Spicy Chicken Rub

Ayo. Lucy is stepping down for one blog post to let me test my feet in the water. Whenever Lucy and I cook meat, I'm put in charge. Everything I know about cooking meat, I learned from my dad. We don't have a grill, which is sad when it comes to cooking meat, but we make do. Lucy showed me this recipe and told me what to do, and 12 minutes later we had what might have been the best chicken I have ever eaten.


The recipe called to flatten a chicken breast to about 1/2" thick, but I'm lazy so I cut the breast in half. And our hammer has a bunch of metal shards on it from hammering nails, not chicken.


In a bowl, melt a tablespoon of butter. In a separate bowl, combine the following:

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Coat each of the cut chicken breasts in the butter, and cover in the seasonings. Throw in salt if you feel necessary, but honestly you probably won't need it. This rub has a real kick to it.

Once both sides of the chicken breasts are coated in the rub, put each breast in a pan heated on medium with a bit of oil on the oven. 

Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, until each side is golden brown. Call your mother and apologize since she thinks she made the best chicken you have ever eaten. Awkward.

Enjoy. Damnit, enjoy!














This recipe was adapted from joyfulabode.com

Grilled Turkey Meatballs

Paul and I have been in the mood for meatballs lately, and we finally got around to making some last night.  Since it was a last minute decision, we couldn't make our usual crock-pot meatballs. So, we decided to grill some on our stovetop. We were really impressed with how good the grilled ones were and will definitely make these again!


1 1/2 lb. Ground Turkey
1 Egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1/4 Cup Onion, diced1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
1 1/2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds
2-3 Tablespoons Sriracha Sauce (Of course Paul and I used 3!) 
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt


*Will make approx. 18-20 meatballs.

Combine all ingredients together and mix well with hands.

Form meatballs with your hands (about 2 tablespoons per meatball).

Spray grill grid with cooking spray and set over medium/high heat.

Grill meatballs until they are cooked through, turning about every 6 minutes.  Will take about 30 minutes total.

Top with sesame seeds, and serve hot.

ENJOY!!

Fake Shake Shack Burger Sauce

Never having been to Shake Shack, I still somehow always heard all about it (usually from Paul).  Every couple months or so Paul will go on about how good Shake Shack is, and that I have to try it.  Since there is not one anywhere close to us, we decided to try and bring it to our kitchen.  Paul handled the burgers, while I tried to master the sauce... a sauce that I have never even tried. Fortunately, it all turned out really well!  If you have been to Shake Shack, I am not guaranteeing that this sauce will taste just like the real thing. However, I can promise that it is delicious.


1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
4 slices kosher dill pickle
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
pinch cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in blender, until smooth.

Recommendation: Dip fries in the sauce :) 

ENJOY!!

Recipe originally posted on momofukufor2.com

French Dip Crescents

It's time to finally post a Pinterest recipe.  How could I not?  There are so many delicious recipes on that site!

2 Package Crescent Rolls
1 Pound Deli Roast Beef
4 Ounces Swiss Cheese, cut into 16 equal pieces
Horseradish Sauce (optional)
Au Jus for dipping- we used Johnny's French Dip Au Jus


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Unroll crescents onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Put a small dab of horseradish on each crescent.

Place a slice or two of roast beef along with a piece of cheese on each crescent.

Roll crescents, starting from the wide end.

At this time we started making the Au Jus.  Johnny's was simple to make. All it entailed was boiling it with water for 10 minutes.

Bake the crescents for about 12-14 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

This made for an easy weeknight dinner.

Enjoy!!

This recipe was originally posted on mamalovesfood.com

Baked Chicken Nuggets

We bread and bake asparagus so often, that it was time to venture out and try something new to bake. I think we made a wise decision to start with chicken nuggets!

Bonus...it's a healthy option!


16 oz (2 large) skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into even bite size pieces
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
6 Tablespoons Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Panko Breadcrumbs
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
2 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil Spray

This recipe also works with italian seasoned bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Put the olive oil in one bowl and the breadcrumbs, panko, italian seasoning and parmesan in another.

