Boneless Buffalo Chicken

It's funny how every year we find a new, favorite chicken to grill for the Summer. One year it was terryaki, one year it was spicy BBQ, another year, Italian herb. So this year? Is is grilled buffalo chicken breasts. Not any breasts though, highly seasoned ones. I've found my new spice rub for the Summer-Ranch seasoning! It had great flavor that the kids loved (without buffalo sauce of course) and the parents loved it, no messy wings again! If I just had some of that Restaurant Style Ranch left over ;)

chicken breasts, pounded to flatten (as many as you want to serve)

Dry, Ranch seasoning

bottle of Buffalo Sauce (we use Otts) or Louisiana hot sauce

black pepper

Sprinkle the breasts with the dry Ranch on both sides, the more you use the more flavor they will have. Place in fridge for 20 minutes or so. Preheat the grill. Remove chicken from the fridge and sprinkle with pepper. Throw the chicken on an oiled grill. Pour about a 1/2 of cup sauce into a dish. Cook the first side of chicken, usually around 10 minutes, and flip. Coat cooked side of chicken with sauce. Finish cooking other side, flip and coat. Continue flipping and coating until the sauce is as "gooey" as you would like. And if you are making them family friendly then don't coat with sauce :)

Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing

Do you ever go out to dinner and have a side-salad and wonder why restaurants have the best Ranch dressing? Well, I do and I think I finally found the recipe! My sister-in-law gave me the recipe and it so good! I was told not to substitute with Fat Free anything because it won't come out the same, but I did use Light sour cream and thought it tasted great. Not low-calorie by any means but wonder on a salad or as a dip.

1 cup real mayo

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk (more if you want it runnier)

1 envelope Buttermilk Ranch dressing mix

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp paprika

Mix together and chill before serving.

Sausage Pasta Bake

I love when I throw a few random things together and something awesome turns out (doesn't happen very often). I had some frozen Italian Sausage, a can of crushed tomatoes and a zucchini so I began. Threw in some pasta and dinner was served. What made it so great was the sweetness of the zucchini combined with the spiciness of the sausage. Just top it with cheese and the whole family will eat it!

1/2 package of sweet Italian sausage

1 zucchini, sliced and halved (peel left on)
Extra-virgin olive oil

1 big can crushed tomatoes (the best you can afford)

1 small can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings

1/2 can tomato paste with Italian seasonings

sprig of fresh basil, leaves pulled from stem and chopped

1 TBS brown sugar

salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano & dried Italian Seasoning

1 package ditali pasta (or any tube shaped pasta)

Shredded mozzarella

Fresh grated parmesan

Heat a medium sized skillet to medium heat. Add a glug of olive oil. Throw in the raw sausage and the sliced zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until sausage is done and zucchini is soft. In the mean time, add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, sugar and seasonings to a medium sauce pan and bring to simmer. Drain sausage on paper towel lined plate and then add to the sauce. Bring water to a boil for pasta and continue simmering the sauce until pasta is cooked. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Add pasta. Top with sauce and stir. Top with mozzarella and then parmesan. Bake for at least 30 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. (the browner the better in my opinion). Let sit for a bit before serving and then enjoy!

Baked Lemon Chicken

This recipe was in the 'Everyday with Rachel Ray' magazine that I subscribe to. It is a very affordable (cost less than $5 to make), nice recipe to have when guests come over for dinner. The lemon isn't over-powering, it's nice and subtle. I baked as directed and then cut the legs off so my kids could have a leg to gnaw on and they loved the way the chicken tasted and so did we. It's always nice to know that your kids can eat a nice dinner if needed :) The original recipe has been adapted to our liking and then posted.

1 lemon-1/2 thinly sliced, the other 1/2 squeezed for juice and set aside

4 chicken leg quarters

1 TBS vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

1 TBS fresh tarragon or 1/2 TBS dried tarragon (I made it with dried b/c I couldn't find fresh)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer down the center of a roasting pan. Rub the chicken with the oil and season with sea salt and pepper on both sides. Place the chicken skin side up on the lemon slices and bake for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is done. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3-5 minutes or until skin is crisp. Drizzle with lemon juice. Sprinkle with tarragon and serve.

