Smokey Baked Chicken Wings

Some people are spouting on and on about "New Year, New You!"

I'm eating chicken wings.

And French fries. French fries that I deep fried myself. (But we'll talk about those another day)

Sure, I could spend January lecturing you all about "eating healthy!" and "turning a new leaf!" and "detoxifying your body!" But that's not my thing. We make candy here in the Wilde Kitchen. No date on the calendar is going to change my cooking habits!

To be serious though, these chicken wings are actually not terrible for you. They are baked in the oven and flavored with a spice rub and minimal oil and... THEY TASTE AMAZING! You seriously need to make these wings tonight. You need a bunch of different spices for this recipe, so you may need to hit up the grocery store for this one.

Go to the grocery store. Make these chicken wings.  Do it do it do it!!!

CTB 2014 - Giada's Family Dinners

We officially moved into our new house two months ago. It is only now that I've started cooking dinner. It's been a combination of laziness (after hours of renovating, take-out is awfully convenient) and kitchen inaccessibility (I literally couldn't get into my kitchen). What did I make for my inaugural recipe? No, it was not this chicken. I actually made oatmeal. In the slow cooker. Totally a low energy input meal.

I actually made this chicken at the old apartment, I just haven't had a moment to post it yet! Sorry for the fake out. I will be cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner this coming weekend and really giving my kitchen a run-in. Until then, it's been pretty easy recipes coming out of the kitchen - baked chicken tenders, soup, risotto. We are planning a major kitchen reno after the New Year and I don't want to make too much of a mess before then!

Even though I made this chicken dish at the old apartment, that doesn't mean it wasn't tasty! If you are looking for a quick and easy chicken dish, this one will fit the bill. This is definitely not a healthy chicken dish, what with all of the heavy cream, but we can pretend, because it sits on a bed of spinach.

This recipe comes from my collection of cookbooks. I realize that I have totally failed at cooking something from each cookbook this year. That is, unless I cook two recipes each day, until the end of the year. Not gonna happen.  Perhaps this challenge will continue into next year. Or maybe I'll just replace it with something else entirely. Something a little bit more creative...

One Year Ago: Apple-Cinnamon Dulce de Leche Sweet Rolls
Two Years Ago: Cinnamon-Walnut Butter & White chocolate peanut butter
Three Years Ago: Tomato and White Bean Soup
Four Years Ago: Stuffing Cupcakes

Chicken Florentine

Adapted from Giada's Family Dinners

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied in two
Salt and pepper
All-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 large shallot
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 (10-ounce) package, frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Coat in flour, shake off excess.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. Cook chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

In another large skilled, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook until shallots are translucent.  Add white wine and stir, scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Raise heat to medium-high and reduce volume by half. Add heavy cream and continue to reduce again by half.

Microwave spinach for 1 minute, stir, microwave 1 minute more. Add spinach to a serving bowl, top with chicken, pour sauce over top. Sprinkle the whole dish with parsley and serve.

CTB 2014 - Williams Sonoma - Pasta

Welcome to Fall everyone! I'd love to say that this recipe is coming from my new kitchen. Sadly, the only thing I have made in my new kitchen is oatmeal. And that was from the slow cooker! Our new house is a bit of a mess right now and dinner is the last thing on my mind at the end of the day. It's either been frozen food (prepared fresh in my oven!) or dinner out.

Looking at this recipe, I could totally throw this together at the end of a long day. It took no time at all to boil pasta and heat up the pepperoni and arugula. It would require a trip to the grocery store though. I don't know if I'm up for that right now!

I'll be sharing a more completed tour of our new house in a few weeks. Right now the house can be found under piles and piles of stuff. Not boxes, because we didn't actually put our stuff in boxes to move it. We kind of just tossed stuff in those reusable grocery bags from Wegmans and piled it up in the moving truck. Did I mention that we bought a townhouse that is less than a quarter mile from our old apartment? Such an easy move!

