Justin's baked beer can chicken

We usually do our smoked chicken the exact same way each time....but Justin couldn't seem to find the recipe when he was injecting, rubbing, and preparing our last bird for the smoker.  So he went a little off on his own tangent...and it turned out fabulous!

1 whole chicken

1 beer

Tony C's creole seasoning

1 cup butter

1 T lemon juice

2 cloves fresh garlic

1 T garlic powder

salt

pepper

1/2 onion, chopped

Rub the chicken with olive oil and then a liberal amount of Tony C's creole seasoning. Dump 1/4 of the beer into a bowl and put a half an onion and 2 cloves of fresh garlic in it before propping your chicken up on the beer can (this is way easier with the beer can chicken apparatus we have on hand for our smoking adventures).  You can find one of these HERE!

Mix the rest of the ingredients, no amounts listed of course, and use a meat injector to send the liquid into the chicken...filling it as full as the bird will hold. One cup of butter is usually the base and then we use the lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, and I hear now we use the 1/4 of the beer we're not using inside the chicken as well.  So the chicken was, in fact, injected with beer as well...which scared me.

Weird, but it came out delicious! There really is no right or wrong way to do these chickens so using your imagination is totally welcome. The main ingredient I would say is the Tony C's for the rub...that stuff is a Godsend, let me tell you! Thanks to my NOLA friend, Amanda for introducing me to it :)

When your chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees, you can mow down on it. Sometimes we finish the chickens in the oven and roast them, so the smoker doesn't dry them out too bad. Usually that isn't an issue with the beer can of liquid and the injections for it to soak in during cooking.

Do you have any interesting ways you prepare chicken on a smoker? This is one of our favorite easy meals...it's totally hands off once you get the chicken prepared to cook...and it always turns out better than those store bought rotisserie birds...and for a fraction of the cost. Since when does life ever work out like that??

These roasted brussel sprouts are one of our favorite side dishes now....I'm so glad we both bit the bullet and gave a new veggie a try because these are a staple in our house now! I realize they sound scary, but give this recipe a try and I will be very suprised if you don't end up having a craving for these afterwards...

Proscuitto caprese paninis

I specifically saved this recipe for a Friday for these reasons:

1. Friday is an awesome day to pull out the Griddler (if you have one)

2. This takes 5 minutes to prepare but tastes like a million bucks

3. We've been over this before, anything with the word "caprese" in it is like food porn to me

4. You should always save the best things in life for a Friday (like a nice glass of red wine for me tonight after my workout)

Anyway, while I am in love with all things Caprese (see hot caprese dip and caprese skewers)...Justin is not really a fan.  "It's just so...so..." but he couldn't think of the name of the herb that was used.  "Basil-y?"  I ask.  "Ugh, yeah it's just so basil-y...it tastes like plants."  Well that's sort of the point of an all fresh sandwich, now isn't it, honey?!  Boys are so boring sometimes...

Moving on...you only need a few things for this sammy.  Including:

Basil

Bread

Prosciutto

Fresh mozzerella

Tomato

I would use fresh basil if I had it...the store bought fresh stuff seems to go bad so quickly. Oh, how I miss my fresh basil plant right outside my back door...hurry up, Spring!! In order to continue using fresh basil without having to throw it away all the time, I grabbed a tube of this fresh organic basil in olive oil and use it for all my cooking, and let me tell you it doesnt lose any of the flavor...so yummy! 

The prosciutto wasn't in the original recipe, but I'm a carnivore and can't stomach the idea of a meatless meal...so I added the Italian meat and it was perfect (if I do say so myself).

Dab some basil on your bread (I would've liked to use some fancy schmancy bread but this normal wheat sandwich bread worked pretty awesomely too)...and layer your toppings on there. 

All I did was put the sandwich together, spray the Griddler with non-fat cooking spray to prevent stickage (you could use a grill pan if you don't have a Griddler), and let that thing go for 10 minutes until all the cheese was melted...and all was right with the world.

This was one of those days I came home ready to eat my arm off after Kosama class, so I went lazy on the side and just pulled a bag of my frozen sweet corn out to throw in a pot and warm.  It's days like this that I understand why I put in the work in the summer to have fresh sweet corn on hand all Winter...mmmmmmm!
 

