Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

I’ve lived in the Buffalo, NY area all of my life, so I know my wings. Wings are a staple of parties and nights you don’t feel like cooking in this neck of the woods (which may explain the average waistband around here too). We have a yearly festival and locals hotly contend who makes the best wings. A lot of us also make our wings. In this post, I shared a recipe I like to use for baked wings. Nothing compares to hot and fresh wings right out of the fryer at the Anchor Bar or Duff’s (where President Obama made a stop here when he was in town last year. We locals analyzed his order for weeks and weeks) though.

Last week, Martha did a show about meatballs. Oh, how my family loves meatballs. I make Asian meatballs, Greek meatballs, and I almost always have a bag of my turkey meatballs in the freezer. Meatballs sub are a favorite for leftover meatballs here. So the idea of a meatball show had me quite excited. I was even more excited to see Martha and guests make Buffalo Chicken Wing Meatballs.  I HAD to give this one a try. I followed the recipe, however instead of using 3/4 cup of hot sauce, I reduced it to 1/4 cup – and this was still almost too hot for me (I am very sensitive to spicy foods – but the rest of the family did not think it was too spicy at all). This was very easy to make and they turned out perfectly. I did not make the bleu cheese dip recipe and instead used Marie’s light bleu cheese dressing, which is always in our fridge. This was a total home run. They tasted exactly like wings, but without the mess, high fat, or bones. This is absolutely a MUST make for Superbowl Sunday. We had this for dinner, but it’s really supposed to be a party food and it would work perfectly as that. This recipe is getting the highest rating from these chicken wing lovers!

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Martha Mondays Artichoke Crostini

Artichoke Parmesan Crostini was a quick and easy recipe that would make a great hors d’oeuvre or party food. I put all the ingredients in the food procesor and whizzed them up. It was ready literally in minutes. I think I might add a little more cheese next time. Thanks to Megan’s Cookin’ for selecting this.

Next week’s project is chocolate cups from p. 56 of Feb. Living. Let me know if you need the recipe.

Potato Skins

The first article I ever wrote about food,  12 years ago, was about making take out food at home and potato skins was one of the recipes. At the time we were living in a rural area, I’d just had my second baby and we were pretty much dead broke since I’d left my law practice to stay home. I spent a lot of time looking for ways to save money.

I’ve always had a thing for the potato skins at TGI Fridays. I get them whenever we go there (which isn’t very often!). Because eating out wasn’t on the agenda much back then (or now for that matter), I learned to make my own.

Bake 4 Idaho potatoes in the oven until done (don’t use the microwave – they have to be baked in the oven). Scoop out most of the potato, leaving a thin layer (when I made it this time, I used the insides to make baked potato soup). Spray the inside and outside of the skins with cooking spray (or brush with olive oil) and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for until they are crispy but not getting too brown (about half an hour). Take out of the oven and sprinkle shredded cheddar or American cheese (or any cheese you like) and sprinkle some cooked, chopped bacon (I used 3 pieces this time). Sprinkle with salt. Put back in the oven until the cheese melts. Mix some chopped chives or scallions into sour cream and serve to dip in (I always make about 1 cup for this amount of skins).

These are a special treat in our house – not something we have often, but when we do, everyone loves them. You could jazz this up with some jalapenos, salsa, chopped ham, French onion dip, or different kinds of cheese. It also makes a great party snack (think: Super Bowl).

Martha Mondays: Artichoke Dip

Thanks Ana at Sweet Almond Tree for choosing Artichoke Dip for today. I love dips so I was excited to make this one. Confession time. I did not follow this exactly. I made only 1/3 of the recipe which was enough for 4 people. There was no way I was cutting all the leaves off the hearts. I also used half Parmesan and half Fontina cheese. I have to say I was annoyed that this required two pans and a dish for the dip – seemed like a bit much. All that being said, it was good. I think I like artichoke spinach dip a little more, but this was good. Oh yeah, I also didn’t serve with crudites. We just smeared it on bread.

We’re going to take a hiatus from Martha Mondays for the holidays and start back up in January.

Fried Mozzarella

I’m loving the section of Dec Everyday Food with all the cute little party food. Who doesn’t love fried mozzarella? It’s incredibly evil, but oh so good. Of course I had to try it:

Preheat oven to 250. Put 1 cup flour in a bowl. In another, beat 2 eggs. In another, mix 1 cup panko with 1 tsp thyme. Season each with salt and pepper. Buy 1 lb of bocconcini balls (fresh mozzarella balls  – I actually thought the bocconcini were too big, so I bought whatever the smaller size was called). Dry them off and dip in flour, egg, then panko. Heat 2 cups veg oil until a breadcrumb thrown in sizzles. Fry them, 4 at a time until golden, about 2 min per batch. Keep warm in the oven on paper towels on a baking sheet. Serve with a marinara sauce for dipping.

These were crazy good. I have to make sure that it if I ever make these again that there are a LOT of people around to snatch them up because I could just keep eating them.

Roasted Chickpeas

The holidays are coming and I appreciated all the ideas for party snacks in December Everyday Food. Fried chickpeas are a hot item currently and Martha has a recipe for making them in the oven. This was quite easy. Preheat the oven to 450. Pour 1/4 cup of veg oil on a baking sheet and heat up in the oven. Drain, rinse and dry two cans of chickpeas then dump onto the hot baking sheet and bake 10-12 min.

As you can see, some of mine got too brown. Some did not cook enough. And some were just right. They need to become dark and crunchy to be any good and it was really hard to know when that was. But it’s definitely easier than pan frying them. You’re supposed to sprinkle them with cayenne. I just salted them. The ones that were cooked perfectly were absolutely delicious.