Ex-NFL Player is my guest cook, Grillin' up some Magic today!

Who would think that a young ex-NFL player would be able to cook and grill up food so darn good?!! I have the pleasure of having my good friend, Tommy D here tonight, who has agreed to spoil us with his own creation he likes to call, SPICY CONFETTI CHICKEN, because he puts so much in it, it is full of color, and is not only great for parties, but is a party in your mouth when you eat it!  It is so EASY, but so, so yummy!!  Hmmmm....cooking great must run in his family, as his grandma was a great cook, and his uncle is a gourmet Chef!!  Look for Tommy D's Tailgating Blog and cookbook soon!  Thanks, Tommy D, for the FUN, YUMMY food and for spoiling us!!

Tommy D working his magic!  First, he simply puts several layers of  long aluminum foil down on a big cookie sheet, places down the chicken, then tops with onions, hot peppers, and seasons them all up with dry seasonings~

                                      TOMMY D's  'Tailgating' SPICY Confetti Chicken!!




Depending on if you are cooking for a crowd, or just your family...just adjust the amount of chicken, vegetables, and spices accordingly!  This is a 'kitchen sink' recipe, meaning if you do not have what he has, grab something similar...besides it's coloring, that's why it's 'Confetti Chicken', you throw in what ya want!  Have FUN!   As Tommy D likes to say, "It's ALL GOOD!"




Around 12 pieces chicken- thighs, breasts, legs- whatever combo you want
1 large onion- cut in slices
Mazetta's Hot Chili Peppers- as many as you want
1 bunch of cilantro- chopped
(can add some sliced red pepper's in for more color too)
1-2 Tbsp minced garlic, plus some of it's juice from bottle- thrown in, here and there


NOW FOR DRY SEASONINGS~
Punch Ya Daddy and Slap Yo Mamma cajun seasonings- coat all chicken lightly (or any cajun seasoning can be used)...BUT DON'T really punch and slap your mom and dad, you love them!!  :)
Few dashes of cracked red pepper flakes
Steak burger seasoning, and hamburger seasoning- McCormick Grill Mates-  shaken over all
black pepper
salt


*at this point poke holes in chicken with a fork, so sauces can penetrate meat!


NOW FOR THE SAUCES~
Soy sauce- drizzled over
Worcestershire sauce- drizzled over
Japanese Ponzu sauce (a citrus soy sauce)- drizzle over.  *If you do not have, maybe drizzle a bit of  lemon or lime juice over~
Korean Bar B Q Sauce- drizzle over, more thickly (THIS sauce you want to go get! Gives it a great sweetness!)
Ginger paste- bits thrown in, here and there! (in your super market Asian section)

Up close pic of what it looks like after the first step Tommy D was doing in pic above!

Next, he pokes holes in Chicken with a fork, so sauces can get down into meat real good~

Now he's pouring on the sauces,  after chicken is poked full of holes!! :)

He then takes a basting brush and rubs in all the sauces~

After that you wrap up the chicken in double layer of aluminum foil and seal well! KEEP it on the cookie sheet and place it on grill on Med High heat, and let cook for an hour with the lid closed.  No need to flip or turn!  How GREAT is that?!

Just pulled off the grill, and opening it all up.  Lots of steam~SMELLS HEAVENLY!  We all can't wait!

Close up, before we devour!  EASY to NO CLEAN UP too!  Tommy D KNOWS his stuff, and YES, it WAS "all GOOD!!"

Spicy Thai Cashew Chicken!

HELLO!!  This is one of my family's FAVORITE dishes that I make!  It is spicy, sweet, crunchy and YUMMY!!  When I want to make my guys happy, I make this!  SO easy too!

                                                     Spicy Thai Cashew Chicken!

Serve over Jasmine rice!  This one is a WINNER!