Hopefully soon I will be back in the kitchen. It is completely serviceable right now (I cleaned up the mess from the previous post), but there is so much more to deal with in the house! Plus, we are probably going to re-tile the floor, add a backsplash and paint the walls. A mini remodel is in the works for my mini kitchen!

Until then, maybe I'll make this pasta again. Quick and easy is the name of the game right now!

CTB 2014 - Williams Sonoma - New York

I have two full containers of corn meal in my cupboard. I was making pizza and bought some. Then I was making another pizza and bought another one. What's a girl to do with all that corn meal? 

Make fried polenta!

This stuff is so freaking good. It's a side that takes a bit of preparation, but it's totally worth it. 

I made a similar recipe many many years ago, when I was still in grad school. When I happened on this recipe in the Williams-Sonoma - New York City cookbook, I knew that I had to make them again. Especially since this recipe was classed up with mushrooms and mascarpone cheese. 

You should definitely make this for dinner. It's ah-mazing!

CTB 2014 - Marshmallow Madness!

I hate to admit this, but I haven't sat by a campfire in 4 years. The last time I sat with friends and toasted marshmallows was the summer of 2010. Weeks away from picking up once again and moving from Boulder, Colorado to New Haven, Connecticut, I just spent the day on the reservoir with my fitness family.

With the sun setting over the Rocky mountains, we settled into foldout chairs with fuzzy blankets and bags of marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey bars. I learned that the best way to enjoy a s'more is to stuff a Milk Dud into the center of a marshmallow before toasting it. Chocolate, caramel and marshmallow. So amazing.

Since moving from Boulder to the East coast, I haven't found myself in the presence of a campfire. You aren't really allowed to start fires in an apartment building. In order to fully enjoy this summer, I wanted to recreate a summertime treat in my kitchen. No fire required.

This s'mores cupcakes was the perfect way to reminisce, without setting fire to my kitchen. Though I'm not going to lie, there totally was a series of small fires when I made these beauties. Did you know that cupcake liners are flammable? When toasting the marshmallow frosting, be careful not to light the actual cupcake on fire!

CTB 2014 - Fat Witch Brownies

I'm sorry, I made you two desserts in a row! Last Thursday was a fruity and summery cobbler. Today you get brownies. Brownies that are filled with cream cheese and hazelnuts.

That's right. Cream cheese and hazelnuts. I'm absolutely terrible.

So what if we are all still trying to maintain our cute bikini bodies? We all need a little bit of luxury every now and then. Besides, it's the middle of August. It's time to start getting ready for cooler temperatures.

To be honest with you... I baked this batch of brownies, photographed the 3x3-inch bars, and then cut the large bars into four smaller, bite-sized pieces. These brownies are so rich, there is no way you would even want to eat a big slab of brownie. Bite-sized is the way to go with these.

Just be sure to toast the hazelnuts.

CTB 2014 - The Sono Baking Company Cookbook

What is the best thing about summer? Is it the lazy days spent at the beach? Maybe the long nights huddled around a campfire? Is it the picnics spent with family or brunches spent with friends?

Nope, it's not any of those things. It's fruit.

Plain and simple, summer is all about the fruit to me. I can do most of those other things at any time of the year. There are always beaches and brunches, but fresh and local produce is something that you can only get now. I've been stocking my counter with all sorts of stone fruits and berries since I saw the first white peaches at Trader Joes.

I like to make simple desserts during the summer with fresh flavors. I made this peach and raspberry crumble into single serve portions so that I could grab one from the fridge, pop it in the microwave and have a personal dessert. The boyfriend tells me that fruit doesn't belong in dessert, so I had this entire recipe to myself! He doesn't know what he's missing out on.

CTB 2014 - The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Two recipe posts in one week? This is crazy!

