Buffalo Wings

Haven't posted in a while! So here's a recipe that has some spice :) It is football season and buffalo wings are a huge hit for game time snacks. Hope you enjoy my personally written recipe! Please comment and let me know what you think or would like to see next:)

Ingredients:

~ 2-4 lbs chicken wings
- Bottle of your favorite buffalo sauce (I used Billiard's)
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup white corn meal
- Vegetable/Canola oil (for deep frying)
- salt
- lemon pepper
- paprika
- granulated garlic
(season by eye)

Directions:

1. Take either a large pot, a large deep pan, or a deep fryer if you have one and begin to heat the oil on low for now. Make sure it's deep enough to deep fry and completely submerge each wing. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

2. Separate the wings, they'll come whole, you'll want to take the end off and trash the smallest end part. Easiest way to do this is to just rip them with your hand at the joint, then use a knife if the skin or meat won't tear.

3. In a large bowl crack the 4 eggs and add a bit of salt, lemon pepper and paprika (by eye, to give color) Whip the eggs and submerge your wings in your egg wash.

4. In another bowl combine flour and corn meal (stir a bit to integrate the two) and add a bit of paprika and garlic into the mix. (just a sprinkle).

5. After the wings have been covered in the egg wash next step is to coat them in your breading, fully cover each wing and set it aside.

Breaded wings before cooking 

6. To test oil just drop a bit of leftover breading mix and see if it reacts. Once the oil is ready carefully drop wings into the oil (use tongs so the oil doesn't splatter). Wings should take about 10 minutes to cook, be very attentive and check often.

7. When the breading is golden brown carefully remove each wing with tongs onto a plate lined with paper towels to drip off grease.

After cooking, before the sauce

8. Take a deep bowl and heat a bit of your buffalo sauce in the microwave for about 30 seconds until warm, toss a few wings at a time in your sauce to completely cover the wings and place in an oven safe baking pan.

9. Once all your wings have sauce on them, put them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes to heat up a bit and to really sink the sauce's flavor into the breading. Serve with ranch/blue cheese and any other sides you'd like!

Chicken Parmesan

My family really enjoyed my chicken parmesan tonight and I hope you guys do too :) Wrote the recipe myself with no adaptations!


Ingredients:

For the chicken:
- 2.5 lbs of chicken breast tenderloins
- 2 cups plain breadcrumbs
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 mozzarella cheese

For the sauce: (same as my spaghetti sauce, again all estimate measurements as far as seasonings)
- 2 cans Hunts tomato sauce (30 oz)
~ 3 tbsp water
~ 3 tbsp olive oil
~ 2 tsp salt
~ 2 tsp ground pepper (white or black)
~ 2 tbsp garlic powder
~ 2 tbsp ground Spanish paprika
~ 1 tbsp oregano
~ 1 tbsp basil
~ 1 tbsp sugar

Sides:
I suggest to serve the chicken over a bed of spaghetti and a side of broccoli!
-1/2 pkg angel hair pasta (about 4 oz)
~ 3 cups frozen broccoli
       ^ seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon juice


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°
2. In a medium bowl combine the eggs, garlic powder, salt, and pepper beat the eggs completely.
3. Soak the chicken in the eggs until completely covered.

4. In a shallow pan (I used a pizza pan) mix together the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, take the eggs from the egg mixture and cover them in bread crumbs. pat the chicken to make sure the breadcrumb mixture has stuck. Repeat with the rest of the eggs and place in a pan, bake at 450° for 20 minutes.

Before going into the oven, sprinkle a bit more breadcrumbs for extra crisp!

5. In the meantime, combine all sauce ingredients in a small pot and stir occasionally over low-medium heat. Get the spaghetti and the broccoli going! (A good tip for the seasonings is if you can't see that it's seasoned add a bit more and taste it often to your liking!)

6. Once the 20 minutes is up carefully take the chicken out of the oven and spoon a bit of the sauce over each chicken breast, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over all of them as well, continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted!

7. Use the rest of the sauce to mix into your spaghetti! Mix it well and use it as the bed of your chicken parmesan. Enjoy :)

*plating suggestion :)

Mexican Style Rice

I absolutely loooveee Mexican style rice, I was looking around at a few different recipes then decided to combine 2 and make my own which turned out delicious! Tonight was the first time making it and it was a huge success!

Ingredients:


3 tbsp canola/vegetable oil
1/4 of a medium white onion (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 1/2 cups of rice (uncooked)
2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce (I used Hunt's, it'll always be my favorite)
a dash of ground cumin
2/3 tbsp taco seasoning


Directions: 


1. In a large/deep pan (make sure you have a lid for whatever pan you use!) heat the oil on medium high heat, add in the onions and sautee for about 2 minutes or until softened (but not brown)
2. Add in the uncooked rice and sautee for about 2 minutes or until the rice gets a bit of a golden glow, add in the garlic and stir for another minute
3. Lower the heat and stir in the broth and tomato sauce. Cover and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
4. After the 20 minutes stir for a bit and add the dash of cumin (make sure it's a very small amount, cumin is very powerful) and the taco seasoning. Enjoy! :)a

Empanadas De Carne

Every Latin country has their own version of the empanada, and being from Argentina this is one of my favorite dishes! Empanadas are tasty, fun to make, and easy to take on the go! This is my family recipe for meat filling which is awesome in empanadas and can also double as a filling for Sheperd's pie (pastel de papa). Please let me know in the comments how you like this and what else you'd like to see from my blog in the future! :)


Ingredients: (makes about 4 dz)

- whole white onion finely chopped
- whole green or red bell pepper finely chopped
- 5 large eggs
- 2.5 lbs ground beef (85% -90% lean)
- 1 cup halved green pimiento stuffed olives
- 4 dozen Goya empanada shells for baking

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 420°, leave the frozen empanada shells out to defrost while you make your filling.
2. Put 4 of the large eggs to boil, set the 5th egg aside (it will be your egg-wash)
3. In a large and deep skillet saute the onion and bell pepper in some olive oil until the onions are beginning to get a golden glow.

