Honey Hot Wings

Ingredients:

• 12 chicken wings
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1/4 cup oil

Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup hot sauce
• 1/2 cup honey

Cut each chicken wing in half. Place the chicken wings in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and let simmer 15 minutes. Drain the chicken and set aside.

Mix flour and garlic salt in a plastic bag. Dip the chicken into the beaten egg and then shake them, a few at a time in the bag to coat. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Brown the coated chicken wings. Serve warm with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:
Whisk together the honey and the hot sauce to make a dipping sauce. Adjust the sauce to taste by adding more honey or hot sauce. Set aside.

Snappy Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

• 24 chicken wings (about 2 lbs.)
• 2/3 cup cayenne pepper sauce
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 & 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Blue Cheese or Ranch dressing

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut tips off wings; cut wings in half at joint.
3. In bowl, combine cayenne pepper sauce, melted butter, and cayenne pepper.
4. Boil or double-fry chicken wings to firm up skin (but don’t cook too long!!!).
5. Combine sauce and wings in deep baking pan that has been lined with foil and lightly greased.
6. Bake 30 minutes to 1 hour – you want the wings to still be juicy and not dried out.

Orange/Honey Chicken Balls

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 (8-oz.) can water chestnuts, drained
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

In blender or food processor, combine chicken, water chestnuts, onions, egg, salt and pepper. Process until finely chopped. Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Shape chicken mixture into 1-inch balls. Arrange on an ungreased baking
sheet with raised sides. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in preheated oven or until firm.

In a small saucepan, melt butter or margarine. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into orange juice until dissolve; stir into melted butter or margarine. Stir in allspice, honey, wine and soy sauce. Cook and stir over low heat until slightly thickened and translucent.

To serve, dip warm meatballs into warm sauce.

Makes about 60 appetizer servings.

Chicken Kabobs 2

Ingredients

• chicken breasts
• zucchini
• squash
• fresh pineapple
• orange bell peppers

Preparation
Chop the veggies (and use whatever you like!!) into bite-sized pieces and then cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces as well. Soak your skewers in water for a few hours if you are using wooden ones!! Arrange the pieces in whatever order you’d like to have on the skewers. When done, coat each ka-bob with Italian salad dressing. Heat up the grill and grill until chicken is done!

I serve my ka-bobs on a bed of steamed rice, yum!

AW’s Sicilian Turkey

( first used Christmas 2004, and by far one of the MOISTEST turkeys I’ve had! )

Ingredients:

• 15 large Sicilian olives, pits intact
• 15 cloves garlic, fresh without sprouts growing (sprouts make garlic bitter); smashed
• 1 fiji apple, cored and quartered and skins removed
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped into 1 inch chunks
• 1 large yellow onion, skinned, quartered
• cayenne pepper powder
• salt & pepper
• 14-16 pound turkey, neck & innards removed!!!
• 1 magnum bottle of German Apple Wine (a must!!! And from Germany!!!)
• butter
• olive oil
• 1 can of crushed pineapple (with juice)

1. After turkey is completely thawed, remove neck and innards (reserve for making dipping sauce). Wash turkey and pat dry. Salt and pepper the body cavity and neck cavity liberally.

2. Stuff the body cavity with apple quarters and some of the onions and celery and 5 of the Sicilian olives and 5 of the garlic cloves. Tie legs together to keep stuffing in place.

3. Stuff the neck cavity with 6 olives and 6 garlic cloves, some celery and onions. Pin the excess skin of the neck down to keep in the stuffing and trim off the excess.

4. Cut off the tips of the wings and save if you are going to make some sort of turkey stock.

5. Pin the wings against the turkey body.

6. Lightly coat the tops of the turkey body with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to lightly coat the body. Now add a generous covering of the cayenne pepper powder. This will help to bring a wonderful dark color to the skin as the turkey cooks.

7. Get a deep cooking pan and place a small rack in the middle that will keep the turkey about a ½ inch to 1 inch off the bottom of the pan. Place the turkey on the rack, breast side up.

8. Add one fourth of the German apple wine to the pan. Then add enough water to barely touch the bottom of the turkey. The wine will cook off quickly so you will need to add a little bit of the wine and more water each time you baste the turkey to keep in hydrated. Making sure each time that the liquid is just barely touching the bird.

9. Cook the turkey according to the directions that came with the bird.

10. Baste the turkey every 30 minutes. Slowly pouring the juice over the bird to keep from washing off all of the spices!!

11. When turkey has 2 hours left to cook, add pineapple chunks to the pan and some to the opening of the body cavity for additional flavoring.

12. When the turkey has 1 hour left to cook, take bird out and cover top of bird with butter making sure not to take off too much of that nicely browned spices on top. Adding the butter will help to bring a more fuller color to the skin and also to help make the skin crispy.

