Buffalo Chicken Wings

Plated and ready to eat!

inspiration: We love Buffalo Chicken Wings and during Super Bowl season, the cravings are stronger than ever! Since we don't have a deep fryer and also want to make these as easy as possible, after much trial and error, we found this method for baking the wings just as good, if not better, as the ones you find traditionally made in restaurants and bars.

ingredients:

• 36 raw chicken wings
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. cumin powder
• 1 tsp. cayenne powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup Franks Red Hot sauce
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (homemade or store bought)
• 1/2 cup Thai Chili sauce

method: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.

In a small bowl or Ball mason jar, combine the flour, garlic powder, chili powder, chili powder, cumin powder, cayenne powder, salt, pepper and stir to combine.

Remove chicken wings from their packaging and pat dry with a paper towel to remove any liquid and moisture. This will ensure the dry rub will stick evenly to the skin and also help the wings to get crispy in the oven. Place the wings in either a large bowl or a large freezer bag and add in the spice flour rub. Toss or shake to combine and coat the wings with the mixture.

In another very large bowl, big enough to fit all the wings, combine the Franks Red Hot sauce, barbeque sauce, and Thai Chili sauce to make the Buffalo Sauce that will coat the wings when cooked and set aside.

Place the wings, evenly spaced and fatty side up, on a large baking sheet.

Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the wings from the oven and while they are still hot, put the wings in the large bowl with the Buffalo Sauce and toss to combine, coating each one with lots of sauce.

Plate the wings in a large bowl or on a platter with Blue Cheese dip and enjoy!

entertaining notes: Chicken Wings can be made 3 hours ahead of time, left, covered at room temperature, and then reheated at 400 degrees for 15 minutes if needed.

Yields: 36 wings (serves about 3 people)

Spice rub in the blue Ball

Shake & bake!

The sauce bath

Spice rubbed wings ready for the oven

Cooked wings ready for a sauce bath

Eggplant Caviar

Uncooked eggplants

Roasted eggplants

inspiration: This fantastic classic Russian dish is great any time of the year.  We like it on a hearty black bread with sour cream and caviar or as a dip for veggies.

ingredients:

Eggplant meat has been extracted

• 3 eggplants, medium-large
• 3 - 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 - 2 large onions, finely chopped (about 3 cups)
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 3 - 4 tbsp. sugar (to taste)
• 3 - 4 tbsp. red wine vinegar (to taste)
• 1 cup cold water
• salt and pepper, to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp. dill, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp. parsley, finely chopped

method: Heat oven to 350°. Pierce eggplants with fork and place on cookie sheet and bake for 2 hours or until eggplants are soft and tender. Cut eggplants in half and scoop out meat.

Final plated Eggplant Caviar

Heat butter in a large pan and sauté onions on medium heat until nice and soft and almost caramelized, about 20 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another 5 minutes till nice and fragrant and add eggplant. Cook eggplant, onions, and garlic for about 10 minutes, while breaking up any strands with a wooden spoon, salt and pepper lightly.

Add tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, and water. Simmer for aprox. 30 minutes on low to medium heat till eggplant is smooth and fibers have broken down from heat and acid and water has cooked out slightly. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, dill and parsley. Cool and serve cold.

entertaining notes: Can be made ahead and stored covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Yields: About 4 cups.

Russian Vinaigrette Salad

inspiration: Classic Russian potato salad that gets a great pink tint from the roasted red beets. We love to serve this during the Holidays and particularly on January 7th for Russian Christmas.

ingredients:

• 1 cup onion, chopped (about 1 large onion)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
• 1 cup pickles, chopped (about 3 pickles)
• 1 lb. black forest ham, sliced thick and chopped
• 3 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
• 1, 15 oz. can peas and carrots, drained
• 3 cups cooked beets, peeled and chopped (about 4 medium beets)
• 3 cups cooked potatoes (yukon gold), peeled and chopped (about 4 medium potatoes)
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons dill, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

method: In a large bowl, add onion and lemon juice and toss to combine.  Let sit for about 10 -20 minutes so the lemon cuts the harsh onion flavor while you prep the rest of the ingredients.  Add pickles, ham, eggs, beets, and potatoes, mayonnaise, dill, parsley, and gently mix to combine.

As the last ingredient, add the peas and carrots and gently mix to combine (if they were added earlier they would get crushed).  Season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer into your serving bowl.  Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the flavors have time to marry.  It's best if you can make the day ahead so the flavors can fully develop.  Serve cold, right out of the refrigerator, and enjoy!

entertaining notes: The vinaigrette can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

Yields: About 12 cups.

Buffalo Chicken Puff Pastry Bites

Shredded chicken filling

inspiration: Everybody loves a good Buffalo Chicken wing! We wanted to make a tasty appetizer but nothing typical because sometimes you don't want to mess with the bone. We deconstructed the flavors and put them in a nice tasty puff pastry package.

ingredients:

• 1 package of puff pastry plus flour for dusting
• 1 whole chicken, cooked and meat fork shredded
• 2 cups Franks hot sauce
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeños
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 eggs for egg wash

method: In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, hot sauce, blue cheese, scallions, jalapeños, salt and pepper and gently fold together.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Dust counter surface and roller with flour and cut each sheet into 9, 3x3" pieces. Take each piece, and roll out till about 3/8" thick and approximately 4x4". Place the mixture into the center of each piece, egg wash along the edges and fold over to form rectangles and crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Place each one on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so they are crowded but not touching.

