Key Lime Pie

A true parrot head delight...

Char-buffed chicken wings

A few nights ago I decided to try and create Oscar's Pizza style chicken wings, or as they refer to them, Char-buffed wings.  What this terminology refers to is the way that the wings are finished on the grill giving them the charred appearance and flavor.  I can only assume that the wings are prepared very traditionally up until the point of grilling.  Something about adding the grill flavor takes the wings to a whole new level of awesomeness.   Follow along.

The first thing I'd like to mention here is how I like to prepare my fried foods.  By using the side burner on a gas grill, you can avoid smelling up the house.  Also, any splatter created by the frying process is outside on your patio rather than in the kitchen.  A simple hose or wipe down afterwards makes for an easy clean up.

I've prepped my wings by thawing and patting dry.  A fellow foodie friend of mine mentioned that brining the wings in a 1/2 and 1/2 salt and sugar brine would have made a substantial improvement.  In essence, the sugar absorbed by the chicken would make for a crispier skin created during the frying process.  I don't know about you, but crispy chicken wing skins sound pretty damn good.

As with any fried food, seasoning immediately after removing from the oil is a must.  I've chosen a BBQ rub mixture by Penzey's Spices called BBQ 3000.  It's a great all-purpose BBQ rub good for any, and I mean any thing grilled or smoked.  Next step, toss and baste with sauces and grill. 

In the picture above there are 2 sauces, Cookies sauce and a basic honey BBQ sauce.  Cookies is a great local BBQ sauce company from NW Iowa.  They make good all around sauces that are always a staple in my fridge.  The Wings-n-Things Hot Sauce is a buffalo style sauce that I have chosen to toss 1/2 the wings with.  I also mixed in a little Garlic Garlic by Tastefully Simple.  This stuff is great if you don't have fresh chopped garlic on hand.

After tossing the wings with the hot sauce mixture, place on the grill at medium heat.  Char both sides and you're done.  If you like your wings dripping in sauce, go ahead and toss again in more hot sauce.  This method will create what Oscar's calls Char-buffed double dipped wings.  To each their own.  Myself, I go for the double dip!                                                                     In the above picture of the grill, you will notice a sauce pot in the front portion of the grill.  This is a little cast iron pot and basting brush made especially for grilling by Sur la Table.  If you enjoy cooking like I do, check this place out!  They have amazing cooking gadgets and I might as well own their entire outdoor/grilling section.  The sauce pot came in handy for the honey BBQ half of my chicken wings.  You can place it right on a lit grill and have easy access for basting.  A big mistake people make when grilling with BBQ sauce is applying the sauce too early.  The sugars contained within the sauce will char and burn quickly.  Only apply sauce towards the end of grilling and keep a close eye so you don't end up ruining dinner.  Here's what the char-buffed honey BBQ wings turned out like. 

Also note the sweet corn.  It's not summer in Nebraska if there's no sweet corn on the table.  Nosh on!  Next up....Key lime pie.

  

    

Pizza

As far as I'm concerned, La Casa Pizzaria in Omaha, NE is my holy grail of pizza.  If you have never had it, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.  La Casa's style of pie is a thin crust neopolatin.  They also use a unique combination of romano and mozzarella cheeses.  I feel that I have duplicated their style fairly well except for one aspect, the crust.  If anyone out there has worked at La Casa or knows the dough recipe, please let me know.  Up until now, I have been using the Betty Crocker pizza crust mix, with some good success.  Tonight however, I am trying my friend Janine's family pizza dough recipe.  I am told this is a wonderful thin crust dough.  Sorry, no sharing of this recipe.  Janine makes me a secret spaghetti sauce and I can never compromise that perk.

La Casa's marinara sauce is about a simple as it gets, and not in a bad way.  All I do is buy a can of whole italian style tomatoes and blend them in my food processor.  Not a total puree, leave it a bit chunky.  I simmer slowly with salt, pepper, sugar and olive oil.  That's it.

For tonights pizza I am doing ground beef, onion and green pepper.  All I do for the beef is brown 1 pound of hamburger broken up very small, add Cavender's Greek Seasoning, salt and pepper.

I make my pizza on a Pampered Chef baking stone.  No particular reason why, I just love how things turn out on it.  Once the crust is laid out, prick a few holes in it so that there are no bubbles.  Bake for 5-6 minutes at 425, remove and brush with olive oil.

Layering the pizza correctly is key to achieving a La Casa style pie.  First a thin layer of sauce.

Next, both cheeses.

Add veggies at this point.

Finish with seasoned ground beef and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes on a low rack.  Towards the end, I broil for a minute or two to ensure a crisp topping.

The finished product.

Tonight's drink of choice....NorCal Margarita.  More about this little gem later.  Nosh on!

Next up....my take on La Casa style pizza

Jerk chicken and dirty rice

Maybe I'll use cilantro tonight?

The Weber charcoal grill is a must for jerk chicken.

Chicken drumsticks were marinated in Penzey's Spice Jerk mix, lemon juice, canola oil and honey.  Veggies are prepped for the dirty rice.  (Sorry, no pre-cooked chicken picture.  Raw chicken and my iphone don't mix.)

My lovely wife hard at work on the dirty rice.  She is a saint for cleaning up after me.  It's worth it though :-)

Apple and hickory wood chips moistened and ready to go.

Smokin'!!!!  Time for a drink.  Rum and cokes go well with jerk chicken, right?  

I tried a mixture of mustard, oil and the jerk spice mix on 2 drumsticks for kicks.

Letting the chicken rest for a few minutes before shredding and tossing with dirty rice.  I also mixed the rice and sautéed veggies at this point and scrambled in 2 eggs.

The finished product.  Where the cilantro finally came into play along with some Tabasco sauce. 

As you my gather, the only recipe used in this dish was that of the Zatarain's dirty rice mix.  I try to never go by a recipe whenever possible.  Like tonight's dish, most of my creations are first timers fresh from my mind.  Over time, some of my dishes have become or are becoming staples in my kitchen.  With those dishes, I will try and be more informative on the cooking process.  Nosh on!

Welcome

Hello.  My name is Matt and as the title states, I am a music fan and also dabble a bit in cooking.  Please enjoy my creations.  As this is my first blog, I welcome any and all feedback.  Thank you for stoping by!