Fish Taco Friday at her house.  Nothing will ever replace Wahoo’s in our hearts or our palate but this comes in a close second.

You will need two tilapia fillets, mild flavored olive oil, cajun seasoning, small corn tortillas, an avocado, a bag of coleslaw, a jalapeno, a lime,  radishes, green onions, cilantro, mayonnaise, sugar and if you are feeling a little spicy–a bit of buffalo sauce.

Rinse tilapia fillets and pat dry.  Place on a foil lined baking sheet.  Drizzle the top lightly with olive oil and spread the oil evenly over the fish.  Sprinkle with creole or cajun seasoning.  Place in a 350° oven for about 20 minutes, turning and seasoning at the halfway point of baking.  You want that delicious spice all over that fish!   The fish should flake apart nicely with a fork when it’s done.

fish tacos, spicy fish tacos While the fish is cooking combine 3 cups of shredded cabbage (I like to just buy that convenient bag with the carrots in it), 3 radishes sliced thinly, 2 green onions sliced, 1 jalapeno seeded and diced finely and 3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro.  Have half a lime at the ready.

fish tacos, spicy fish tacos Now let’s prepare the dressing for the slaw.  In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/8 teaspoon celery salt and about 1/4 teaspoon lime zest.   Don’t combine the dressing with the slaw and juice from the lime until the fish is done and you are ready to serve the tacos.   If you want extra kick–add 2 tablespoons of buffalo sauce to the dressing mix and turn it into a buffalo slaw!

fish tacos When the fish is done, flake it apart into lovely bite size pieces.  Squeeze one half of a lime on your slaw ingredients and add the dressing, tossing to coat.  Using a skillet and a small amount of oil, warm the tortilla shells. Or place 4-5 tortillas, wrapped in foil, into a 350° oven for about 10 minutes.

Place a slice of avocado on the shell with 3 bite size pieces of fish and top with coleslaw.  Serve immediately.  Hope this recipe gets you through until you can hit up your favorite beach city restaurant!

fish tacos, spicy fish tacos, wahoo's

spicy fish tacos, fish tacos, sweetsuppertime

 

Fabulous Fish Tacos
 
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[i]Sometimes you just need a really great fish taco... these are easy and sooo delicious! This makes 8-10 small tacos.[/i]
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 tilapia fillets
  • olive oil
  • cajun or creole seasoning
  • avocado slices
  • corn tortillas
    For the coleslaw
  • 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
  • 3 radishes washed and sliced thinly
  • 2 green onions washed and sliced
  • 3 cups shredded cabbage or bagged coleslaw mix
  • ½ lime juiced and zested, use the juice for the salad and the zest in the dressing
    For the dressing choices...choices
    Sweet Slaw Dressing
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt
  • ¼ teaspoon lime zest
    Buffalo Style
  • add 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce to the Sweet Slaw Dressing
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. Rinse and pat dry tilapia fillets.
  3. Drizzle the fillets with mild flavored olive oil.
  4. Sprinkle cajun or creole seasoning over the top of the fish. If you like it spicy--keep shakin.
  5. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, turning carefully once and sprinkling the under side of the fish with seasoning.
  6. While the fish is cooking, prepare the coleslaw and dressing.
  7. In a bowl, combine cabbage, green onions, sliced radishes, seeded and diced jalapeno and cilantro. Toss together and set aside with ½ a lime. We will squeeze this lime at the last minute.
  8. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar, lime zest and sugar.
  9. Stir.
  10. In a skillet, begin heating 8-10 small tortillas. This can also be done by wrapping 4-5 tortillas in foil and placing them in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes.
  11. Flake the fish into bite size pieces.
  12. Squeeze the lime half over the cabbage mixture and add the dressing.
  13. Toss.
  14. Slice an avocado and start making tacos!
  15. Lay three pieces of fish on each tortilla.
  16. Put a slice of avocado next to the fish.
  17. Top with slaw.
  18. Eat up!

 

Buffalo Wing Perfection — crisp and juicy

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buffalo wings, perfect buffalo wings Since being introduced to this delicious appetizer/main dish I haven’t quite decided if our family likes it as an appetizer or as a main dish.  I think it actually depends on how many wings I make.  If they fill up on wings… it was a main dish.  If they are still hungry after they eat them all then it was definitely only an appetizer.  My family loves buffalo wings and they love them with a myriad of different sauces.  But in the long run they love the wings because they are neither dried out not too rubbery.  That skin can get awfully chewy if you drown it in too much sauce too soon.  So…. this is the way we do wings at our house.

Let’s say here that I love having a meat thermometer.  It makes me feel all safe and secure when I am feeding wings to the masses.  I cook the winglets (love that word) until the center is at 165°.  From there I keep an eye on the skin until I see it at a dark golden brown.  This can be accomplished in the oven, in a deep fryer or,  my newest favorite kitchen appliance, an air fryer.    This is ending up a little backwards but I wanted to get that whole inner chicken temperature out of the way.

