Quick Tip: How to make crispy wings without a deep-fryer

I love (seriously, like have a love affair, love) hot wings.  They’re a Sunday dinner must-have in our house during football season, but I also know how bad they can be for you at restaurants. Thanks to a tip from a friend, I’ve perfected making healthy buffalo wings in the oven with that restaurant-style crunch, minus all the deep-fryer fat.  It’s simple:

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees (most package instructions say ~375 degrees, but I know better!)  Cook the wings for 10-15 minutes less than the package says (for the frozen wings I buy, that means about 35 minutes of baking time.)  

THEN (here’s the trick) — stick the wings under the broiler for 10 minutes on each side.  Voila! Crispy wings, no deep-fried fatness.

Enjoy!

3pm

Quick Tip: Healthy Morning Snack

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= Best snack ever!

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11am

Good Food in Virginia Beach (& Norfolk)

So I went on vacay a few weeks ago and while it was far too short, I have two requirements for a good vacation:

1. The food must be fresh, healthy and amazing — And luckily, I got a taste of some of the best restaurants in Virginia Beach.

2. And I must get to relax in good weather (but that’s not the topic of this blog, so I’ll spare you.)

Anyway, on to the best food in VA Beach…

This weekend I ate (and highly recommend):

One Fish, Two Fish: I ate the Sesame Seared Tuna which came with the most amazing wasabi mashed potatoes and a pineapple salsa that (while nothing special) was the perfect compliment for the dish.  Highly recommend this place. The atmosphere was relaxing but upscale, food was delish, the kitchen was open right in the middle of the restaurant which somehow makes the experience awesome. The wait was a little long but we had 10 people, no reservations and it was totally worth it! 

Catch 31: Typically I’m not a fan of hotel restaurants unless I’m staying there and it’s convenient. Catch 31 however wasn’t your typical restaurant in a Hilton. It was an upscale bar with lots of outdoor seating on the beach. (There’s a restaurant side too but the bar served full menu and that’s more my style.)  Brandon and I shared Oysters Rockefeller and the Tuna Poke. Both amazing but I have to say, my tuna topped the oysters and that’s a difficult feat.  Plus, there was this great kid band playing beach rock music (they were maybe 15 and surprising REALLY REALLY good - not like a kiddie band that you think it cute…)

Jack’s Attic: What a trip.  We drove around Norfolk Sunday morning for 30 minutes in search of a Chesapeake bagel I remember from a soccer tournament I played in there some 10 yers ago, only to find out that it had been replaced by a Subway and Norfolk as a city is basically shut down on Sundays mornings. So we had two options for breakfast: pastries at a coffee shop or follow the sign for “brunch”.  Boy, were we unaware of at we were getting ourselves into when we opted for brunch. The french toast at Jack’s was okay — could have made it better myself at home: French Toast Recipe) but the atmosphere was the real winner. We were treated to a fabulous drag show, that even the boys enjoyed (Corin and I was jealous of the make-up…I definitely need to get a lesson from those ladies!) And my favorite part of the casual Sunday breakfast turned major life event was the 20% off coupon the manager handed us at the end of our meal, welcoming us back.  It read: Here at the attic we accept everyone*. (*Except those who don’t accept everyone)  Amen to that!  

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1pm

Sweet Potato Hash Recipe: Mmmmm Breakfast Sides

I’m not a big breakfast fan. I blame it on my mom for making me eat pancakes for dinner so often (yes, Mom, I said it!) — GROSS!

In fact, if you’re ever around on a Saturday morning you’ll often here Brandon and Stephen telling me how gross they think I am for stuffing my face with things like BBQ, speghetti or cold pizza for breakfast.

But today, I’m going to enjoy breakfast because I’m spending the time (it takes a little while, so we should probably call this “brunch”) making the most delicious breakfast side in the world — Sweet Potato Hash (also delicious under pan seared salmon…but that will be a different post.)  Insprired by a potato hash recipe Brandon found in a health magazine by one of my fave chef’s, Robert Irvine. (His show, Dinner Impossible was one of the inspirations for this blog btw.)

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 TBL olive oil
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

How to make it delish!

1. Pre-heat oil in skillet to medium high (just before it starts to smoke)
2. Add onions & sweet potatoes to oiled skillet and toss to coat evenly
3. Reduce heat to medium and cover for 10 minutes
4. Uncover and continue cooking, tossing regularly until the sweet potatoes start to get golden edges and the onions are clear. (another 5-10 minutes)
5. Add spices, honey and lemon juice — toss and serve along side eggs, over toast, or under you favorite breakfast meat.

ENJOY!

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9am

Fried Green Tomatoes - more than just a great movie

I LOVE the farmer’s market and look forward to early May when tomato season starts, ever since I discovered the secret to amazing fried green tomatoes. You might think these are an easy to make southern favorite that just needs a little flour and hot oil - but once you try mine, you’ll never look at Grandma’s boring old greasy tomatoes the same again. The secret is in the marinade combing a southern favorite (buttermilk) and a cookout requirement (worcestershire sauce).

Here’s a Fried Green Tomato Recipe that will show grandma who owns the kitchen now:

Marinade

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 TBL Worcestershire sauce

Coating

• 1 cup flour
• 1 TBL cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

How to make the most delicious fried green tomatoes ever

(Did I mention they are awesome??? NOTE measurements are per large tomato, which will make a good side dish for two people)

1. Slice green tomatoes to 1/4 inch thickness (1 large tomato should get you about 5 slices)

2. Marinate sliced tomatoes for 2 hours (be sure to spread them out evenly so they are completely covered)  

3. Heat canola oil in large skillet to med-high (just enough so that if you drop pinch of flour it bubbles around it but doesn’t burn). Oil should be roughly 1/4 inch deep so that tomatoes will not be completely submerged.