To tell the truth, I made this chicken to accompany the asparagus from Tuesday. Would I do that pairing again? No way. There was way too much sauce preparation that was necessary for both dishes. When I cook this chicken again (which I will, because it was amazing), it's getting paired with steamfresh vegetables from the microwave.

I will also remember that when I put pans in the oven, the handle of the pan also gets hot. I think that I need to buy one of these pan handle covers, because I always grab the handle and burn my hand. I don't do this to pull the pan out of the oven, I realize that it's warm at that point. It's after I return the pan to the burner and begin reducing the sauce. I'll grab the handle to rotate the pan and Yeouch! That's hot!

Burnt hand or not, this chicken was the perfect dinner. I always have chicken thighs in my freezer for some reason, so this is an easy dinner for a weeknight. Pick up some grapes and olives from the grocery store and you've got yourself a flavorful meal.

CTB 2014 - The Little Paris Kitchen

I can't believe that we are already in the final days of July! Where has this summer gone? Last summer was so different from this one. I was unemployed, enjoying a summer of job hunting and severance checks. Each day was long and filled with 6-mile runs, trips to Manhattan and working on my blogs.

This summer I'm working at a new company, traveling constantly and rarely getting into the kitchen. I'm so far behind on my 2014 challenge, I'll have to make something from two cookbooks each day just to make it by the end of the year!

In an effort to make a little headway on my Cook the Books challenge, I made dinner from three different cookbooks last week.  Today, we start off with the side dish - Asperges a la Parisienne from Rachel Khoo.

I first saw Rachel Khoo, on The Cooking Channel, years ago. Her simple and elegant way in the kitchen made me want to pick up, move to Paris, and cook in a tiny kitchen too. When I saw that she had a cookbook out, I knew I just had to have it.  The pages are filled with very simple and beautiful French recipes and some of the most pretty pictures around. She has a new cookbook out - "Sweet and Savory Pates." I'm tempted to pick it up, since this first book has been so perfect. Though I'm not sure how much pate I need in my life!

If you are looking for a simple and semi-light side dish for your dinner this week, pick up some asparagus and heavy cream. You probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry!

CTB 2014 - Williams-Sonoma - Italian

I always have three easy meals in my back pocket. A few things that I can always whip out in case of late hours at work or an empty fridge. These three meals are 1. Risotto, 2. Omelets, 3. Quiche. Any of these meals also acts as an "Empty out the fridge" kind of meal. To this end I always have Arborio rice, eggs and a pie crust in my house. Always.

Each recipe is pretty much the same. Brown/saute some items in a pan. Cook the main part of the dish (rice or eggs). Combine the sauteed food with the main ingredient and finish the dish. Dinner is usually ready in thirty minutes (22 if it's risotto!).

This week I made another quiche (I always made some omelets yesterday). Why? I didn't have time to go to the grocery store this weekend. Because I was busy playing in the park. Totally legit excuse.

What are your go to dinners when you don't know what to make for dinner?

One Year Ago: Funfetti Mallomars
Two Years Ago: Parmesan & Garlic Salad Dressing & Cranberry Salad Dressing
Three Years Ago: Mango-Lime Muffins

Quiche with Sweet Peppers & Sausage

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma - Italian

1 rolled, refrigerated pie crust
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 ºF.  Unroll pie crust and press into a deep dish pie pan.  Top with a piece of aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake pie crust for 8 minutes.  Prepare filling while the crust bakes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Lightly coat skillet with cooking spray. Add sausage and onions.  Cook for about 5 minutes, or until sausage is browned and onions are starting to soften.  Add peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes, until they begin to soften.  Add parsley, salt and pepper and stir to coat.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs.  Add contents of the skillet and stir to mix.  Pour egg mixture into the partially baked pie crust.  Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Pie crust should be golden on the edges and the egg should be set in the center (it shouldn't jiggle when shaken).

Slice into 6-8 pieces and serve.  You can go wild and grate some Parmesan cheese over the top!