At this point you can do one of three things: cook them off, refrigerate for cooking later, or freeze for another day. If you are freezing, place the cookie sheet in the freezer and let them set for about 30 minutes before putting in a freezer bag so they dont stick together.

When ready to cook, egg wash the pieces (with egg and hot sauce for color and flavor) and place in the oven.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown.

Serve warm or room temperature and enjoy! These are also great served along side a blue cheese dip.

entertaining notes: These can be made ahead of time and frozen with the egg wash for about 2 months in the freezer.

Yields: Makes 18 puff pastry bites.

Rack of Lamb with Garlic Herb Crust

Nothing is more romantic than a Roast Rack of Lamb so for Valentine's Day we always splurge on the best we can find. We make ours under the broiler, add the crust and finish in the oven. This year we serve it with herb roasted potatoes and sautéed Broccolini.

Pop a bottle of Cava and enjoy!

Cider Glazed Roast Turkey

Mr. Turkey

before and after

inspiration: This Thanksgiving, we were delighted and terrified when we got our turkey and discovered it was 35 pounds.  It was like getting an elephant into a teacup - the turkey barely fit into our awesome new oven (the "Cadillac of ovens" as we like to call it!) but with lots of careful attention it turned out to be the best one we've ever done in our 10 years of Thanksgivings together!

ingredients:

• 1 fresh turkey (ours was 35 pounds but this will work for any size)
• 8 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 8 celery stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 onions, quartered
• 20 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
• 20 sprigs of thyme
• 10 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 cup parsley
• 20 leaves of sage
• 1 navel orange, quartered
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• kosher salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• 3 cups water
• 1 large cheesecloth
• butchers twine
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• heavy duty tin foil

method: The turkey was done in a few steps, but we think they were all necessary and worth the effort when it was all said and done.  First we brined the turkey, then roasted it, and then glazed it.  See below for brine recipe and glaze recipe.

1. BRINE One day before the dinner, brine your turkey (see below for recipe).  Make sure to remove the neck and giblets from inside the cavity and save for gravy the next day.  Also if your bird has one of those automatic thermometer thingys leave it in.

2. PREP the BIRD Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and make room in your oven for the bird by removing all racks except the bottom one.

In a large roasting pan, place half of the carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and sage in the bottom of the pan to form a "vegetable raft."  This will be what the turkey sits on while roasting and absorbing all those wonderful aromatic flavors. Pour the water in the bottom of the pan to keep the vegetable raft moist during the cooking process.

Remove your turkey from the brine and pat dry inside and out.  Season the inside of the bird with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  This will help season the meat from inside out.  Fill the cavity with the remaining carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, and orange.  If your bird has plastic around the legs holding them together leave in tact.  If your bird does not, then tie the legs together with the butchers twine.  Also, take the wings and fold them in back of the bird to keep them tight to the body.  Place your turkey in the roasting pan on the vegetable raft.  Drizzle olive oil on the bird to coat and massage into the skin.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Your bird is now ready to roast.

3. ROAST Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes until the skin in nice and golden brown.  Remove the turkey from the oven and drop the temperature down to 350 degrees.  Take the cheesecloth and place in the melted butter to saturate.  Completely cover the turkey breast and legs with the cheesecloth and pour any remaining butter on top to saturate.  Next, form a "breast plate" with the tin foil to cover the breast but leave the legs exposed.  Place the turkey back in the oven.  Cook the turkey 15 minutes per pound while checking and basting the cheese clothed bird every half hour (each time you will need to remove the tin foil to baste and place back on when in the oven).

4. GLAZE About 30 minutes before the turkey should be done, take the bird out of the oven and remove the foil and cheese cloth.  Take the cider glaze and brush the turkey to coat - make sure you get all nooks and crannies.  Put the turkey back in the oven for 15 minutes and repeat glazing.  Put back in the oven to finish for the last 15 minutes and glaze one last time.

5. REST Now that the turkey is glazed and has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees, place on the back of the oven, cover with more tin foil and let rest for about 1 hour till you're ready to serve.

6. CARVE and SERVE Transfer the turkey to a large cutting board.  Carve off the breasts, legs, thighs, and wings and plate and enjoy!

entertaining notes: Brine can be made a few days ahead and stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.  Vegetables for turkey can be prepped the day ahead and stored in zip lock bags.  The glaze can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated till ready to use.

Yields: Enough for an army!

Brine for Turkey

• 2 cups kosher salt
• 2.5 cups brown sugar
• 1 quart apple cider
• 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries
• 4 bay leaves
• 20 cloves garlic, whole
• 2 onions, halved
• 1 bouquet garni of rosemary and thyme

Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer till all the sugar and salt has dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool completely.  Place your turkey in a large cooler or your brining vessel of choice, pour the brine over the turkey, add ice and cold water to completely cover.  Let sit for 6-12 hours.  Remove turkey from brine and begin prepping him for the oven.

Cider Glaze

• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients except butter in a saucepan and reduce on high till about 1/4 cup.  Once reduced, slowly add the butter, and whisk to emulsify.  Set aside till turkey is ready.