Zesty Cook » snack

Superbowl Week – Baked Chicken Wings w/ A Spicy Glaze

zesty — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:00:46 +0000

Good Wednesday morning to you all? Ever just crave a chicken wing that is not greasy but it is still crispy on the outside? Now don’t get me wrong – I do love a nice deep fried chicken wing when done right but at home I always go for a baked chicken wing in the oven and then finish it off with the glaze. The process is really simple and you can use what ever you like as the glaze. For this batch, I went with a spicy glaze cause I was craving something hot.

These were not burn your lips hot but they had a nice balance of sweet and heat. Take the time to season the wings prior to baking them with both salt and pepper. You will be much happier as you sit down on the couch for the big game on Sunday with a large batch of these on your lap.

Ingredients

Chicken Wings ( tips removed )
Salt
Pepper
1/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 Cup Ketchup
3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
Splash of Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sweet Chili sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 Cup Water

Method

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Season chicken wings with salt and pepper. Place them in the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes.
In a separate sauce pan, place on medium heat and add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. One everything is combined thoroughly bring to a boil.
Remove wings from the oven and place in a large bowl.
Add the sauce over the wings and toss to coat.
Serve with some fresh veggies and your favorite drink.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When making the sauce, if you find it is a little too thin, bring it to a boil and add a slurry of 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. of water together to thicken the sauce. You want the sauce to be thick enough to both coat the wings and stick to your ribs.

Alright, you need to try these! I am not kidding you. You will find yourself quickly eating 12-16 chicken wings and going through 4-5 paper towels ( thank god for the Select – A – Size) but you will be very happy. These are nice washed down with a cold beer or you can always go with a nice glass of water. Oh did I mention a side order of homemade onion rings would never be a bad idea. Have a super Wednesday and I will be back for one more Superbowl idea on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Baked Chicken Wings w/ A Spicy Glaze

zesty — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:00:46 +0000

Good Monday morning to you all? Ever just crave a chicken wing that is not greasy but it is still crispy on the outside? Now don’t get me wrong – I do love a nice deep fried chicken wing when done right but at home I always go for a baked chicken wing in the oven and then finish it off with the glaze. The process is really simple and you can use what ever you like as the glaze. For this batch, I went with a spicy glaze cause I was craving something hot.

These were not burn your lips hot but they had a nice balance of sweet and heat. Take the time to season the wings prior to baking them with both salt and pepper. You will be much happier as you sit down on the couch for the big game, an episode of the Big Bang Theory, maybe some Desperate Housewives or even House Hunters.

Ingredients

Chicken Wings ( tips removed )
Salt
Pepper
1/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 Cup Ketchup
3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
Splash of Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sweet Chili sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 Cup Water

Method

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Season chicken wings with salt and pepper. Place them in the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes.
In a separate sauce pan, place on medium heat and add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. One everything is combined thoroughly bring to a boil.
Remove wings from the oven and place in a large bowl.
Add the sauce over the wings and toss to coat.
Serve with some fresh veggies and your favorite drink.
ENJOY!

Alright, you need to try these! I am not kidding you. You will find yourself quickly eating 12-16 chicken wings and going through 4-5 paper towels ( thank god for the Select – A – Size) but you will be very happy. These are nice washed down with a cold beer or you can always go with a nice glass of water. Oh did I mention a side order of homemade onion rings would never be a bad idea. Have a super kick off to your week and I will talk to you on Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

Bruschetta, Bruschetta, Bruschetta!

zesty — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:00:40 +0000

What screams summer? Fresh tomatoes, the smell of basil and a little bit of fresh crunchy bread! Well heck, maybe not the crunchy bread but let’s pretend it does. Anyone like Bruschetta? I happen to over indulge when I see it in front of me, on a restaurant menu or pretty much anywhere I can get my hands on it. As you may have figured out, the combination of basil and tomatoes has me slightly addicted and cannot get enough.

This recipe although super simple is very tasty and seems to always please the crowd. Now you can spend a little bit more effort on this recipe and parboil the tomatoes and take the skin off as well as seed them but for today I decided not too for time’s sake.

