Buffalo chicken bites

My youngest son insisted on buffalo wings for the Super Bowl party. I love wings myself but had just made a Siracha wing last week and didn't want to do the wing thing again. So I got to thinking......and  I decided this was a better alternative with out all those little wing bones to deal with! Boy they were a huge hit! Give them a shot. This recipe too easy!

2 boneless skinless chicken breast

3 T tobasco sauce

Salt & Pepper

Onion and garlic powder

1/4 c dry white wine

1/2 C hot wing sauce ( I used Moore's hot wing sauce)

1 block of cream cheese

4-5 oz crumbled blue cheese

6 Green onions chopped

1 package of wonton wrappers

 Swirl oil in a pan and heat on med-high. Season chicken breast with tobasco hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Cook in pan 4-5 minutes on each side then as the bits in the pan begin to brown pour in dry white wine and let simmer till almost evaporated. Let chicken sit in juices and cool for about 30 minutes. Shred chicken into a bowl and place hot wing sauce and cream cheese. Stir till combined well. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray and place one wonton wrapper into each cup. This recipe will make about 24. Bake the cups for about 8 minutes just till they begin to brown. 

Place about two Tablespoons of buffalo chicken filling into each cup and place back in oven for 5-8 minutes just to warm them through. Remove from oven and sprinkle with blue cheese and green onion. Serve warm.

Cajun crawfish and corn chowder

After a day of playing in the ice/snow this southern girl needed a good hearty chowder to really fill three hungry boys! So this is what we had tonight and after two bowls full everyone was fat and happy!

1 lb crawfish tails cleaned 

4 T butter

3 T bacon Grease

1 chopped onion

3 med sweet potatoes peeled and chopped

3 med Idaho potatoes peeled and chopped

4 carrots chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

1 bay leaf

1 roll of frozen cream style corn

1 can of whole kernel corn

3 C shrimp broth

1 cup water

8 oz evaporated milk

2 T flour

1/4 tsp old bay seasoning

Salt and pepper

1 T Cajun seasoning (I used "slap your moma Cajun seasoning)

1/2 T Italian seasoning

1/2 T garlic powder

1 8oz brick of cream cheese cubed

In a large pot place butter and bacon grease and place onions, carrots, and bell peppers. Sauté till soft and add all potatoes and stir for a few minutes. Sprinkle in all your seasonings and your bay leaf. Add shrimp broth and water and let simmer 5 minutes. Add cream corn and regular corn. 

Whisk flour with evaporated milk and pour into soup. Keep stirring as the mixture will start to thinken. Simmer for 5-10 min on low stirring occasionally to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom. 

Add crawfish tails and cream cheese and stir. Turn all the way to low and let the flavores get happy together for about 15-20 minutes. 

Serve with a dash of parsley on top and enjoy!

Turkey and wild rice soup

Man we ate leftovers for days after thanksgiving and when we had made all the turkey sandwiches we could stand I froze the leftover fried turkey. Then we got a cold front here in south Mississippi and I needed some soup. This is the recipe I came up with and Lord have mercy it was so good all my boys went back for a third bowl!

2 1/2 C chopped turkey meat

4 chopped carrots

1 chopped onion

3 chopped ribs of celery

1 package sliced mushrooms

4 T butter

3/4 C white wine

2 T lemon juice

1 T better than bullion chicken base

1/4 cup flour

3 cans chicken broth

1 1/2 C water

Salt and pepper

3 springs of Thyme

2 C heavy cream

4 T chopped parsley

1 1/4 C uncooked Wild Rice blend (found this at target)

In a large soup pot place butter and onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms and sauté till soft. (About 6-8 minutes) when soft add the white wine, lemon juice, and chicken base and let simmer down and reduce a little. Add your flour and stir till flour is incorporated with all the veggies and stir in chicken broth. Add salt, pepper and the whole sprigs of thyme. Stir in the rice and turkey meat and let cook on a low simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring a little. Stir in the heavy cream and chopped parsley and let simmer for about 10 minutes and serve! 

Pistachio, cranberry, and white chocolate holiday shortbread cookies

The colors of these cookies just have christmas written all over them! I spent the afternoon baking them with my boys! We had such a great time and tomorrow I will be sharing them with some very lucky co workers. In fact it was on of these co workers who first drought them to my attention. I altered the recipe a tad and here's what came out! Man, I'm sure glad she did too! I will be holding on to this recipe!