Fresh mozzerella melts so awesomely...and I ate a bunch of it while slicing too, it's so fresh tasting with a buttery soft texture, I could eat a whole block of it...but I refrained. I probably could've stopped after a half of one of these sandwiches but there was no way I was wasting that flavor (they are pretty soggy warmed up)...so I savored every. last. bite.  And boy, was it worth it!

Garlic parmesan knots

There are few things in life you can be sure of...you needing to try this is one of them. They don't take long, require barely any prep, and fresh garlic anything with a pasta dinner is enough to make a girl weak in the knees. No more words necessary...go forth and conquer this recipe...or don't, I don't want the grocery stores selling out of buttermilk biscuits or anything. 

1 tube refridgerated buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup canola oil (we used vegetable)
3 T grated parmesan cheese
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t oregano
1 t parsley

Roll each biscuit into a 12 inch rope and tie into a know; tuck the ends under.  Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and brush the warm knots with the mixture. Serve those suckas!  These were a HUGE pinterest find...and will be repeated again fo sho....look at those things!

This makes 10 knots, so we doubled the recipe which meant cooking time was longer with the oven being more full.  I would cook for 15-17 minutes and then brush with the oil mixture.....yummmmmmmmmm, these were amazing AND simple as crap!!

Bolognese sauce

Yesterday, I shared with you the wonderful world of homemade noodles...but noodles aren't much without a homemade sauce! I have made a couple other homemade sauces and done some canning between Laura's spagetti sauce and my own concoction, so that I have jars of homemade sauce at home all the time, but this time we wanted something FRESH!

Naturally, I searched for as healthy a recipe I could find, and ended my search at a blog that I can't even count how many things I've tried....It's called Skinny Taste and all the recipes are skinnied up as much as possible without taking out all the flavor and making you think you're eating cardboard.  Seriously one of my favorite blogs right now....

Anyway, this sauce is pretty well hands off after the initial 10-15 minutes of preparation.  And is there anything more comforting about smelling a big pot of sauce simmering on the stove all day on a chilly Saturday afternoon?  Not that I can think of...

It looks like there's a lot of ingredients but most of the stuff we had on hand...I think we only really had to purchase the pancetta, the tomatoes, the half and half, and the carrots and celery.

4 oz pancetta
1 T butter
1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, minced
1/2 cup carrots, minced
1 lb lean ground beef or italian sausage
1/4 cup white wine
2 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and fresh pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (we used dried)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (we used dried)
1/2 cup half and half (could probably use skim milk, Im planning on substituting next time)

In a deep heavy saute pan, saute pancetta until fat melts. Add butter, onions, celery, and carrots, and cook on medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.  Increase flame to medium-high and add the meat, season with salt and pepper and saute until browned. Add wine, cook until reduces down (about 3-4 minutes).  Add tomatoes, garlic, and bay leaf and then simmer covered on low, at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally...the longer it simmers, the better it will be so we let it go for about 4 hours.

When almost ready to serve, add half and half, parsley, and basil and cook for 2 minutes longer.   This recipe makes about 8 cups. I really don't know how it could have been better.  If I were making it just for Justin and I, I may have added some crushed red pepper to simmer in there for some heat but the flavor of this sauce was splendiferous even without heat (don't think you'll ever catch me saying that again).  I was honestly surprised how little work it was to put together a fully homemade pasta meal...so don't shy away from it if you think it's going to be tons of work like I did!

Homemade pasta noodles

I have tossed around the idea of making fresh pasta noodles before, enough so that my mom brought me my grandmother's old pasta maker/cutter/thingy/whatever you call it so that I could give it a shot. It sat in the closet for a while, I will admit, because it sounded like such a daunting task.  The stars were aligned a couple weeks ago though, when Michelle mentioned on one of the pinterest pins that she's always wanted to make pasta too...and then it just so happened we had a Saturday free up very soon after...it was like it was meant to be!  So the 5 of us brave girls (Christina, Michelle, Amanda, Aubrey, and I) set forth that weekend to make homemade noodles, a homemade bolognese sauce, and homemade garlic parmesan knots. 