13. Once bird is cooked, set out on the countertop (still in the pan or you will have one heck of a mess to clean up!!) and let the bird sit for 30 minutes before carving. Letting the bird sit will let the bird rehydrate from that last hour of cooking and this process is essential in having a moist bird to eat!
While the bird is sitting, now make the turkey dipping sauce…

• 1 stick of butter
• 2 large sweet onions, diced extra-small
• 1 ½ tablespoons of flour
• 5 tablespoons of honey
• 1 ½ tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 1 teaspoon of rosemary

1. In a large pan, brown up the turkey neck and innards. Don’t worry about the burnt pieces on the bottom of the pan – they add much-needed flavor to the sauce!! Once the pieces are cooked through, discard or save and eat later.

2. Lightly deglaze the pan by adding just a touch of white wine and then scrap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula.

3. Add one stick of butter. Once butter has melted, add the onions and sauté until golden brown.

4. Add flour, thyme, rosemary, and vinegar and stir for 1 minute.

5. Add honey and stir for 1 minute more. Remove sauce from heat and let it sit.

6. This sauce gets better each time you reheat it! Do not reheat in the microwave!! Put in a saucepan and slowly heat up to desired temperature.

Turkey Cakes with Chipotle Mayonnaise

So Thanksgiving or Christmas is over… and you have all that turkey left over. Your eyes were definitely bigger than everyone’s stomach when you spotted that giant of a bird in the supermarket. And now… you must decide what to do with all that turkey! Turkey sandwiches are going to get old really fast… Turkey quesadillas are out of the question… Turkey pot pie? Maybe… But what you want is something easy to put together… Something that can be frozen and reheated at a moments notice… What you want is……

Turkey Cakes with Chipotle Mayonnaise!!!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 green onion, finely cut up
• 3/4 cup loosely packed FRESH cilantro leaves
• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
• 3/4 pounds (about 3 cups) leftover turkey, skin removed, cut into large chunks
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed with a press
• 1 can (15- to 19-ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 tablespoons FRESH lime juice
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat Hellman’s mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons tabasco sauce with chipotle or adobo puree
• lime wedges (optional)

NOTE: Adobo puree is a thick, vinegary sauce canned with chipotle chiles. It is available in Latin markets and in some supermarkets.

In a food processor with knife blade attached, pulse onion and 1/2 cup cilantro 6 times. Add potatoes and turkey; pulse 5 to 7 times, scraping side of processor with rubber spatula to combine (turkey should be chunky). Shape by 1/3 cups into eight 3-inch patties; dust with flour.

In a nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add turkey cakes, cook 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown on both sides, turning over once.

Meanwhile, in a 1-quart saucepan, heat remaining oil over medium heat. Add garlic, cook 30 seconds to infuse oil, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and corn; heat through. Stir in lime juice and remaining cilantro leaves. In cup, stir mayonnaise and hot pepper sauce.

Serve turkey cakes with chipotle mayonnaise, bean salad, and lime wedges.

AW’s Roast Turkey with Herb Butter and Caramelized Onions

This turkey was served Thanksgiving 2007 and definitely has become the main contender of turkey to be cooked in future turkey dinners! Moist, succulent and herbally-delicious!!! And the skin, oh how crispy and crunchy it was!!

Onion base for gravy:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 4 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• drippings from turkey

Turkey:

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 21- to 22-pound turkey; neck, heart, and gizzards reserved
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 4-1/2 cups (approximately) low-salt chicken broth
• 2 large fresh rosemary sprigs
• 2 large fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the gravy base: melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until deep brown, about 40 minutes. Mix in rosemary and thyme, then flour, stir for 1 minute. Add vinegar and honey; simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Puree mixture if you desire a finer consistency. {NOTE: For added flavor, cook the neck, liver, and gizzards along with the onions. Just remove before adding the rest of the ingredients.} (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover, keep chilled.)

For the turkey: remove livers/gizzards/neck; mix butter and herbs in a small bowl. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry. Place on rack set in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Starting at the neck end, slide hand between skin and breast meat to loosen skin. It’s best not to fully separate the skin from the breast because all the butter will just melt and run down into the pan. Therefore, don’t separate the skin between the two breasts and don’t separate the skin on the edge of the breasts. This will create two pockets to keep all that flavorful butter in place!!! Spread 1/4 cup of the herb butter over breast meat under the skin. Rub remaining butter over outside of the turkey. Place turkey parts and onion quarters in pan around turkey. If stuffing turkey, spoon stuffing loosely into main cavity and neck cavity. Tuck wing tips under; tie legs together loosely to hold shape.