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 C flour

1 T cornstarch

Pinch of salt

1/2 C dried cranberries

1/2 C chopped pistachios

3/4 C white chocolate chips 

Cream Butter and sugar till soft and fluffy. add vanilla extract. Add the salt and begin adding flour a little at a time just so it incorporated till you've added it all in. Add your corn starch and Lastly add in the rest of your ingredients and mix well. 

Lay Saran Wrap out on counter and dump dough into it. Wrap and form about a 3 inch log. Refrigerate for about 90 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and slice with a sharp serrated knife place cookies about 2 inches apart and bake 13 minutes or until edges just barely begin to turn. Don't over bake! Remove from oven and place entire sheet of parchment on cooling rack to cool!

Enjoy!

Acorn/Golden nugget squash Risotto

Fall means there are all kinds of squash and pumpkins that are just ready for the picking! The way I see it that just means I need to come up with some recipes for all that goodness! So here goes!

1 acorn squash 

1 golden nugget squash

olive oil

3/4 cup risotto rice

1 yellow onion diced

1 clove of garlic

2 tablespoons butter

1 can of chicken broth

1/2 can of water

1/2 cup of white wine

salt and pepper

1/2 parmesan

parsley flakes

heat oven to 400 degrees and  cut squashes in half and coat in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes or till soft.

Meanwhile heat butter in a pot and add onion and garlic. Sauté till soft and add rice. Cook stirring constantly for about two minutes. Add white wine and let simmer till evaporated. Start adding chicken broth 1/2 a can at a time and keep stirring. when mixture becomes thick add more broth. keep stirring.... when thick again add 1/2 a can of water and season with salt and pepper and add the parmesan cheese. turn off the heat and let set for  about 5-10 minutes. If too thick add a little more water and let set for a few more minutes. sprinkle with parsley flakes and serve hot!

ENJOY!

  

Creamy Roasted Potato, Fennel and Leek Soup

2 large leeks

1 large fennel

2 sweet potatoes

4 potatoes

4 carrots

1 cup of half and half

1 cup of milk

salt

pepper

8 cups water

3 T butter

3 T olive oil

parsley flakes

cut green tops of off fennel and leeks and place in a large stock pot with the 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and let boil covered for 25 minutes to make a broth.

meanwhile heat oven to 450 degrees. dice potatoes, carrots, rest of the leek and fennel bulb. place one of the leeks (diced) the 1/2 the fennel bulb diced  on a large roasting pan. place one diced sweet potato and 1 1/2 regular potatoes with all the carrots and put them on the roasting pan too. drizzle on the olive oil and some salt and pepper and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

In a large pot place the other leek (diced) and the rest of the diced fennel bulb with butter and sauté till soft. throw in rest of potatoes and sauté for a minute or two longer.  Ladle 4 or 5 scoops of the broth you made into the pot and let simmer for 15 minutes till potatoes are soft.

once potatoes are soft: I used an emersion blender and blended my soup. If you do not have one of these nifty gadgets 1) i suggest you put it on your christmas list 2) you may use a regular old blender just blend it in small batches and be careful...its very hot! pour all blended soup back into the pot and add milk, half and half and about 3 cups of the broth you made. Stir soup and salt and pepper to taste.  

Pull roasted veggies from oven and dump into soup. Stir and and ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley flakes. Serve!

Spinach and artichoke ravioli alfredo

1 lb of refrigerated  four cheese ravioli

1 Jar of garlic Alfredo sauce

1/4 C of milk

1 package of frozen spinach thawed and all juices squeezed out

2 T of minced garlic

2 T fresh basil

1 8 oz bag of Italian cheese

salt and pepper

4 oz of parmesan

1 can of artichoke hearts drained and chopped roughly

1 can of petite diced tomatoes with juices

1 tsp of italian seasoning 

drizzle of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray a 9x13 pan and set aside

in a small bowl mix the spinach and basil and garlic and stir to mix well. In another small bowl mix the Alfredo sauce and milk and stir till well mixed.

In the 9x13 pan place a little alfredo sauce and pour in half the ravioli. top the ravioli with half the spinach mixture. Then place half the can of tomatoes and half the can of artichokes on top of that. sprinkle with 1/2 the bag of italian cheeses and drizzle about half of your alfredo sauce over that. Repeat the process with raviolis all the way up to the sauce and cheese. just save the cheese for last this time and  put all of it over top including your parmesan. sprinkle with italian herbs seasoning and a little salt and pepper. drizzle the top with olive oil and bake covered for 30 minutes then uncover and bake 15 more minutes till bubbly in the center!