The noodles were surprisingly easier than I would've imagined. Very quick and simple, just requires a few hands so I think it would be hard to accomplish on your own. I am now ruined though. I love homemade noodles, so chewy and fresh.  The store bought ones seem beneath me now....ugh.

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup course semolina (or 3 cups all purpose flour if you can't find semolina)
4 large eggs

Michelle said the semolina was hard to find and pretty expensive, but it makes the pasta springier and perfect so I would use it if  you have the opportunity.  If not, extra flour works too.

Mix together the flour and semolina in the bowl of a stand mixer , or mix them up and create a mound on the counter top with a crater in the center...if using a stand mixer, add the eggs to the dough and mix them together with the paddle or dough hook until well mixed.  On the counter top, crack the eggs in the center of the flour and semolina and use your fingers to gradually draw the dry ingredients into the center, mixing them with the eggs.  The dough will be hard to mix at first, a pastry scraper will help you to draw it all together, but eventually it will come together and be relatively smooth.

Knead the dough with the heel of your hand for at least 3 minutes until the dough is very smooth. The dough shold not feel sticky. If it sticks to your fingers, knead in a small amount of flour, just enough so your fingers come away clean when you pull them away.  Wrap the dough and let it sit at room temperature for an hour (you can keep the dough at room temperature for several hours).

To roll out the pasta, on a lightly floured surface, cut the dough into a few pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough out into a rough rectangle, and then pass it through your pasta machine on the flat setting to get the dough an even width.  Then enter the flattened dough into your desired noodle cutter..we did fettucine this time so will try the spagetti side the next time.

Once rolled, fresh pasta should be dusted with semolina (preferably) or flour to keep it from sticking if you're not going to cook it right away. We laid the noodles up on the pasta drying rack to keep them from balling up together since we were boiling them immediately when done processing the noodles.

This pasta machine was my late grandmother's so I found some neat things in the box when we opened it up.  A handwritten pasta recipe from her was the best surprise I ever could have gotten!  This will be a great addition to my family recipe cookbook...how neat was it to find a surprise like this years after she left the Earth?!  It sort of made me feel closer to her, I'm very happy that I finally dug into the box...

There were also old magazine pages she ripped out with ideas on how to experiment with different flavored noodles like red bell pepper pasta, poblano chili pasta, dry anaheim chili pasta, or jalapeno chili pasta. Basically you roast fresh peppers or chilies in a hot oven until skins blacken, then cool in a paper bag, peel, seed, and puree.  Combine the puree of pepper or chilis with the egg and flour to make dough, and then mix as described earlier. Roll the pasta dough out as we already discussed and you've made flavored pasta!! Can't wait to try this next....but here is the result of our first try...operation fresh fettucine was a success! Next time I want to try spagetti noodles and add some peppers in there...I'll let you know how it goes :)

Michelle's crab rangoon

Michelle is officially the crab rangoon queen when we have sushi parties.  I apologize for putting these on a skinny kid food blog but there's really no way you can omit a good crab rangoon from your repertoire, can you?  I don't believe there's ever been even one stray rangoon left over...and that's saying something.  File this away for your next fryer party...and thank Michelle in your head as you're licking your lips!

1/4 c sour cream
2 (8oz) cream cheese- room temp
1 cup crab meat- usually use whole pkg
2 grn onions, thin slice
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
Wonton wrappers

Whip together sour cream, cream cheese, soy sauce and sugar until smooth.

Fold in remaining ingredients.

Moisten edges of wonton with water, 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of mixture in middle and fold over.

Fry!

Parmesan crusted tilapia

Just so you know...don't buy this.  This is not a recipe post, this is a warning post. I was so pumped to try this parmesan crusted tilapia, and was so excited that all I had to do was throw it in the oven and make a salad.  Easy peasy, right? 

Well, sometimes easy isn't the answer. I ate it.  But it tasted like a fish stick so I had to dip it in cocktail sauce.  Seriously like a cheapo fish stick like your parents used to feed you. Grody. The salad made up for it though...it's one of my faves.  You can find the recipe for the strawberry poppyseed salad here, just so you feel like you walked away with something from this post....but heed my warning for the tilapia, and don't be fooled by the good-looking, nicely browned piece of fish in the bottom photo, my friends! Unless that is you like fish sticks...