Baked Caribbean Jerk Chicken Wings

Over the summer, my brother turned us on to a great jerk seasoning and marinade. When Brian and I were planning our football-playoff-Sunday menu a couple of weeks ago (yes, we planned our menu), we decided to grill some chicken wings with that marinade.

And then I left the marinade at home. And we couldn't find it at either the grocery stores at the beach. And we already had two pounds of wings.

So I took to Pinterest to find a recipe. There were lots of options, but the thing that got me about this one is that the chicken is baked and there's very little oil. As the marinade came together, it smelled amazing - spicy, warm and sweet. They caramelized perfectly and by the time they came out of the oven, the meat literally fell off of the bone. We used two Habanero peppers (the recipe called for one) - they were definitely spicy but it wasn't overpowering. We put out some mango and pineapple salsa, but they were too good by themselves to add a single thing.

This recipe is absolutely a keeper - we're making them again for Super Bowl!

Ingredients:

• 2 scallions 
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme (about 1 tablespoon chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Habanero peppers, seeds and ribs included (definitely can use as much or as little as you prefer)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 onion
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 lbs chicken wings (we used only 1 lb. for this marinade - used BBQ sauce for the other pound - there was lots of left over marinade)

Method:

1. Coarsely chop the onion, garlic, hot pepper and scallions. 
2. Put vegetables into a food processor or blender and give it a few pulses until you get a sort of smooth (runny) consistency. Set aside.
3. Separate the wings from the drum sticks.Wash the chicken with some lemon juice (you can use lime or vinegar as well – about 3-4 tablespoons), rinse with cool water and drain. Pat dry with paper towels so the marinade can really stick onto the wings. Put chicken in a resealable, gallon-size plastic bag (we did 2 lbs. of wings and split them between two bags).
4. Pour 1/3 of the marinade on the wings and massage the wings with this lovely jerk marinade. Allow this to marinate for at least 30 minutes, before you place it into a 400 degree oven (middle rack).
5. After 30 minutes, remove from oven, flip the wings and return to oven for another 30 minutes.
6. The last 5 minutes, turn on the broiler setting and allow the wings to get a rich brown color with a sort of toasted edges. You may have to give them a flip to ensure all sides gets this lovely sort of charred look.

Source: Caribbean Pot

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

This recipe follows closely on the heels of my attempt to duplicate my brother Eric's lasagna - and it's a pretty close second!

Brian's mom is nursing a bum foot so we put this roasted vegetable together for them. Knowing a full pan would last them about a week and a half, we built the lasagnas in two 8" x 8" pans - we gave one to Sue and Kevin and kept the other for ourselves.

I'm not gonna lie - this is a fairly time-consuming proposition. I used exactly as much vegetables as the recipes called for, cut to the instructed thickness, and it took three cookie sheets to roast each vegetable. And the zucchini took almost twice as long as the squash and eggplant. That said, it's an incredibly easy recipe - it was perfect for a cold, playoff football-filled Sunday at the beach.

One more note - I wrapped ours well and froze it for about a week before we thawed and baked it for dinner last night. We like the cheese on top to be nice and toasty brown, so I baked it the entire time uncovered...and the top really dried out. I think, because the recipe called for no-bake noodles, they soaked up all the moisture from the cheese and sauce. No problem - I just topped it with some warmed up sauce before serving. It was filling, warm and comforting for a blizzardy night.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz no-boil lasagna

• Prepare a 13”x 9″  baking dish (or two 8" x 8" pans)

For the vegetables:

• 2 lb acorn squash, sliced thinly (other kinds like butternut and delicata squash would work, too)

• 2 lb zucchini, sliced thinly

• 1 lb eggplant, sliced thinly

• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme or 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

• salt & pepper

• olive oil

For the marina sauce:

• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 medium size yellow onion, chopped

• 1 medium size red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• salt & pepper

For the cheese filling:

• 15 oz ricotta cheese

• 16 oz mozzarella cheese, grated

• 8 oz parmesan cheese, grated

• 6 oz baby spinach

• 2 eggs

• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/8  tsp ground pepper

• salt, a pinch

• olive oil

Method:

Note - check out the original recipe for great step-by-step photos of the preparation and assembly.

Prepare the vegetables:

1. Preheat your oven at 400 degrees F and prepare your baking sheet for roasting vegetables. 
2. Slice squash, zucchini and eggplant into 1/8 inch thick and place them in separate bowls (no need to peel, unless preferred otherwise).  
3. Drizzle some olive oil, add 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, a pinch of salt and pepper in each bowl.
4. Coat sliced vegetables evenly and place each kind on a baking sheet on a single layer , making sure they don’t overlap or crowd too much (you don’t want to steam the vegetables, instead you want to dehydrate them and concentrate the flavor).  
5. Roast it in the oven for about 15 minutes (it took 30 minutes for my zucchini to roast).  Set aside when ready. 
6. When done roasting the vegetables, turn the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Prepare the marina sauce:

1. In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  
2. Add onions and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. 
3. Add red bell pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Pour in tomato sauce. Add dried oregano and basil.  Add salt and pepper, adjusting to your taste. 
5. Let it come to a boil and set aside.