Sticky Chicken

This a good, roasted chicken that is good to put in the oven and slowly let it cook. It takes anywhere from 3-5 hours, depending on the size of your chicken. If you would like to do more than one, then double the recipe. Look for whole chicken on sale, because it is a lot cheaper then buying store prepared rotisserie chickens. Enjoy!

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (depending on taste)
1 onions, quartered
1 (4 pound) whole chicken

In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Put the onion into the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Place chicken in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 5 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees. Let the chicken stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Zucchini Parmesan

After talking with the girls at our Superbowl gathering, I found out that their children LOVE zucchini, amazingly enough. This recipe came to mind because it really is divine. I got it from another fellow blogger's site: http://www.myfirstkitchen.net/. It is amazing what a little tomato sauce and zucchini can do for each other. Also, check out her Spaghetti with Zucchini, it is just as wonderful and kid friendly :)Hope you all enjoy!

one shallot or one quarter of an onion, finely minced
one clove of garlic finely minced
one small can or half a large can of really good crushed tomatoes (San Marzano if you can)
a couple glugs of heavy cream (maybe three tablespoons)
two zucchini, sliced fairly thin
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan (this is NOT the place for the green can, people)
1/3 cup of grated mozzarella (maybe get a slab of the good stuff from your deli counter and grate it yourself)

In a small saucepan, gently saute the chopped shallots or onions over low heat in a good tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt for about two minutes. (If you're worried about finely chopping onions and garlic, you can pulse them in a food processor for this job. Just don't do it so much they become juicy... that's bad for business in the breath department.)
Next, add the garlic for another minute and maybe a pinch of red pepper flake if you like your sauce a little spicy. Stir in the tomatoes, and season with a couple of pinches of salt and a crack of black pepper. After the tomatoes simmer for a minute or two, pour in a bit of heavy cream until the sauce becomes a rich pink color. Taste it, season a little more if you need to, take it off the heat, and set it aside.

While the sauce is cooking, you can slice the zucchini. Just use a sharp knife and take your time. Or if you have a mandolin or a food processor with a slicing attachment, feel free to use those, too.
Now you just layer. In individual baking dishes (or just one small casserole if that's what you have), start with a little oil just so nothing sticks to the bottom. Then layer zucchini (drizzled with olive oil, sparingly, and sprinkled with salt and pepper on each layer), sauce, and Parmesan cheese.
Keep going until you hit the top of the dish or you're out of food - zucchini, oil, salt, pepper, sauce, Parmesan. Then sprinkle the top with some mozzarella to get a gooey top. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about twenty minutes until it's nice and bubbly.

Note: I didn't use as much salt, b/c we are pretty sensitive to salty foods so you can cut it back and be just fine. Also, if you bake it in one big casserole, you will have to double the cook time. However, if you want to decrease the cook time then steam the zucchini in the microwave for a few minutes to start the cooking process.

Sausage Wontons

These are my new favorite appetizer. I've had them many times, but never knew the recipe until I met my friend, Kim. Thanks Kim! I am so happy she gave this to me and let me tell you, they're deadly! I recently hosted a party and almost every guest asked me how to make these. That's a good sign that they are a classic, party must-have! Enjoy!

P.S. And they're super easy :)

1 lb. hot sausage, browned and drained

2 c. Sharp Cheddar, shredded

2 c. Monterey Jack, shredded

1 sm. can chopped black olives, drained

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 c. milk

2 pkg. wonton wrappers (in refigerated section)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix Hidden Valley Ranch, mayo and milk together. In separate bowl, mix sausage, cheese and olives. Combine the two. Bake wonton wrappers for 7-8 minutes in muffin pan, until golden. Remove from oven. Stuff and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve warm. Lots of people also add red and/or green pepper, if you would like.

To make ahead: bake wrappers, cool and store in airtight container. Make sausage mix and refigerate until ready to bake.