Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

Delicious and easy to make. Can also use breast meat cut into nugget-sized pieces.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg (3lbs) chicken wings
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp Sriracha (or a little less) 
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 450ºF (=210ºC). Cut chicken wings to separate winglets from drumettes. Place in large bowl and sprinkle with cayenne, cumin, paprika, and salt, rubbing to get them well covered. 

Mix Sriracha, butter, soy sauce, and vinegar and drizzle over chicken. Toss to cover thoroughly.

Bake on a wire rack over a foil-covered pan for 35–40 min (or 20–25 if using convection oven).

Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Makes 4 servings
8g carbs per serving, 5g protein

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Cut cauliflower into pieces and cook in a steamer until tender, about 10 minutes.

Heat olive oil in small skillet and sauté garlic, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat

Transfer half the cauliflower into blender or food processor and blend on high. Add remaining cauliflower, one piece at a time, until creamy. Add garlic, Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, salt, and black pepper and blend.

Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Delicious stuffed chicken breasts. Reposed from this site.

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts
• 8 oz chopped frozen spinach, cooked according to package directions and squeezed dry.
• 3 oz feta, crumbled ( about ½ cup )
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• ¼ teaspoon salt, divided
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Mix the chopped frozen spinach, feta, cream cheese, garlic and 1/8 tsp salt in a medium sized bowl.

Cut a pocket along the side of each chicken breast: Insert knife 2/3 into the chicken at the thickest part, then cut along to the thin part, stopping before you cut all the way through.

Separate the spinach and cheese mixture into three parts. Roll and stuff into the pocket of each chicken breast. Season with remaining salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof pan set over medium high heat, then add the stuffed chicken, pocket side down. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip the chicken over.

Place the pan into the oven, and bake for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

One-Pan Parmesan Tuscan Chicken

An instant family favorite. Delicious and sauce, and healthy too! Adapted from this site. (We’ll have to check out more of her recipes.)

Makes 4 servings
8g carbs per serving, 44g protein

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breasts (or 4 chicken breasts)
• 1 tbs vegetable oil spread
• 8 oz sliced baby Bella mushrooms
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 tbs cornstarch + 2 tbs water
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• parsley (optional garnish)

Directions

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook in skillet in olive oil on medium high until cooked through (about 8 to 10 minutes a side). Once cooked, remove and set on a plate.

Sautee mushrooms, garlic, and onions in olive oil until mushrooms are brown and tender. Add the almond milk, Greek yogurt, garlic powder, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. Whisk occasionally until the cheese has fully melted and the sauce begins to boil. 

Mix the cornstarch with the water to create a slurry and whisk into the sauce. Once the sauce begins to boil and thicken, reduce the heat to low and add the chicken back to the skillet along with the sun-dried tomatoes. Simmer until the chicken is warm, approx 5 minutes.

Roast Chicken

A family favorite. Relatively simple, but no less delicious! Trussing the chicken is optional, but it does help it cook evenly.

Ingredients:

• 2–3 lb roasting chicken (= 1–1.5 kg)
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• 2 tsp minced thyme
• unsalted butter
• Dijon mustard (optional. serve on the side)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450º (= 232ºC).

Rinse chicken in cold water, then dry thoroughly inside and out. Salt and pepper inside cavity, then truss chicken with twine. Cover outside of chicken generously with salt, and add pepper to taste.

Place chicken in roasting pan. Bake untouched (don’t open the oven door!) until it reaches 165ºF 73.9ºC) internal temperature, about 50–60 minutes.

Remove from oven and add thyme to pan. Baste chicken with juices and thyme and let sit 15 min. Remove twine. Cut breast down the middle and slather meat with butter.

Stoofvlees (Belgian Beef Stew)

An instant favorite! A homey beef stew served on top of fresh Belgian fries. The "herb bouquet” (kruiden-tuiltje) can be bought pre-made in Belgian grocery stores, or easily made by tying together the herbs listed with string or in a cheese cloth.