I like to buy my winglets fresh.  I’ve done them from a frozen state and they work fine too, I just prefer the fresh winglets.

wings purchased These lucky dudes are about to become delicious.  Take them from the package, give them a rinse to give them a fresh start and them pat them dry with a paper towel.  Lay them out on a plate and give them a shake with your favorite seasoning.  Around here we like to use McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning.    Below my wings are hanging out in the basket of my air fryer.  It’s awesome.  I have to say that whenever I fry large batches of anything–be it fries or wings I usually work outside, so I took my fryer to the garage when the aroma of chicken wings frying could drive my dog insane.

buffalo wings, best wings Okay– if you are going to cook yours in the oven you will want to line a baking sheet with foil, shake on your spices and bake them in a 400° for about 40-45 minutes.  Make sure they aren’t pink or better yet test them with a thermometer.  If you are going to fry them in delicious oil you have choices.  You can deep fry them (which I love to do) or pan fry (which I think gets pretty messy).  Either way you want your oil to heat to about 375° and you are going to fry them for about 12-15 minutes, turning them and watching for that perfect color and doneness.  They will need to be turned in order to achieve an even browning.  Now we have arrived at why I love my air fryer.  I shake those spices on.  I stick them in the fryer and set the timer for about 18 minutes.  I walk away and don’t think about them for another 10 minutes.  I go back and turn them over and forget about them again.  I guess it just depends how interactive you want to be with your wings on any given day.  Make no mistake–I love hanging out by the oil vat in my cute apron wielding a pair of metal tongs and fussing over my wings, but I love the carefree nature of the oil fryer.  I guess it depends on how busy I am at the moment.  I’m so lucky to have choices!  You don’t need an air fryer to make these, they turn out great any way you make them!

However you decide to cook your winglets, when you have them cooled only slightly, toss them in a plastic bag and add 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce or sweet and spicy wing sauce and toss them around to coat them.  I find that 1/4 cup of sauce will easily cover 15-20 wings this way.

buffalo wings Now… this is where I develop an attitude.  About now when I look at my wings they look a little pasty and the skin looks a little, well, flubbery.  I am against flubbery wing and so…. this is where I put them on a baking sheet or back in my air fryer for about 3-4 minutes or until the lightly covered wings have literally had that delicious sauce baked right in to them, no burning.   Don’t throw them in your oil fryer.. I don’t think I need to explain 🙂

This is how they turn out!  Beautifully coated, speckled with seasoning and ready to drench in additional buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, bleu cheese dressing, sweet wing sauce….. it doesn’t matter, they are ready to party!

buffalo winglets, wings, superbowl food

buffalo wings, chicken wings

Buffalo Wing Perfection -- crisp and juicy
 
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The perfect buffalo wing... add a little extra time in the oven after they are cooked and coated with sauce.
Author:
Ingredients
  • Chicken Wings (winglets)
  • McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning, or your favorite seasoning spice
  • Buffalo Sauce
Instructions
  1. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel.
  2. Sprinkle with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
  3. Fry, or bake according to your preference, until the inside of the chicken reaches 165° and the outside of the wing is a dark golden brown.
  4. Place in a bowl or plastic bag once they have cooled only slightly.
  5. Add ¼ cup your favorite buffalo sauce to the bag of cooked wings and toss to coat. I find that ¼ cup of sauce will cover 15-20 wings the way I want them coated for the second round in the oven.
  6. Lay coated wings on a baking sheet covered with foil.
  7. Bake at 350° for 3-5 minutes until the sauce bakes into the wings.
  8. Remove from the oven and serve with your favorite sauces.

Holiday Meatballs

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We’ve been serving up these festive meatballs for years at our family Christmas Eve Party.  The main players in this yummy dish are: chili sauce, cranberry sauce and sauerkraut.  I know what you are thinking, “who in their right mind would mix those ingredients together and call them festive?”  Try it…you will go home with an empty, sticky pan.
This dish is delicious served by itself or you can take along a bowl of rice.  Last year I forgot the rice and as I was lingering in the kitchen I heard several people ask where the rice was.  I guess that means that even a humble bowl of rice has become a Christmas tradition.  I’ve made this recipe starting from scratch with homemade meatballs, homemade cranberry sauce and homemade chili sauce and I’ve made it the easy way with precooked meatballs, canned cranberry sauce and purchased chili sauce.  It’s great either way!
Holiday Meatballs just before I pop them in the oven
sauerkraut, brown sugar, chili sauce and whole-berry cranberry sauce
all those yummy sauces with spices stirred in