4. Use double-dip method to coat each tomato with flour mixture and immediately drop into heated oil.  

5. Fry until underside is golden brown then flip. Fry on second side until golden brown.

6. Remove and let rest on a paper towel for 1-2 mins before serving along side chili ranch dip.

Let rest for 5 minutes before serving so they crisp up. Then, ENJOY!

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12pm

Smoked Chili Ranch Dip

This is one of those recipes that came about by me trying to figure out how to make buffalo wings good after I realized I was out of buffalo sauce (Whoops!) So, I raided by pantry and found:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 TBL onion powder
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika (The smokier the better so spend the extra couple bucks and upgrade from the McCormick on this one — for the record, McCormick spices are generally fine if you replace them every six months like you’re supposed to do with any dried spice)
• 1 TBL chili powder

Thoroughly combine, then enjoy on anything that you’d put boring old ranch on.  Some of my faves include:

• Grilled Buffalo Wings
• Fried Green Tomatoes
• Crudite (Yup, this is nothing more than a fancy name for a raw vegetable platter)

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11am

Light & Airy French Toast - Yum Yum!

Waffles, pancake, french toast & a cheese danish — sounds delish right? Or maybe your vomitting in your mouth from heavy, carb overload?  That’s how I usually feel about breakfast food so I have to be in the mood to handle it.  BUT this, ladies and gents, will have you craving breakfast every Saturday.

Ingredients for Delicious & Light French Toast

(All ingredients listed are per person)

• 2-3 slices of your favorite bread (I’m a big fan of Nature’s Own 12-Grain)
• 1 egg
• 1 TBL of buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 tab of butter
• 1 lemon (1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest & juice of 1/2 the lemon)
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• 10 blueberries
• 4 strawberries, quartered
• 1/2 tsp agave nectar

Making it delish

1. Pre-heat skillet or griddle to 300 degrees (med-high)
2. Combine berries, agave nectar & the juice of 1/2 a lemon, then set aside
3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, cinnamon & vanilla extract
4. Butter skillet
5. Coat bread with egg mix (typically 2 dips per side), immediate place on skillet and cook on both sides until golden brown
6. Place two pieces of toast on a plate, top with zest, powdered sugar and berry mix.

Enjoy!

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11am

Quick Tip: Perfectly Grilled Buffalo Wings

I’m a sucker for crispy, spicy wings but not a fan of the way restaurants cook them (in the fryer - Did you know that!?!?!?)

I’ve found the best way to to get crispy wings inside is to cook them under the broiler, flipping them every 15 minutes for an hour or so.  (Thanks for the tip Tom!)

However, the crispiest (and I’ll go out on a limb to say the “healthiest” wings) are cooked on the grill. 

Getting grilled wings just right is super-simple:

1. Pre-heat grill to high (~450 degrees) — this gets the grates nice and hot

2. Reduce heat to low and spread as many wings as you can fit across the grill

3a. If your wings are fresh - Cook on each side for 10 minutes, then 5 minutes and 5 minutes. (Total cooking time, 30 minutes)

3b. If your wings are frozen - Cook on each side for 15 minutes, then flip for 5-10 more each. (Total cooking time, 45 minutes)

4. Toss in your favorite buffalo sauce and serve with delicious homemade blue cheese dressing

Best Buffalo Sauce

Maybe I’m taking a cue from my girl Sandra Lee, or maybe it’s because I can’t eat anything as is, but there are two buffalo sauces I rotate between that are to die for:

Tangy

Combine equal parts Texas Pete Mild Buffalo Sauce with Cackalacky Hot Sauce.

Savory

Combine 1 cup Moore’s Buffalo Sauce with 2 TBL onion powder, 1 TBL garlic powder and 1/4 tsp sea salt.

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11am

Simple and Creative Halloween Treats

I always plan to go all out for the fun holidays, like Halloween. But them somehow, they sneak up on me and I seem to run out of time to plan.  So instead of trying to pull together anything creative myself, I figured I’d share some inspiration I’ve seen popping up across the web.  Below are some of my favorites:

Banana Ghosts - When I was little, banana’s and peanut butter were my favorite snack at daycare.  Forgot until I came across this recipe how delish banana’s dipped in just about anything can be!

Tombstone Cookies - These are a delish Halloween take on one of my all-time favorite deserts: Mud Pie.  And they’re almost impossible to mess up. Just follow the directions on a box of chocolate pudding, crumble up some oreo cookies, and write “RIP” from a frosting tube on your favorite cookie.  Mmmm! !

 Slimer Snacks- Remember those jello shots you used to make in college?  Well drop the vodka (or keep it if you like), mix a few different J-E-L-L-O flavors and drop in a few gummy bugs. !

Mummy Pizzas- Sick of the sweets? How neat are these mummy pizzas.  English muffins, a little red sauce, string cheese & your favorite veggie cut into the shape of an eye?  Who wouldn’t love these as a appetizer at this year’s halloween party?!

Eyeball Caprese - Looking for a healthy app for your halloween party? Go the fresh and simple route with a basil leaf, tomato slice, fresh mozarella balls & olives topped with a bit of garlic infused olive oil.  Delish!

Enjoy!

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8pm