CTB 2014 - Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook

Last week a few people at work asked me what I was going to bake for Easter. I replied - "Nothing." I don't really cook for holidays and you all know that a blogger bakes holiday foods way before the actual holiday. I was making Thanksgiving sides by Halloween. Christmas candy in late November. Valentine's day treat for Presidents day. But seriously, I'm not really a holiday blogger.

I may get lucky and make something green around St. Patrick's Day, like a salad, or whip up something patriotic around the Fourth of July. A good bet though, if you are in need of a holiday treat, you may want to hit up another blog! Holidays seem to sneak up on me and it's all of a sudden the week after Easter and I'm buying Cadbury mini eggs on sale at CVS.

This year I think I have an excuse. Of the past four weeks, I've been out of town for three of them. Maybe I'll start celebrating foreign holidays? Heading to London, Berlin & Sydney next month - time to research what English, German and Australian people celebrate in May!

CTB 2014 - La Tartine Gourmande

With all of this traveling, I definitely miss a home cooked meal. So does one other person - the boyfriend! After I returned home from my most recent trip, he complained that he was tired of trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I'm thinking of leaving him with a bunch of casseroles and freezer meals when I leave for my next trip.

Something that makes for a perfect make-ahead meal is a quiche. I'm a fan of fresh quiche, cold quiche the next day for breakfast and microwaved quiche for dinner later in the week. It's such a versatile meal too! Go meatless and add all of the vegetables from your crisper drawer. Make it manly and add sausage and hunks of cheese. The quiche is one of my favorite - Empty out the fridge - meals.

This quiche comes from La Tartine Gourmande cookbook, with a few minor changes. The recipe called for Jerusalem artichokes and I just couldn't find them at the grocery store. I'm pretty sure it was also supposed to be a frittata, but I don't have a large non-stick pan. I did however have a pie crust and no one is going to complain about a buttery pie crust.

One Year Ago: Granola Cookie Wedges
Two Years Ago: Cookie Dough Fudge
Three Years Ago: Cookie Dough Egg Rolls

Potato, spinach & asparagus Quiche with Cumin

Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande

1 pre-packaged pie crust
10 stalks of asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
Olive oil
1 cup packed spinach leaves
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
7 ounces Yukon gold potatoes, sliced thin
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon cumin

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Roll out pie crust into a deep-dish pie pan.  Line pie shell with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake pie crust for 10 minutes.  Begin preparing vegetables while the pie crust bakes.  Let it rest on a wire rack while you finish prepping the veggies.

Blanch asparagus in boiling water for 2 minutes, until they are bright green.  Drain water and rinse with cold water.  Place in a large bowl while you prepare the remaining vegetables.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add spinach and cook until wilted.  Remove and add to the bowl with the asparagus.  Add 1 tablespoon more oil to the pan and add red onion.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are softened.  Add the potatoes and spread evenly over the pan.  Add 1/2 cup of water and cover with a lid.  Cook for 15 minutes, remove lid.  Cook until potatoes are tender.  Add contents of the pan to the asparagus and spinach.

Add eggs and cumin to the vegetables and stir to combine.  Pour vegetables and eggs into the pre-baked pie crust.  Place in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the center of the quiche is set and no longer eggy.  Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Wrap the quiche tightly.  Quiche re-heats really well and will be a great meal for the rest of the week.

CTB 2014 - The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Sorry I've been AWOL for the past week or so. I've been crazy busy with my new job and haven't had the energy to do any more computer work once I get home. I'm so excited to share that I just passed my three month anniversary at my new job and I am officially a regular, full-time employee!  I have all those regular employee perks, like paid time off, snow hours and holidays.  Though I don't think I'll be using my time off anytime soon.

CTB 2014 - Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

I have owned a slow cooker for at least the past ten years. The majority of recipes that I've made in it? Oatmeal. I once made white hot chocolate in the slow cooker. We had a cookie exchange and I decided white hot chocolate would be super festive.  It was not popular. Anyways... I've only recently taken to using the slow cooker for other, more time saving purposes.