Holiday Meatballs
 
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You will love the unqiue combination of flavors and the absolute beauty of this dish!
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Ingredients
  • 1⅓ cups whole-berry cranberry sauce
  • 1½ cups chili sauce (the chunky kind)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1½ cups sauerkraut
  • 1 cup water
  • ⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper
  • ¼ tsp. garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • *two dozen meatballs {already cooked}
  • Fresh/Frozen cranberries to toss on top just before cooking
  • Cooked rice if desired
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl combine cranberry sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar, sauerkraut, water, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and cinnamon.
  2. Stir until well blended and pour evenly over meatballs.
  3. Top with a handful of fresh or frozen cranberries sprinkled across the top.
  4. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
  5. Serve as an appetizer or over a bowl of rice.

Shanny’s Creamy Chicken Supper

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Creamy Chicken Supper, Comfort Chicken

My name is Shanon and over the years I’ve collected a lot of nicknames.  The nickname Shanny got stuck to this recipe and try as I might to remove it for the sake of this post, the family’s opinion to keep it there swayed me in the end.

It wouldn’t be fair to think of this dish as a soup.  To call it a chowder actually makes me cringe.  Nothing against soups and chowders, I love them both, but I file this recipe in Main Dishes, and for the sake of this site – chicken.   It’s hearty, it’s tasty, but above all it just seems to comfort the soul.  Recently I have spent a large amount of time with my father.  We work on birthday cards and bills and we talk about family, gardening, and growing old.  He takes great care of himself and is currently tipping the age scale at 92, though recent months have thrown health challenges at him one after the other. A few weeks ago when I was getting ready to head out to see him I had a great idea.  I grabbed a bag and tossed in two frozen chicken breasts, a couple of carrots, a quart of cream and bounded out the door.  I was confident he would have the other ingredients I would need.   Knowing he was having a “down” day after finding out his cancer had returned, I thought that cooking together might cheer him up a bit, and there is not a dish in the world that says “I love you to your very soul” as much as this one.  And I wanted him to know how much I loved him.   He sat in the kitchen with me as I sliced and diced, sauteed and stirred, and when the food was all cooked we sat down in his kitchen together and offered a prayer before digging in.  The smile on his face when he tasted it was worth more than words can express. I didn’t even mind when he picked up the Creole seasoning and shook it on the top.  He is a bit sassy that way.  Serve this with Momma’s Bread and we kick the whole supper over the top.

It’s easy, easy.  Take this recipe and make it your own by adding things you love.  In the photo above you don’t see the peas that we added at the end when daddy and I made it.  The time before that I added spears of asparagus during the last few minutes.  It’s a beautifully comforting dish.  Let’s get going on this one shall we?

This recipe will serve about four depending on how hungry everyone is.  Gather 2 chicken breasts, 3 chicken bouillon cubes, 1 quart of cream, a small bag of baby carrots or carrots to quarter, an onion, a couple of potatoes or a handful of red potatoes, parsley and a cube of butter.  Yes… cream and butter.  And now you know how it gets to your soul.

I know, I know, no one wants to see raw meat on a blog–but look how polite our chicken is being all contained in those little bags.

Ingredients

In a large pan or Dutch oven, (I love my heavy cast iron skillet), melt one cube of butter over low heat on your stove top.  Increase heat to medium and add one onion, quartered and saute until it starts to brown and soften.  Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.  This is where the house starts to smell delicious.  While the onion is cooking, cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces.  I like to do this while the chicken breasts are still partially frozen as it is much easier to cut through.

Shanny's Chicken Saute

Remove the onions and set aside.  Add the chicken pieces and brown them nicely on all sides.   While the chicken is browning, peel and quarter your potatoes.  If I am using small red potatoes I just cut them in half.  They look so pretty in this dish.

Browned Chicken

This is where it starts to get fun for me.  Return the onion to the pan and add the quartered potatoes and the baby/quartered carrots along with 3 bouillon cubes.  Add 1/2 cup water and stir the ingredients to pick up all that flavor from the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the mixture and cover it with a lid.  I had to scrounge to find one to fit my skillet…   Cook over medium heat for approximately 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and add small amounts of water as necessary.

side by side

Once the vegetables are tender, remove the lid and pour one quart of cream over the mixture and give everything a good stir.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened.  Stir this often as the potatoes will settle and scorch if you leave it unattended too long.  This is also a good time to toss on asparagus or add peas or corn.  Top with fresh parsley.

Adding Cream

I like serving this right from the skillet, so set the table and call the family.  This is such a great meal to take to a new mother or a sick friend.  I can also suggest taking the ingredients to your aging father’s house and making it just for him.  He will be so happy to see you.

