Chicken Wings: Madison House Chef style... modified!

CHICKEN WINGS: Courtesy of Madison House Chef- modified a bit!

So, growing up my parents have always made some of the best chicken wings I've ever had. When I have asked them for the recipe it always seems so complicated- some frying, some baking, lots of steps! I end up just baking them with some spices and while they turn out edible, they are nothing to write home about. Last night I did a Pinterest search and found a recipe that not only got good reviews, but seemed easy enough even for me! Modified a bit- here is my recipe taken from www.madisonhousechef.com for chicken wings: 

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken wings

1/3 Cup Flour

1/3 Cup "Cajun Spice" Seasoning- this has salt, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic, onion, oregano, thyme and something called TCP in it; which are pretty much the same spices that the original recipe uses, give or take.

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the Flour and Spice in a large plastic zip lock baggie. Put 1-2 chicken wings in at a time and coat them completely. Shake off excess and place on a baking pan that you have first coated with oil. When all wings are coated and placed on the pan, brush with some oil or put a pat of butter on each one. Bake at 375 degrees for 60 minutes. Turn them over after 30 minutes.

These came out so nice and crispy- Almost as if they were fried! And the coating is absolutely delicious! My kiddos actually asked for seconds! I'm calling this a "Pinterest WIN"! 

Homemade Rice-A-Roni

Years ago I was on a frugal kick and bought the book The Tightwad Gazette. One of my favorite recipes in that book was for a homemade rice-a-roni mixture. I hadn't thought about that much in the past several years since I wasn't the one doing the cooking; until I was searching for a side dish for tonight's meal. We really didn't want plain rice and the only box mixes I had left were too spicy. So I grabbed the kiddos and whipped up our own!

INGREDIENTS 

4 cups rice

2 cups angel hair pasta broken into small pieces. 

1/2 cup parsley 

2 Tbspn garlic

2 Tbsn thyme

Mix all ingredients in a large container. 

To cook: add 2 cups water, 1 Tbsn butter, 2 chicken flavor bullion cubes and 1 cup of mix to pot and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Kefta with a twist

KEFTA WITH A TWIST!

In our family we enjoy a wide variety of cuisine- Italian, Korean, Lebanese, and more. One of my husbands favorite Lebanese foods is Kefta- like a spiced hamburger shaped like a big finger! Generally we make this and serve it along side rice and sliced cucumbers with some cucumber/yogurt stuff. Since we had just had that a few weeks ago, I decided to put a different twist on the Kefta tonight by making Kefta Zucchini Boats. While they didn't look like much, they were quite tasty! I also deviated from the traditional Lebanese version and incorporated a bit of Italian influence by adding Parmesan cheese. 

Kefta Zucchini Boats:

Ingredients:

4 medium sized green Zucchini, ends cut off and sliced once long-ways; scoop out the insides.

1 lb ground beef

1 egg

1 Tbspn Mint

1 Tbspn Tarragon

1 Tbspn Oregano

1/2 Tbspn Cumin (may want to use less per your taste).

1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese

Arrange zucchini on baking tray. Mix Ground Beef, egg and spices in a mixing bowl. Scoop meat mixture into the zucchini's to fill them. 

Bake on 400' F for 30 minutes then cover with tin foil and decrease heat to 350'F for the last ten minutes (10 min).

Serve with Rice Pilaf and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.