2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken meat- cut into slivered pieces
1 Large onion- cut into big chunks
1 bunch green onion- cut into 1-2 inch pieces
6 jalapeno peppers- sliced into strips, keeping the seeds
1 Tbsp minced garlic
6 oz. bottle of oyster sauce- after you use, pour water halfway up in bottle (about 1/4 cup water), shake and add to dish (gets the oyster sauce left in bottle out, and you need the water in recipe :)
2-3 tsp sugar (We like 2)
1 cup whole cashews (added just before serving)
Peanut oil, or olive oil for stir frying  (about 3 Tbsp in wok at all times)

Serve over cooked Jasmine rice, so don't forget to prepare that according to directions~

Stir fry up the chicken, in batches, if needed.  DRAIN OUT juices and oil and put chicken aside, while you wok up the vegetables~  (can make this without wok:)

Put fresh oil into wok, heat up over med high heat, add jalapenos, toss around for a bit, then add all onions.  Stir fry those until cooked through but NOT completely...you want them somewhat firm.  Toss in the garlic, and cook another minute~

Add the oyster sauce, water, sugar and the cooked chicken you put aside. Toss well, and let chicken get rewarmed. Only needs about a minute!  As soon as you are almost ready to serve, throw in the cashews~

HAWK Family in my back yard!!

I KNOW, this is a food blog, BUT I can't help but share my Hawk family pics with y'all!!  They LIVE in a nest on our property, right next to our house!  They fly right past us, chase each other, perch in our trees, hunt right next to us and eat prey.  One has flown right onto the deck chair next to me, looked at me for a second, then flew off.  I know to watch it, as they could attack, but these guys seem so used to us, they seem more curious then anything else~  Just BEAUTIFUL creatures!

                     CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE.  THEY ARE HARD TO SEE~  

Fledgling chilling out.  He/she sat there for hours~

Think this one is dad...he perches on high points, and watches all the other guys~

Newly fledged...looking for bugs, anything that crawls~

Mom perched under nest at dusk, waiting for her babies to come back home~

This guy sat here for hours, and knew I was watching him/her, flew past me into a small tree and stared at me, while I looked at it with binoculars.  It was watching me watch him, THEN he/she flew onto deck chair right next to me.  This is the one I talked about above~  a bit scary, but THRILLING!

Mom or dad...Hmmm, don't know.  Seemed to be waiting on little ones to return home again.  Everyday at the same time; dusk.  CLICK ON PICS TO SEE ENLARGED!

Roman Chicken with Bay Leaves!

Wanted to make something TASTY, but healthy for Din-Din!  Went with my Roman Chicken with Bay Leaves!  We grill so often during this time of the year, food can get to feeling all the same.  Today, I cooked stove top, and I'm glad I did! YUM!  This Roman Chicken, as I call it, is a bit like Cacciatore, but without the tomatoes, and with loads of Bay leaves added!  I make this with Bay Leaves from my own Bay Leaf Tree...the REAL DEAL!!  I highly recommend you get one, as the leaves are so very superior to California bay leaves!!  LOVE this recipe, and it's SOOOO EASY!

My FUN Roman Bay Leaf Tree~ is looking like a bush, as we thought it died 2 years ago in a deep freeze, here in Texas, BUT it re-sprouted!  LOVE this tree!!  Use it ALL the time!

                                                    Roman Chicken with Bay Leaves!


10-12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs~ can make with skinless, but bone in chicken thighs, but add another 10 minutes to cooking time

2 medium onions, chopped
3/4 cup white wine, or cooking sherry
2 cups chicken broth
8 Bay Leaves
2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 tsp drained, small capers
1/2 tsp cracked red papper flakes
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
flour to 'lightly' coat chicken
3 Tbsp olive oil

Take around 10-12 pieces of deboned, skinless chicken thighs, salt and pepper them, then coat in a thin layer of flour.  In a dutch oven, put in about 3 Tbsp of olive oil and heat on medium high til hot, place in chicken thighs (will have to do batches).  Cook for about 4 minutes a side, then remove to a plate~

Chicken plated, and onions chopped ready to go into same dutch oven pan you just used to cook up chicken~

Saute onions and 8 bay leaves in the remaining olive oil til cooked through and onion slightly browning.  Add a bit more olive oil if needed.  BOY, you can REALLY smell those Bay Leaves!!  Wonderful~

Add 3/4 cup of white wine, or cooking sherry, and let reduce a bit.   About 3 minutes should do it!

Add 2 cups of chicken broth, 2 tsp dried oregano, 4 tsps drained, small capers,  1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp cracked red pepper flakes, 1 tsp sugar, salt and pepper to taste.  Add chicken back into pot and stir to coat.  Turn temperature to simmer, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes~ 

All done, but check for saltiness~ add more salt if lacking, or add more water and some more wondra powder if too salty~ if right, it's ready to be placed in a serving dish~

All nice and pretty, ready for the table, my hungry boys and hubby!