CTB 2014 - The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook

I have a problem.  A cookie dough problem.

CTB 2014 - All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

I have been promising and promising my friends that I would post more healthy dinner options to WITK this winter.  But you know what, desserts are way more delicious.  In order to prove to you (and my family and friends) that I eat more than just cupcakes and cookie cakes, I made you some dinner.

I was totally unsure of this recipe when I original chose it for my Cook the Books challenge recipe for the "All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook. The thing is, I had both leeks and cabbage in my fridge, because you never go through an entire head of cabbage in one recipe.  They should try breeding smaller cabbages, maybe cute little square Japanese cabbages. (What, you know you've seen these rectangular watermelons from Japan!)

With my uncertainty put to the side, this dinner came together so quickly!  That's what happens when you are just cooking two sausages, some pasta and leafy vegetables.  Dinner in twenty minutes  BOOM!  You're welcome.

And sorry, this isn't a very romantic, February 14th kind of dinner!  Happy Valentine's Day!

One Year Ago: Chipotle CopyCat Recipes
Two Years Ago: Chocolate-Peppermint Marshmallows
Three Years Ago: Homemade Butterfinger Bars

Whole Wheat Pasta with Cabbage & Leeks

This dinner was quick, simple and really delicious.  The boyfriend, who really dislikes cabbage, ate this pasta without complaining!  He actually said it was a nice change from a tomato or cream-based pasta sauce.  Just be sure to get some good fontina, I used a Dutch fontina.

1 pound uncooked whole wheat penne
Olive oil
4 ounces sweet Italian sausage
2 cups chopped leeks
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta for about 9 minutes, until just before al dente.

While pasta water comes to a boil, prepare sauce.  Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Remove sausage from the casings and cook for about 2 minutes.  Break up sausage into crumbles.  Add leeks and stir, cook for 2 minutes.  Add cabbage and stir, cook for another 2 minutes.  Add chicken broth and black pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain pasta and add to the sauce, toss to coat.  Cook for about 2 minutes, or until pasta is completely al dente.  Remove from the heat and stir in fontina cheese.  Serve while hot!

CTB 2014 - The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg may have rapped about them in Lazy Sunday, but any New Yorker worth their salt knows to skip Magnolia's cupcakes and head for their dessert case.  The only thing you should even think about picking up from the Magnolia Bakery is their Banana pudding.

CTB 2014 - Nigella Express

I have been meaning to post some more savory items on the blog recently, but the early sunsets really hamper my endeavors at photography.  I'm thinking I need to invest in some new lights.  I've also been planning on sharing some healthy dinner items with you, today I totally failed.

Today I made you the quickest, easiest and baconiest chicken ever.  I guess that's what happens when you fry chicken in bacon grease and then pour crumbled bacon over it.

Healthy?  Probably not.  Delicious?  Totally.  You know you want to make this for dinner.  Do it do it do it!


One Year Ago: Pasta with sausage & butternut squash
Two Years Ago: Soft Pretzels
Three Years Ago: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Mousse Entremet

Bacony Chicken

Adapted from Nigella Express

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
4 strips bacon
2 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
1/3 cup white wine

Heat olive oil in a medium-high skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add bacon and fry until crisp, remove bacon from the pan and wrap up in foil.

Fry chicken in the olive oil and bacon grease, about 2 minutes per side.  Once chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, remove to your serving plates.  Crumble bacon in the pan and add white wine, cook until slightly reduced.  Pour over chicken and serve!

CTB 2014 - Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie

I have a new favorite dinner - Chicken Pot pie.

CTB 2014 - Momofuku Milk Corn Cookies

It's time to get started on this 2014 challenge of mine!  The first cookbook in line?  Milk by Christina Tosi.  Why did I decide to go with this recipe first?  I really wanted cookies.