• 2 to 2 1/2 lbs (= 900~1125g) stew meat
• 2 large onions, cut in half then sliced in thick slices
• 16 oz (= 475 ml) dark Belgian beer (about 1 1/2 bottles)
• 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 packet stew spices (kruiden-tuiltje)
• 2 laurel leaves/bay leaves
• 3–4 sprigs rosemary
• 2–3 sprigs thyme
• 1 clove (whole)
• 1–2 slices brown bread, liberally spread with mustard
• 1 splash balsamic vinegar
• Butter & olive oil (for sautéing)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Cut the meat into 1-inch-cube pieces. Season with salt & pepper. Brown meat in olive oil in a large dutch oven. Brown meat in small batches to avoid overcrowding the meat—try instead to get a crispy brown edge on each side of the piece. Let the brown crusty “crud” build up in the pan—this is where the flavor is!

When all meat is browned, pour a splash of beer into the pan to loosen up what is built up in the bottom of the pan. Then add butter, sliced onions, and garlic, cooking until onions are translucent.

Add remainder of the beer, browned beef, herb packet, and brown sugar. Heat to a simmer. Add bread slices with mustard. Leave uncovered until stew reaches desired thickness, then cover. Simmer a total of 2–3 hours, until beef is tender.

Remove packet of herbs. Add splash of balsamic vinegar and stir. 

Serve with or on top of fresh Belgian fries.

Giordano’s Pizza

Best attempt at replicating Giordano’s stuffed Chicago-style pizza. Still tweaking, but not bad. The dough is enough for one pizza (with trimmings left over). The sauce is more than enough for one, possibly enough for two.

Crust:

·     ¾ cup warm water

·     2 tsp active dry yeast

·     ¾ tsp sugar

·     3 ½ cup all purpose flour

·     ¾ tsp kosher salt

·     ¾ tsp sugar

·     ¾ tsp garlic powder

·     ¾ cup corn oil

·     3 Tbsp warm water

·     2 Tbsp butter (for pan)

Sauce:

·     2 (140g) cans tomato puree (fijne tomatenpulp)

·     1 (500g) box diced tomatoes (tomaten-stukjes)

·     2 tsp sugar

·     2 tsp kosher salt

·     2 tsp crushed fresh garlic (1/4 tsp garlic powder)

·     2 tsp garlic salt

·     3 tsp black pepper

·     5 tsp basil

·     2 tsp marjoram

·     3 tsp oregano

·     1 tsp parsley

Toppings:

·     400 g (12 oz) mozzarella cheese (sliced from a block or shredded)

·     Salami, pepperoni, spinach, etc.

Dough

Proof 2 tsp yeast in ¾ cup warm water, adding in ¾ tsp sugar. Allow to proof 5 min.

In the bowl of a KitchenAid, mix together flour, salt, sugar, and garlic powder. Add oil and mix with dough hook. Add water & yeast mixture. Mix with dough hook for one minute on low, using spatula to scrape bottom. Add water, one Tbsp at a time, mixing for one minute between. Do NOT over-mix! Allow dough to rise 4 hours.

Original recipe recommends keeping dough in the fridge for at least 24 hours, for better texture and flavor. If refrigerating dough, pull it out for 2 hours to allow dough to return to room temperature. 

Sauce

Combine ingredients and set aside. Do not cook. I’d recommend straining the sauce if necessary to remove excess liquid.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 450ºF (=232ºC). Remove 1/3 of the dough and set aside. Roll out remaining 2/3 of the dough to make a 15 inch circle (1/4 inch thick). Grease a 9 inch springform pan (or cake pan) with butter. Place rolled dough in pan and tuck it in to reach the edges of the bottom. There should be excess dough hanging over the top of the pan.

Cover bottom of crust with toppings (pepperoni, etc.). Cover toppings with cheese.

Roll out remaining 1/3 of dough as thin as possible. Place on top of cheese and gently pinch all the way around the pan to seal the doughs together. Cut several small slits in top layer to release steam. 

Pour two ladles’ worth of sauce on top and swirl around so that sauce covers over the slits. Add two more ladles of sauce. Use a rolling pin or knife to cut excess dough from rim of pan. If desired, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over the sauce.

Bake at 450º for 30 min. I recommend covering the crust with foil for the first 20 min to avoid burning. Remove when crust is golden brown.

Allow to sit 2 minutes, then serve.