Buffalo Wild Wings Asian Zing Gone Gourmet: Spicy Sweet Peach Mango Drumsticks

After contemplating how to top last week's Friday night dish, I came down to what men love most--flavorful chicken wings. The only thing I don't like about paying for wings at the restaurant is the price for what it's worth--meatless wings that leave you licking the greater portion of the bone than the actual meat. So, when I went to the grocery store, I saw amazing jumbo wings that were 4x the size of the wings you would buy at a restaurant. Then, next to it

I saw drumsticks almost the size of turkey legs (if you been to Disney World, you'll what I'm talking about--the roasted turkey leg that brings you images of childhood episodes of Fred Flintstone demolishing a leg of meat in the Stone Age). It's quite...I can't even explain. Looking at someone in the 21st century tearing at the gargantuan piece of meat just makes me cringe a little. Anyways, now that I think about it, the drumsticks aren't quite the size of a turkey leg, but it is much bigger than what you'd get at a restaurant :)

Guess how much it was? $8 for 10 gigantic drumsticks. Now that's pretty awesome :) So here's the lowdown on how to cook up these amazingly flavorful, finger-licking, good drumsticks!

Preheat the oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit and lay parchment paper on 2 baking sheets. Put it aside for now.

Liberally cover the drumsticks in a dry rub, which consists of garlic powder, chipotle powder, cayenne, freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt. Then, sear the drumsticks on all sides in butter until the skin is crispy and golden brown. There is nothing like crispy chicken skin!

Place the seared drumsticks on the baking sheet and put it in the oven. Cook it on one side for 30 minutes and then turn the drumsticks over on the other side for another 30 minutes.

While the drumsticks cook, create the sauce that will bring it home! Here are the ingredients. I went on a crazy experimental mode, so after the first two ingredients, I actually did not measure the rest of the ingredients. I just let my palate guide me, so next time I'll update this with more precise measurements.

1/4 cup hot sauce

1 stick of butter

Peach mango preserves

Soy sauce

Honey

Light brown sugar

Melt the butter in a saucepan and then whisk in the hot sauce. Try experimenting on your own and let your palate guide you to a balanced sweet and spicy sauce that will make your loved ones finger-lick through the entire meal :)

After the drumsticks are done, pour the sauce over the drumsticks and top it off with fresh chives and sesame seeds! 

The appetizer/side that I used was fresh celery with a blue cheese yogurt dressing to cool the heat from the drumsticks.

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did :) From our kitchen to yours--as Paula Dean would say!

According to John: "My favorite part was the thin, crispy outer skin and the subtle sweetness. It fell right off the bone!"

Anyways, we hope you enjoy. Good food + Good company = A great time!

Thank you, Lord, for providing us food and time to eat and enjoy together. I'll cook for you in heaven one day! Amen =) 

1 month celebration: Chicken Tagliatelle w/ Vodka Cream Sauce

One month. Well, nobody that we know of celebrates a month into their relationship/marriage, but perhaps they just keep it a secret so that no one gets on them for being sappy! Regardless, we decided to celebrate. Why not? :)

So, I decided to make something special--homemade pasta! I've had a beautiful stand-up KitchenAid mixer with pasta roller attachments and a pasta drying rack sitting in my kitchen boasting it's monstrosity and beauty--quite intimidating! Given that I cook mostly Italian, homemade pasta definitely was the next level of Italian cooking I've been waiting to conquer. Yesterday was my chance :)

There's something so special about homemade pasta. First, the texture and the density is all so different from the dry pasta we buy in grocery stores. Second, it has to be good when there is so much time, love, and care devoted to creating a delicate and perfect pasta.

The dish I decided to make was chicken tagliatelle in a vodka cream sauce. It embodied all the characteristics of this first month--true, genuine, sweet, happy, and exciting. Let me tell you...this is the first time I had fresh, homemade pasta and I don't think John and I can go to a restaurant and have pasta again...the texture and taste is so different when it is fresh!

The dish was amazingly subtle and flavorful with a nice balance between sweet, spicy, and herbacious [herbacious is not a real word =P]. John couldn't stop saying, "Mmmmm!" So, let me share the dish with you!

Pasta dough

Yields 4 servings

2 cups semolina flour OR 1 cup semolina + 1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs

1 tbsp salt (optional)

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water (as needed depending on the consistency of the flour)

After you mix and knead the dough, cover in plastic wrap and let it sit for 45 minutes at room temperature to let the gluten settle.

I used the KitchenAid pasta roller and cutter to make tagliatelle :) 

TIP: After rolling on the widest setting, fold and roll it through again. Continue to roll it twice on each setting--folding it over after the first roll out--to the second to last setting. This will enhance the consistency and elasticity of the pasta!

When boiling the pasta, cook for only 3-4 minutes! There's nothing better than an al dente pasta.

TIP: Add a slight drizzle of olive oil in the boiling pasta water to prevent sticking! :)

Vodka Cream Sauce

Vodka sauce

Grilled chicken

Heavy cream

Cayenne pepper

Red pepper flakes

Fresh parsley  

Pinch of sugar

When it comes to sauces, I never follow recipes or measurements, so I've just provided what I included in the sauce :)

After you drain water from the pasta and plate it on the dish, pour the sauce over the pasta and make sure the sauces fall through the cracks and stick on the pasta. 

Anyways, we hope you enjoy. Good food + Good company = A great time!

Thank you, Lord, for providing us food and time to eat and enjoy together. I'll cook for you in heaven one day! Amen =)