Prepare the cheese filling:

1. In a bowl, save a heaping cup of mozzarella cheese and half a cup of parmesan for later.
2. Wilt the spinach on a pan with a little bit of olive oil (I used baby spinach so I don’t get the stringy stems).
3. In another bowl, combine ricotta cheese, the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Slightly beat the eggs and pour into the mixture. Add the spinach, nutmeg, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Assemble and bake the lasagna

1. On the bottom of the dish (**if splitting between two pans, divide all ingredients in two and prepare each pan identically), spread marinara sauce, just enough to cover the surface. 
2. Layer with lasagna noodles (note that the noodles expand they cook).  
3. The cheese mixture goes next, spreading evenly.  
4. Layer the vegetable starting with the squash, then zucchini and eggplant.  
5. Spread the marinara sauce over. 
6. Repeat the layering – noodles, cheese mixture, vegetable filling and marinara sauce. 
7. Top with noodles, then add the remaining sauce and dollops of the  remaining cheese mixture. 
8. Lastly, top it off with the mixture of mozzarella and parmesan cheese that was set aside.  
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes, uncovered (Check the cooking instructions of your no-boil lasagna). Leave it uncovered the entire baking time to get the cheese browned if desired.  
10. Let cool for about 15 minutes and then dig in!

Source: Eat Drink Binge

Hunter's Stew (Veal Stroganoff)

We have it on good authority that this is the traditional Hunter's Stew from The Student Prince in Springfield. Unfortunately, it's no longer on their new menu, so there's no way to know for sure.

It was a rich, comforting - and easy-to-put-together-on-a-week-night - restaurant-quality meal. Traditional or not, I'll definitely make it again!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. veal cutlets
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, cleaned and halved
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 2 C chicken stock, heated
• 1/4 C sour cream
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp. freshly chopped parsley

Method:

1. Heat half of the butter and half of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add half of the veal and cook 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper, flip over, and cook 1 more minute. Remove veal and set aside.
2. Add remaining veal and cook as above, Set all veal aside.
3. Heat remaining butter and oil in same pan. Add mushrooms and shallot. Season and cook 4 minutes.
4. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms and shallot. Stir and cook 1 minute.
5. Mix in chicken stock and cook 6 - 8 minutes over low heat. Meanwhile. chop veal into 1 inch pieces.
6. Stir in sour cream. Add in veal and any juiced accumulated on plate. Simmer 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve over egg noodles.

Almost-as-Good-as-Eric's Lasagna

I've written before about my love for lasagna and lamented both the absence of my Mom's recipe and my inability to replicate my brother Eric's version. So with a strong craving and more than two weeks' vacation looming, I got all of his tips sitting around his dining room table after Christmas dinner.

Friday morning I hit the grocery store and sent out a few texts and by 7:30 that night we had a nice little dinner party going; an hour later, we had all but polished off the entire plan. Success!

The most helpful tip was to use far less sauce than I usually would. This time, I used just one jar of sauce, when in the past I've used upwards of two full jars. As a result, the lasagna held together much better and you could taste the meat and cheese - not just the tomato sauce.

I think my Mom would have loved it and I can't wait to make it for Eric to try!

Ingredients:

• 1 box lasagna noodles
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used Classico roasted tomato and garlic)
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 2/3 pound hot Italian sausage
• 2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• 32 oz. container ricotta cheese
• A couple large handfuls of Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pepper

Method:

1. Line a large cookie sheet with paper towels; set aside.
2. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain on the prepared cookie sheet, laying each lasagna sheet out flat.
3. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a skilled over medium high heat. When the sausage is cooked through, push to the sides of the pan and add the ground beef to the center of the pan. Cook until beef  is cooked through. Combine both meats in skillet. Use a paper towel to sop up any excess grease, but do not drain fully.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg lightly. Fold in the ricotta cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella. Add pinch of nutmeg and black pepper to taste. Combine well.
5. Add a thin layer of sauce to the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Add a layer of noodles - my dish accommodated three noodles layed out the long way.Top with one third of the cheese then a third of the meat. Spoon over about half a cup of sauce - it will not cover the layer completely.
6. Repeat two more times, ending with the sauce.
7. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and the Parmesan over the top of the casserole.
8. Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes; remove the foil and cook 20 - 30 minutes longer, until the lasagna is hot throughout and the cheese begins to brown. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.