Plated~ serve with rice, over noodles, or with a side of Crusty bread!  (sauce really is great sopped up with crusty bread!  My boys also pick up the bay leaves and suck the sauce off of them...can really taste the bay leaves like that!)  Hope you ENJOY IT!!

CHEATING Corn Bread!

I have always loved corn bread growing up, and I'm always looking for a great recipe!  Have had it at several places, and it tasted almost like cake, it was that good~ WELL...turns out that's because most likely it WAS 'part cake'!!  Recently found a corn bread recipe, believed to be Disneyland's, that mixes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix with yellow cake mix.  HAD to try, but it did not give specifics on how to make, so I have tried different ways~  I think we have it down now, and I'll share!  WE LOVED IT!  From now on, we will be CHEATERS on real corn bread!!  :)


                                                 CHEATING CORN BREAD!

Take 1 box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix, 1/2 a box of yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, and  1/4 cup vegetable oil and mix well~

Pour into 13X 9 glass pan, sprayed with Pam~ Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until cooked through~

Cut your yummy pieces!!

All buttered up, ready to be eaten!  Enjoy!  SOOOO MOIST!

WALKER WINS! Wisconsin Governor AGAIN!!!

Governor Walker was brought up for 'recall' simply because the left didn't like him cutting the FAT from the budget and getting the budget balanced! The unions wanted their cake and to eat it too! The right 'cut up their teenage, cart blanche credit card' and they did NOT like it! This recall was an abuse! NEVER should have happened! CONGRATS GOVERNOR WALKER and Wisconsin!! I'll have to make up a dinner soon, using lots of Wisconsin CHEESE, OR grill up some "Wisconsin beer Brats," like Governor Walker said he'd do, just to celebrate!

Steamed Mussels! Thai Style!

My family LOVES Steamed Mussels and like to make them in all different ways!  Tonight we decided to go Thai Style!  This is pretty much a classic Thai recipe, but as with all Thai food, nothing is ever boring or bland!  Our taste buds are having a PARTY!!

                                                     Thai Steamed Mussels!

Saute3 Tbsp minced, fresh ginger in 2 Tbsp butter for 2 minutes on medium heat, add 4 tsp minced garlic and saute for another minute, careful not to burn garlic~

Add 2-3 tsp red curry paste, 2 tsp fish sauce, 3/4 cup chicken broth, and 1 cup coconut milk~

Throw in 3Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro, 2Tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 tsp sugar- to taste~

When sauce is hot, Toss in cleaned and 'debearded' mussels, taking out any mussels that were open , if they do not close when you try to pinch them closed~ Stir them in to coat and put a lid on pan and cook on med-low for about 5-7 minutes, stirring every once and a while~

Once they have all opened, transfer all to a nice bowl!  Throw away any that did not open~

NOW IT'S TIME TO GET DOWN AND DIRTY!  Your hands and the mussel shells are your utensils! (one of my triplet boys showing us how it's done!  :)  

Break off the side of the mussel that has the meat in it, and use that shell with the mussel, to scoop up all that great juice!  SERVE WITH A NICE, CRUSTY BREAD to sop up the sauce, as well!  The sauce is CRAZY GOOD!!

Tarragon Chicken Pasta Salad with Grapes and Cashews!!

School's OUT for Summer!!   First day of Summer vacation for my boys!  Already out and about, swimming and messing around, enjoying their 'FREEDOM'!!  They all wanted me to make my Tarragon Chicken Pasta Salad for lunch by the pool, so I happily obliged!  :)  This really IS a GREAT Summer Pasta Salad!  You should try it, I bet you'll love it!

                              Tarragon, Chicken Pasta Salad with Grapes and Cashews!

YUMMY!

A RedheadWhite&Food Original recipe~ Tarragon Chicken Pasta Salad, with Grapes and Cashews!

Cook 1 pound rigatoni noodles, strain, and cool down with cold water~

Make up the dressing with 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup parmesan from shake bottle, 1 1/2 Tbsp Honey, 1 1/2 Tbsp Tarragon, salt and pepper to taste.  Blend well~ 

Transfer cold noodles to a large bowl and add 1 whole bunch chopped green onions, CHILLED shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken (careful to remove all bones),  and 3 cups seedless red grapes cut in halves~

Mix in the Dressing, and about 1 cup cashews~

YUMMY!  I hope your family likes this as much as mine does!  Every time I make it for a party, I am asked for the recipe!  Make it, you won't be sorry!  :)

MY HUNGRY BOYS!!