Ingredients

6 ripe plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
Handful fresh basil leaves, chopped.
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tsp. balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil

Method

Prepare the tomatoes first. Slice, seed and chop the tomatoes in a large bowl. Add in the garlic, vinegar, basil and oil and set aside.
Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.
While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. Toast them in the top rack of your oven for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.
Place the bread olive oil side up and start scooping the tomato mixture on top. Do this step right before serving or the bread may get soggy.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. You can just toast it for one minute or so and then rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice.

So as some of you know, my birthday is tomorrow and as I was writing this post my 2 year old daughter comes down the stairs with a big smile on her face and says “Guess what Dad”. I respond with “what dear”. She says, “Well dad, I bought you a present…… for the kitchen! all the while Mrs. Zesty tries to get her to stop and remind her that it is a surprise – I burst out laughing and just had to share it with you.

Alright, enjoy the bruschetta, have a great weekend and I will of course will be back with you on Monday.

Take care

zesty

Roasted Nuts That will Drive you Nutty!

zesty — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:00:10 +0000

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the water is as blue as blue can be. Oh What a place! Regis and Kelly are here and they have been since Saturday doing this week of shows from beautiful Prince Edward Island and they have been raving about it. Really you cannot disagree.

Last night at the camp site I made a delicious appetizer that was a HUGE hit. I saw it a couple of weeks ago on the food network. It was on the show “Best things I ever ate” and it was Giada’s favorite snack. Basically it is roasted nuts tossed with brown sugar, butter and fresh rosemary.

Simply put….. DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

Variety of Nuts
Butter
Brown sugar
Rosemary

Method

Roast nuts in oven or on BBQ until golden brown and warmed all the way through
In a large bowl, add some butter, brown sugar and fresh rosemary.
Once the nuts are complete, remove from the heat and add to the bowl. The hot nuts will melt the butter and brown sugar.
Mix to coat evenly
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Use a nice mixture of nuts, cashews, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, peanuts etc for that extra flavor and texture. These even got a taste from the trailer next door. I heard rumblings of a great party treat.

Alright I am back to the campground and ready for another fun filled day. Last night’s dinner was pretty tasty and I will be featuring it likely on Friday. Not sure what to cook tonight – but that is all I can think about. I love to EAT! Have an awesome Wednesday and check out Regis and Kelly if you have time.

Take care

zesty

Kashi and Nutella?

zesty — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:00:46 +0000

Do you ever sit down in front of the laptop and think… good god I could write for days and days but I am so scatter brained that your not sure it will make sense? This is how I feel right now. I am sitting here on Sunday evening getting this post in the hopper for tomorrow morning and I am completely exhausted. I will not get into to many details on why the exhaustion but nonetheless I feel that I could crash on the asdf keys as I type.

On Thursday I feel that I may have created the most amazing snack in the history of snacks and I am a bit pumped to share it with you. After I took a bite and thought about it for a while – I realized that this may not seem that amazing when it is written out buuuuuuuuuuuut – when you sink your teeth into this flavor combination I am pretty sure you will go off the charts. Now this requires absolutely no talent and takes all of 45 seconds to whip up.

Without further a do – I present you with the KASHI meets NUTELLA experiment.

I love kashi bars… well certain flavors – the mocha chocolate is my least favorite but I do enjoy the seven grain almond that I am featuring today. I smear a little nutella on the end before I bite into and ummmm WOW. That is all I can say. Normally I find the kashi bars a bit on the dry side and I usually have to guzzle a glass of water to wash it down but the little addition of the hazelnut chocolate love in a jar does wonders for the experience.

I truly urge you to try this. It does not have to be Nutella by any stretch as it could be any of your favorite nut butters that you like. I just think the combination of chocolate on this kashi bar may have changed my snack outlook foreva.

What is your favorite Kashi Bar?

House News

Remember a while ago I posted the finished house pictures of the interior. Well I am happy to say we are forging ahead on some outside work. The back deck is pretty much complete at this stage and we are working on final grading, walkways choices, landscaping ideas in anticipation to the grass seeding in the coming weeks.