4. Once the onions and bell peppers are ready, add the ground beef and stir until the veggies are fully incorporated and the meat is fully cooked.  (if the mixture seems a little greasy you can drain some oil, but make sure the mixture is still juicy!)

5. After they're done boiling, peel and chop the eggs and add them to the meat along with the olives and fully incorporate that as well.

finished filling!

6. When the filling is finished cooking put it in a bowl and let it cool in the freezer until completely cool, in the meantime lay out the empanada shells on the counter (should be thawed out by now). I like to saran wrap my counter for sanitation and easier clean-up!

7. Fill a small mug about halfway with warm water and get your filling out once cooled. 

8. Dip your finger into the warm water and moisten the rim of an empanada shell and spoon about a tablespoon of filling into the middle of the shell, close the empanada and make sure you seal the edges very tight! Repeat with every empanada

Get creative with the way you close it!
 Beginners can use a fork to press it
 down making sure it's fully closed.

9. Spray a little non-stick spray on a cookie sheet and arrange your finished empanadas on the pan, beat the last egg and lightly brush it over each empanada.
10. Bake on 420° for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy! :)

Let them cool a bit and enjoy, really great hot or cold and as leftovers!

Reese's Cupcakes

If you love Reese's peanut butter cups, you'll love these cupcakes. I cannot take the credit for these though, my friends asked me if I could make a Reese's cupcake so I pulled up a google search and came across these! It's a chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Enjoy! :)

make sure to top it with some actual Reese's!

Chocolate Cupcakes:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

2. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.

3. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla, mix until smooth (about 3 minutes)

4. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and fill each muffin cup 3/4 full bake for about 22 minutes and let cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

6 oz cream cheese

1/3 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until pale and fluffy. 

2. Add salt and peanut butter to the mixture and beat, later beat in the vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed whisk cream until medium stiffness.

4. Fold the cream into the peanut butter mixture until completely incorporated and creamy.

5. When cupcakes are completely cool frost your cupcakes however you like and add a piece of Reese's candy on top!

***make sure you eat these in 2 days, the frosting doesn't hold for long! Even when refrigerated! 

Hearty Meat Sauce!

I come from an Italian background with family members who put "Ragu" or "Prego" to shame! This is my personal adaptation of a family sauce, the true true recipe is top secret ;)  hopefully you can alter it and enjoy it with your family :) I recommend angel hair pasta, that's my favorite but of course you can use your favorite kind of pasta!

in it's lovely finished form, serves about 4!

Ingredients:
(normally when I make this I eyeball just about everything, all measurements are estimates)

~ 22 oz  Hunt's tomato sauce (about 1.5 cans)
- 1 pound ground beef (I like it about 90% lean and 10% fat)
- 1/2 pack angel hair pasta (about 8oz)
- Parmesan cheese (as much as you'd like, to taste)
~ 3 tbsp water
~ 4 tbsp olive oil
~ 1/4 tsp salt
~ 1 tsp of ground black pepper (some may prefer white pepper, both work)
~ 1 tsp granulated garlic
~ 1 tbsp ground Spanish paprika
~ 1 1/2 tsp oregano
~ 1 1/2 tsp basil
~ 1 tsp sugar (very key ingredient!)

Those are the best measurement I could really do, remember you can season to taste until you really enjoy it!

Directions:

1. bring a pot of give or take about 6 cups of water to boil, when the water begins to boil pour in the pasta and 2 tbsp of the olive oil into the pot, leave uncovered and stir occasionally

2. Brown the ground beef in a large sauce pan (the sauce will be thrown in) and season it with just a bit of salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic. When the meat is cooked (make sure it's well done, it's very hazardous to eat even medium well ground beef).

3. Open the can of sauce and stir into the beef at about medium heat, when it begins to almost boil stir in all spices, water and the remaining 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Keep the pot on medium heat and stir occasionally

4. Once the pasta is cooked al dente (firm to the bite when tasted) carefully drain the pasta and pour into a serving dish and  just pour the sauce over the pasta. Top off with some shredded Parmesan cheese to your liking and serve, don't forget the garlic bread!

Hope you enjoyed this recipe, comment and let me know how you like it! :)

Dulce De Leche Bon Bons

I love these little things, I learned to make them in the 1st grade with my grandma, they're deliciously sweet and easy to make! Only 3 ingredients and they'll be gone before you know it :)

Ingredients:


1 box Nilla Wafers (11oz)
1 can "La Lechera" Dulce De Leche (13.4oz)
Shredded Coconut (not much just the smallest packaging you can find)


Directions:


1. Crush the entire box of Nilla Wafers into crumbs, Have fun with this! Tie the bag in a bag and play with it,  slam it against the wall, play volleyball... anything! Crushing it in a bowl with your hands does work but it's pretty painful and time consuming. 
2. Get a plate ready with the shredded coconut, you'll be rolling the bon bons in it.
3. Once all of the cookies are completely crushed, dump them into a big bowl and mix in the whole can of dulce de leche, mix a bit with a spoon to kinda coat it with cookies, then with your hands (this is where it gets messy) 
4. Once it's completely mixed, you'll know because it'll be a big ball of of the mixture, start making little balls out of it by rolling little pieces in your hands, roll in the coconut and set aside. Repeat with the whole mixture and voila! 


Might want to hide some before they all disappear ;)