Finished in Skillet

Shanny's Chicken Final

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Shanny’s Creamy Chicken Supper

After adding the cream, if desired, add peas, corn or asparagus for the last 15 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 cube)
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled quartered
  • 1 small bag baby carrots or 4 carrots peeled and quartered
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 chicken bouillon cubes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley
  • 1 quart cream

Instructions

  1. In a large Dutch oven or skillet, melt butter over low heat.
  2. Increasing heat to medium, add onion and saute with pepper until browned and tender, remove onions from skillet and set aside.
  3. In the same pan, add chicken pieces and brown on all sides.
  4. Add onions back to pan along with potatoes, carrots, boullion, salt and 1/2 cup water.
  5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water as necessary. You don't want to end up with a lot of fluid in the pan before adding the cream, so just add what you need. The vegetables will release juices as they cook, so additional water is usually not necessary.
  6. Remove lid and add 1 quart cream. Simmer uncovered on low heat for aproximately 15 minutes or until the mixture has thickened, stirring occaisionally to keep your potatoes from settling to the bottom and risking scorching. Add parsley and serve. Wait for the smiles.

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Meatloaf–no leftover style

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I have vacillated back and forth as to whether I wanted to post my meatloaf recipe.  It’s not like I want to keep it a secret…
Quite simply it is because I did not want to photograph meatloaf!  There you have it.  You must admit that a slab of meat on a plate just might not be as photogenic as say….a cheesecake or bacon wrapped asparagus spears.
The long and short of it is that I make meatloaf at least once a month.  It’s a family favorite and every time my family starts putting “dibbs” on the leftovers for their sandwich the next day I tell myself that I might be able to airbrush the meatloaf and make it look as good as it is.   Tonight I decided that the cute little loaded potatoes and creamed peas took some of the pressure off of the meatloaf and that I might be able to document the meatloaf recipe after all.  Don’t judge the photo until you have tasted the meatloaf.

Meatloaf   by Sweet Suppertime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 pounds lean ground beef (break into chunks)
2 eggs beaten
1 onion chopped
1 1/3 cups bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley or 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce (or barbecue sauce or if you are out of everything mix 1/3 cup ketchup with 1 TB specialty type mustard)

In a large bowl combine beaten eggs with ground beef and mix with hands or by spoon until well blended.  Add onion, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic powder, salt, pepper and buffalo sauce and mix well.  I like doing this with my hands, it just feels like I get everything worked around nice and evenly.
Place in an ungreased bread pan.  I bake mine in a bread pan my mother gave me and when I measured it at the bottom it was 9 inches long and six inches wide.
After I pat the meatloaf into the pan I like to make a little bit of a well in the middle with my fingers, just so the meat is at it’s shallowest point in the middle.  Somehow I think it cooks better and more evenly this way.

Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 or until desired doneness.  Bake the first 30 minutes under foil and remove the foil for the last 45 minutes.  During the last 15 minutes of baking I like to drizzle additional Sweet Buffalo Wing Sauce over the top, about a 1/4 cup in total.  I have been known to add sliced mushrooms as well:)

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting to a platter.  Slice and serve!  If there are leftovers, consider meatloaf sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.  It’s one of my kids’ favorite lunches.

Tuscan Zuppa

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Today was a unique day for me.  Today I helped with a family luncheon after the funeral of the father of a friend of mine.  It was a cold, blustery day and I was glad that the weather abated for just a few hours after the funeral for the interment.  The family gathered at our church after the burial and the good women of our neighborhood brought warm comforting soup and rolls to the church so that the family could sit together and celebrate the life of someone they loved.  It was a day that I spent thinking about life and the people that I love so much.  Center to that list is my own father who I am lucky enough to call “daddy”.  So today we whipped up one of our own favorite soups for supper and I found myself wishing I could share a bowl with my own father.  I’m doing the next best thing and posting the recipe for him.  It’s a bit spicy so adjust it to your own likes…and share it with someone you love.
Tuscan Zuppa  Sweet Suppertime
 
1 pound spicy Italian sausage (scrambled)
1 pound hamburger (scrambled)
4-5 stalks chopped celery
1 red bell pepper sliced or chopped
1 yellow bell pepper sliced or chopped
1 chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 small zucchinis chopped in bits the size of your thumb
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 large (about 30 oz) can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 can white beans ( you pick, I like great northern)
Enough water to cover all your happy, colorful ingredients
In a large pot combine meats and spices along with the chopped onion and chopped celery.  When the meats have browned nicely add the chopped garlic and bell peppers.  When the peppers look like they are wilting add the rest of the ingredients.  I personally like to add the zucchini in the last hour of the crock pot stage if you are using a crock pot…if you are using a stove top pot I like adding it in the last few minutes leaving a little crunch to the zucchini.  Simmer on the stove top for 30 minutes or all day on low in your crock pot.