Set rack at lowest position in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast turkey uncovered for 1 hour. Tent turkey breast and tops of drumsticks loosely with foil; roast for another hour. Add 1 cup broth, herb sprigs, and bay leaf to drippings in the pan. Continue to roast until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (do not push in to the bone!!) registers 175 degrees (or as noted on the turkey package); baste with 3/4 cup broth and pan juices every 30 minutes — about 2 hours 30 minutes longer for unstuffed and 3 hours longer for stuffed. Transfer turkey to platter; let stand 30 minutes (internal temperature will increase 5 to 10 degrees).

Strain pan juices into 8-cup measuring cup; spoon fat off top. Heat gravy base over medium heat. Whisk in flour, then pan juices. Boil until gravy is reduced to 7 cups, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve turkey with gravy. Makes 14 servings.

Thai Chicken Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 (2 pound) chicken, minced
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 4 spring (green) onions, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 cup chopped fresh coriander
• 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
• 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (F).  Mix the mince and breadcrumbs.  Add the spring onion, ground and fresh coriander, chili sauce and lemon juice, and mix well.  Dampen your hands and form the mixture into bite-sized portions; form into balls.  Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the chicken balls in batches over high heat until browned all over.

Place the chicken balls on a baking tray and bake until cooked through (5 to 15 minutes).

Hot Spicy Tangy Sticky Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken (3-4 pounds, cut up)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 3/4 cup bbq sauce

Place chicken in a shallow glass dish or heavy plastic bag.  Combine vinegar, worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce in a bowl and mix well.  Pour over chicken pieces.  Cover dish or seal bag and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours; turning several times.

Oil hot grill to help prevent sticking.  Place dark meat pieces on grill 10 minutes before white meat pieces as these take longer to cook.  Grill chicken on covered grill, over medium heat; turning once or twice.  Brush with bbq sauce during last 10 minutes of cooking.  Remove chicken from grill and baste with more bbq sauce.

Moroccan Grilled Turkey Pita Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 package fresh boneless turkey breast cutlets
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 large pitas (cut in half or just fold to make sandwich)

Prepare grill for medium-direct-heat cooking.  Lightly spray unheated grill rack with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine lime juice, garlic, curry powder, salt, cumin and cayenne pepper to make a marinade mixture. Dip cutlets in marinade mixture.  Place cutlets on grill and cook 5 to 7 minutes on each side (or until meat is no longer pink in center).  Place turkey in pitas and coat with a zangy cucumber yogurt sauce.

Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 small cucumber, seeded and cut into small chunks
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 2 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

Thread chicken, cucumber, tomatoes and onions alternately onto metal skewers; set aside.  Can use wooden skewers but be sure to soak in water to keep them from catching on fire!

Brush skewers with some of the Thai Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce (see link below).  Place skewers on grill for about 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center; turning and basting often with peanut butter sauce.

Thai Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce <— click!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 (2.5 – 3 pound) chicken
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 (4 oz) can chopped chilies
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• salt (to taste)
• 1 package of 12 corn tortillas
• 8 oz shredded cheese

Boil chicken and remove meat from the bones and cut up in bite size pieces.  Reserve 1 cup of the chicken broth.  Combine soups, green chilies, onions (saute onions in a little bit of butter first), salt and pepper.  Blend well; add cup of broth to the mixture.  Put a little oil in a skillet and heat (medium) and dip corn tortillas in to soften them up.  Cover the bottom of a 2.5 – 3 quart casserole dish with tortillas; spread half of the chicken over the tortillas, then half of the sauce, then half of the shredded cheese.  Repeat.  Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 25-30 minutes.

Steam-Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

• chicken breasts
• smoked seasoning
• butter
• green onions
• lemons
• white wine

Take the chicken breasts and use a cleaver to pound them flat.  Place on tin foil sheet and top with smoked seasonings, thinly sliced lemons (remove the seeds please!), sliced up green onions, a couple of dollops of butter.  Form the tin foil up around the chicken to form a ‘bowl’.  Pour in some white wine (I prefer a Riesling) and then seal up the foil (may need an extra sheet).

Get the grill hot and toss the bowls on.  Resist the urge to open up the bowls to check on the chicken right off the bat!  Let these cook for about 5-7 minutes and then flip over for another 4-5 minutes.

Open up the bowl and use a spatula and pull the chicken onto the grill.  Make sure the toppings are on top!.  Grill for a couple of minutes to finish off the chicken and then plate them up and enjoy!