Have a great Monday and I look forward to hearing from you on the Kashi bar question.

Take care

zesty

A Zesty Favorite and Bread Winners!

zesty — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:00:43 +0000

It’s Good Friday! I cannot believe it is Easter already. I have been very sick the last few days with what I will call the Stomach flu that got Zesty but I am slowly on the mend as I type this post. I don’t ever remember being so sick as I was on Wednesday of this week. However, with that being said we have to move on and keep plugging away.

Do you ever wonder what one of my favorite snacks would be? You may or may not. If you had to guess what one of my favorite snacks would be – what do you think you would guess?

Potato Chips ( very good guess )
Homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies ( another great guess)
Fresh Olives ( not so good!)
Pita and Homemade Hummus ( a good guess indeed )

One of my favorite snacks of all time has to be…..

Homemade biscuits from the oven with a little butter, some homemade strawberry jam and a little slice of aged cheddar cheese on top. Oh my stomach is growling right now as I look at these pictures. I am in love with biscuits… as you have likely figured out from previous biscuit posts. If you have a spare 10 minutes in your day – whip a batch of these up for yourself or your loved ones and you will be a happy person.

So now that you know one of my favorite all time snacks, I think we should get to the bread winners from Monday’s contest. Below are the 4 lucky winners of Dempster’s Oven Fresh Baguette.

Comment 39:

claire says:

March 31, 2010 at 3:19 pm

I love jelly on bread for the sweet and flavored olive oil or hummus for the savory:-)cc

Comment 10:
Janette says:

March 29, 2010 at 12:38 pm

Nothing better then the smell of bread coming out of the oven, with just a swipe of margarine.

Comment 2:
ann marie says:

March 29, 2010 at 9:53 am

Oven cooked bread is the best thing in the world and my fave topping is garlic butter and mozzarella cheese toasted in the oven till all gooey and melted.

Comment 6:
Meg says:

March 29, 2010 at 11:55 am

mmmmm….I could eat some warm bread NOW! I love all sorts of toppings but some raspberry preserves sound yummy right about now!

Congrats to all the winners. For the winners, please send me an email and I will get the coupons sent to you as soon as possible. Enjoy the rest of your Good Friday and have a great Easter weekend.

Take care

zesty

Anybody Hungry? Need a snack?

zesty — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:00:13 +0000

This simple trail mix recipe is a great way to curb your hunger until the real food comes.

Are you always hungry before meal time? Are you always trying to sneak a roll, biscuit or a little snack before dinner? Are your kids tugging at your shirt sleeves after you get home from school or work?

If so, I have a snack pack for you! This simple little treat in a jar or bag can keep everyone smiling. Trail mix is an ideal snack food on the trail, before meal time or for afternoon or evening snacks. It is lightweight and easy to store, very energy rich, providing quick energy from the carbohydrates in the dried fruit and/or granola, as well as sustained energy from the mostly mono- and polyunsaturated fats in nuts.

Every now and again it is time to let loose and give yourself a break. This quick and easy recipe is great to have around and is very versatile. I have used it at dinner parties before chicken winds and bruschetta or for kids birthday parties or even sitting down watching the Jays game on TV. The combination of sweet and salty just makes you want more.

Ingredients

Small Pretzels (1 Cup)
“O”-Shaped Toasted Oat Cereal (1/2 Cup)
Roasted Almonds (1/2 Cup)
Candy Coated Chocolates (2 Tbsp)
Raisins (2 Tbsp)
Cashews (1/4 Cup)

Method

Put all 6 ingredients in a bowl. Using mixing spoons to toss until combined. Makes about 2 1/2 cups. Store any unused portion in an sir tight container or ziploc bag for later. Obviously without being to sharp in math if you want to make a large batch for a bigger crowd you can just multiply each ingredietn accordingly.

I really hope you enjoy it and if you have any other ideas for what you like to add to your trail mix – I would love to here from you.