Put the chicken in the bowl with the olive oil and mix well so that the olive oil evenly coats all of the chicken.

Take the chicken, one piece at a time, and place into the breadcrumb mixture to coat.

Place the chicken on the baking sheet and lightly spray the top with olive oil spray.

Bake 10 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 4-5 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

What's better than a grilled cheese sandwich? Of course it involves adding jalapenos!

2 Jalapeno Peppers
2 Slices Sourdough Bread
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 Tablespoons Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Jack and Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 Tablespoon Tortilla Chips, crumbled

Cut and seed Jalapeno Peppers in half, lengthwise.

Place the peppers on a baking sheet with the cut side facing down. Place the baking sheet on the top shelf in the oven and broil until the outer layer of the skin is blackened, about 10-12 minutes. 

Place the peppers in a zip-lock bag. Let them cool until you can handle them, about 15 minutes. 

Remove the skins from the peppers.  The skins should easily come off.

Butter the outside of each slice of bread, and spread the cream cheese on the inside.  Sprinkle half of the shredded cheese followed with the jalapenos and crumbled tortilla chips.

Top with the remainder of the cheese.

After topping with the other slice of bread, grill in a non-stick pan over medium heat until the sandwich is golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-4 minutes per side.

Enjoy!!

This recipe was originally posted on closetcooking.com

BBQ Pulled Pork

INGREDIENTS

3-4 pounds boneless pork shoulder shoulder

2 tbsp McCormick grill masters pork rub

4 cups water

1 tbsp hickory flavored liquid smoke

2 cups barbecue sauce, of choice

Rinse the pork shoulder and pat dry. Rub pork rub over the pork and place in a slow cooker. 

 Add water and liquid smoke.  You might need to add less or more water depending on the amount of pork, until the pork is mostly covered.

Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours rotating pork every couple hours, until the pork is very tender.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and discard the remaining liquid.  Shred the pork using a couple of forks.

Once all the meat is shredded, place back in slow cooker along with the barbecue sauce (shout out to Louisville with our MARK'S Feed Store BAR-B-Q Sauce!)

Continue to cook for 20-30 minutes until the pork is hot again.

Serve on lightly toasted buns.

We enjoyed ours with garlic mashed potatoes!

Enjoy!!

Philly Cheesesteak Pizza

Pizza Dough

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 - 2 tsp salt

Pizza Topping

• 1-2 tbsp steak sauce (we used Worcestershire)
• 1 red onion
• 1 green pepper
• 6-8 oz steak
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

**If you do not have the time (or the patience) to make the dough, we would recommend buying Pillsbury Pizza Crust. 

Start off by combining the yeast and the salt in a small bowl, mixing with your hands. Next, add the honey and then the warm water (comfortable to the touch) to the bowl and mix together.  

If only we had a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, this part would have been a breeze. We used a hand mixer because we are broke. If anyone from Kitchen Aid reads this, holler. 

Add the oil to the mixture and then add the flour one cup at a time, mixing until the flour is all the way incorporated. 

Once all the flour has been added, you want to knead it (in the bowl or on the countertop) for about five minutes. 

 Grease a separate bowl with a bit of olive oil and place the dough ball inside. 

Cover for two hours to let it rise.

While we wait...

Paul fixed us a couple of Old Fashioneds ...recipe to come later :)

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Next, prepare your toppings. Slice the onion & green pepper into thin 1 inch pieces, and cut the steak into thin strips.

Slowly caramelize the onion and green pepper over medium heat.  We added a teaspoon of sugar to make them a tad sweeter! At the same time, partially cook the steak over medium heat.

On a piece of parchment paper, stretch out the dough into a circle (about 10in). Next, spread the steak sauce over the dough, and top with the caramelized onion, green pepper, and steak.  Finish by sprinkling cheese, and adding a bit of salt and pepper. You can brush the edges with olive oil.  However, we had some olive oil left on the dough from the bowl we set it aside in earlier.

Place in oven.  We used the back of a pizza pan, since we are not equipped with a pizza stone in our young age.

 Bake for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is brown and the crust is golden. 

Enjoy!!