Tequila Lime Chicken Wings from Food Network Mag January

For the Super Bowl, I made Guy Fiero's Tequila Lime Chicken Wings from January 2010 of the FNM.  I had made them once before so I knew how tasty they were but this time my hubby treated me with a charcoal fire to finish them with. 

As you see, this is all you need to make these tart, smoky, spicy little darlings.  And the chicken wings of course!  Yummy! 

First, I like them because you bake them plain with salt and pepper, not fry them.  Then, you soak them in the marinade and finish them on the grill.  So after two times through this recipe, I would recommend tossing the wings in canola oil before cooking them so that they don't stick to the pan and tear their skins all apart.  Also, I would make twice the called for marinade.  It has you cook the leftover down to toss on the wings after the grill and especially after the charcoal grill, it needed a bit more moisture.
I could not find straight Adobo sauce in Wegmans, but I did find some Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce and will now stock the item in my pantry, that's how useful I found them.  Not so much for the kids pallette, but it added a smokey/spicy depth to the diced tomato sauce I made for a quick pasta dish.  And it would be great in a BBQ sauce for sure!  I was able to freeze the leftover peppers individually so I would not waste them and it will provide a quick spicy addition to a few things I'm sure.

I will keep this recipe close and make it often.  We both really loved these and I got a lot of compliments from the other party-goers.  I would advise though if you are using a charcoal grill to wait until the fire has cooled.  These kinda got away from me and ended up with more charring than I like.

New ingredients to my kitchen: 
Adobo Sauce(with canned Chipotle Peppers)
Agave Syrup(A cactus extract that acts like a low glycemic sweetener,  great btw for diabetics)
Tequila!

The Easiest Ever Roasted Vegetables

A couple months ago I started to make our vegetables like this.  And we haven't looked back since.  It is so easy and so incredibly tasty, you will wonder why you ever made veggies any other way!

The best part is, you can use whatever vegetables you happen to have.  Here I have cut butternut squash, cauliflower, baby bella mushrooms, asparagus, and mayan sweet onions.  But I have used sweet potatoes, broccoli, and anything that I would normally steam.  I toss them in Olive Oil(mushrooms separated otherwise they soak up too much oil)  I usually spread the mix on the baking sheet and then toss the mushrooms with what's left in the bowl.  Salt and Pepper to taste then in a 450 degree preheated oven I roast them, single layer, turn after 15 minutes and continue on for another 10-15 minutes.  The kids won't eat them but what do they know?  I love them so much I tend not to make a starchy side since I will eat much more of these.  Try them and let me know what you think!

Obama's Herb Roasted Chicken and Gingered Pears and Parsnips

Tonight I made the Herb Roasted Chicken featured in the FNM(January 2010 pg.126) and Gingered Pears and Parsnips (same mag pg. 79).  First, we have the Gingered Pears and Parsnips. 

Bosc Pears
Parsnips
White Wine
Chicken Broth
Butter
Lemon
Ginger
Bay Leaf
Sugar
Red Pepper Flakes

Overall, I did not care for this dish.  I do not ever remember cooking with parsnips so perhaps it is my ignorance that struggled with their flavor.  They seemed overly sweet.  The pears were lovely, though I would have added more red pepper flakes and a touch more salt, which was not mentioned in the recipe.  Also, the recipe did not state whether to peel the Pears so I peeled half and left half with peels on.  Peel the pears, much better.  The dish turned a lovely golden brown though so it gets a gold star for appearances.  I think the dish would have been better with a stronger savory flavor to balance the sweet.

Then the Obama Herb Roasted Chicken

Fresh Herbs(I used dried, duh, it's the middle of Winter!)
Dijon Mustard
Olive  Oil
Salt and Pepper

The recipe called to marinate for an hour or overnight.  I did the hour and wish I'd done the overnight.  The skin tasted great( what skin doesn't) but the flavor really didn't penetrate far into the meat.  I questioned the amounts in the recipe b/c they were so small.  I would use twice as much and for sure marinate overnight next time. I also had to broil them for the last few minutes to crisp the skin. 

So, not great, but not horrible.  New ingredients in my kitchen for this meal:  Fresh Ginger and Parsnips