Lemon Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus extra sprigs for garnish
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (roughly 6 oz each)

Use a peeler to remove strips of zest from half of the lemon, then trim into fine strips with a small knife.  Reserve and set aside.  Grate the other side of the lemon to make 1 tablespoon of zest.  Finally, squeeze the juice from the lemon into a bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the lemon zest and juice, oil, garlic, parsley, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper.  Add the chicken breasts to the bowl and spoon the marinade over the chicken until well coated.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Chill for 30 minutes, or overnight.

Preheat the griddle, grill or broiler to medium heat.  Put the chicken pieces on, reserving the marinade.  Cook chicken until cooked through (about 10 minutes on each side).  Brush with reserved marinade 2 to 3 times during cooking.  Sprinkle with reserved lemon strips and serve immediately, garnished with parsley sprigs.

Serve with grilled Portobello mushrooms and a pasta salad mixed with zucchini and peppers.

Tequila-Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

• chicken breasts (cut & flattened evenly)
• your favorite dry rub
• olive oil
• tequila
• lime juice (fresh or bottled)

Make sure the chicken breasts are of an even thickness to ensure even cooking time.  Sprinkle your favorite dry rub onto the chicken breasts and then store in the refrigerator overnight.  Take out the next day and leave out until they go to room temperature.

Heat up the sauce pan and put some olive oil in a sauce pan and place the breasts in and then cover; turning every so often to ensure even cooking.  When breasts start to brown, pour in some tequila for flavoring and coloring; next add the lime juice.  Cook through and serve promptly!

I prefer to serve the chicken on a bed of steamed rice.  Enjoy!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 large chicken breast
• 2 cans mexicorn
• 2 cans rotel
• 2 cans tomato soup
• 2 cans beef broth
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 onion
• few garlic cloves
• avocado
• white shredded cheese

Saute onion and garlic and set to side.  Boil chicken and shred.  Mix together all except alvocado and cheese in a pot and bring to boil. Turn down to simmer for at least 6 hours.  Garnish soup with avocado and cheese and add some tortilla strips to add that final touch.

East Texas Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, cut up, boiled, de-boned and cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 cans black beans
• 6 cups of cooked rice
• 2 packages of taco seasoning

Place the cooked chicken in a skillet along with the taco seasoning with recommended amout of water (best if you use chicken stock reserved from boiling the chicken). Cook as directed on package……takes about 10 min.

Heat up the black beans in a pot.

Cook the rice your favorite way.

Once everything is done, just spoon some rice on your plate to make a bed. Add a layer of black beans and top with some of the chicken.  You can add anything else you want after this, but I used grated cheese, shreaded lettuce, sour cream and some salsa.

Grilled Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 12 slices of bacon
• onion
• jalapeños
• cream cheese
• salt
• pepper
• toothpicks (soak in water to keep from burning)

Get a meat mallet and beat the chicken breasts flat. Salt and pepper the breast then smear some cream cheese on one side, add a couple of onion slices and sliced jalapeños and roll the breast up. Wrap in two slices of bacon holding the bacon on with toothpicks.

Grill using indirect heat for about 20-30 minutes and turn every 5 minutes or so. After the chicken is done, place them over direct heat turning often so that the bacon gets done.

Creamy Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I prefer using pre-cut chicken strips… saves time, makes for a better presentation)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 4 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese, cubed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• crushed red pepper (to taste)

TIP: Use more broth/cream cheese to make it more saucy!  (For example, I use 1-¼ cup broth and 8 oz. cream cheese.)

1. Place the chicken inside a resealable plastic bag, along with the flour; seal bag. Shake chicken around a bit to coat evenly with the flour. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the chicken and cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until it’s cooked through (165 degrees). Remove chicken, reserving drippings in the skillet. Cover chicken to keep warm.
3. Add broth to the skillet. Stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.  Add crushed red pepper.
4. Add the cream cheese. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until cream cheese is melted and the sauce starts to thicken, stirring constantly with a wire whisk.
5. Return the chicken to the skillet; turn over to coat both sides with the creamy sauce. Cook 2 minutes or until the chicken is heated through.
6. Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Add remaining sauce and sprinkle with parsley. A tasty option is to quarter cherry tomatoes and cover the chicken before adding the sauce. Then add the sauce and top with 2 tablespoons of fresh basil.

Note:

With this recipe I like to add capers, petite diced tomatoes that have been drained, and sometimes mushrooms that have soaked and then were cooked in Jack Daniels. This recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. I also cook up some fancy shaped noodles to put the chicken and sauce on top of (or you can put it on a bed of rice or next to some garlic mashed potatoes). Try to time the noodles so that they’ve just had time to drain and the chicken/sauce is all cooked up. Drain the noodles and then put in a touch of butter to keep them from sticking but also to add some flavor. Top off the dish with capers or diced tomatoes or mushrooms or all of them!! Freshed cracked black pepper and seasoned salt will have those taste buds cheering with joy!!