Crash Hot Potatoes and Cheesy Barbecue Chicken

I am really cheating here. I stole BOTH of these recipes from other blogs. I have made this cheesy barbecue chicken MANY times and we love it at my house. I made it last night because Kaylee has been requesting it. I apologize for the not-so-prettiness of the plate, but these two things should NEVER be photographed together. If you want the original recipe for cheesy barbecue chicken click on the link at the end of the post.

Let's get this party started. Shall we?

The ingredients. You can see my man's legs in this pic. It looks like he is standing in front of my stove. I am sure there must have been some reason for that???

Any barbecue sauce you like, boneless, skinless chicken breasts

bacon, onions, grated cheddar, salt and pepper. You're also going to need a tad bit of olive oil for your pan.

Marinate the chicken in the barbecue sauce. I let mine marinate about 3 hours. You can marinate this for an hour or up to 24 hours.


Cook your bacon up nice and crispy. I like to do mine on a sheet in the oven. It keeps me from getting popped with hot baking grease and keeps Jackson safer too. He tends to be on my hip a lot.




However you do it, get your bacon nice and crispy, drain on paper towels and set aside. You'll need it in a bit.

Grab up your onions. I used 3 because they were pretty small, but I ended up only needing 2.

Cut your onions in half and then slice them up into nice littl half moons.

Like this. I know the picture is horrible and the knife is EXTREMELY ugly, but it's the sharpest knife I own.

After your onions are sliced up all nice and pretty, grab that olive oil and throw about a tablespoon or 2 into an oven proof skillet. I used my cast iron.
Heat that up til it's nice and shimmery and hot.

Throw your onions in and let them caramelize. To do this you just keep giving them a flip, making sure they are turning brown and not black. This took me about 10 minutes.

Like this..........

When they are caramelized, remove them from the pan, and set aside. You will need them in a bit as well.

Now, grab that chicken that you have marinating. Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet you cooked your onions in. When the skillet is nice and hot, throw the chicken in. Let it cook for about 2 minutes, flip it and cook the other side for a 2 more minutes.

I am not sure where my photography skills went?

Now, grab those caramelized onions you made earlier. Grab a big ol' bunch (3 tablespoons maybe?) and place on top of chicken. You can see that I left out some on the chicken pieces in the middle. That's because my sweet little man Trey doesn't care for them. He really only likes this chicken without the bacon and cheese and onions. He's a bit picky in his old age.

Next your going to use that bacon that's been staring at you begging you to eat just one piece. Put that on top of the onions. I used 1 and 1/2 pieces on each.

Next, scoop up about 1/3 cup of that grated cheddar and put it on top of the bacon.

I never said this was healthy. Just really, really, really good. Everything is fine in moderation.

When that is all assembled, throw the skillet into a 350 degree oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

When it's done, it will look like this.

Oh my it is sooooo good.

Here is the original recipe from Mommy's Kitchen.

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2009/04/bbq-cheesy-chicken-aka-chilis-monterey.html

Now, for my second stolen recipe of the day. God bless Ree Drummond, for posting these here. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

I just found this recipe Sunday, and we have had them twice this week. My love told me they were like a delicious cross between a french fry and a baked potato. This is my new favorite way to eat potatoes.

Here is what you'll need.

Oh, and this glorious rosemary that I made Kaylee steal from my neighbors bush.

You will need a couple of tablespoons of that, chopped.

Put at least 2 tablespoons on the ugliest baking sheet you have. Or maybe that's just me? Anyway, you want oil ALL OVER the pan so these potatoes won't stick. You'll be glad you did. It will also help them crisp up VERY nicely.

Now, I have to apologize to y'all for missing a few pictures here, but surely every one of my 12 DEVOTED followers know how to boil potatoes? right? If not, just call me, I'll fill ya in.

Jackson was getting hungry about this time, and was on my hip while I was cooking and attempting to take pictures and helping Trey with his homework at the same time.

So..............just boil the potatoes until they are tender. I actually boiled mine a bit too long, because they started cracking open. It really didn't make a bit of difference though. When they are done, put them on that ugly baking sheet.



like this........

If you have a potato masher, great! Use it. You just give the potato a mash all over until it's all smooshed down. I don't have a masher (I should get one), so I used the bottom of a small plate. It worked just fine.


See???

cut yourself about 4 tablespoons of butter

and melt it

Sprinkle sea salt or kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper all over the potatoes.

Brush or drizzle the melted butter all over the potatoes.

OOPS! I almost forgot the rosemary! Sprinkle that on the potatoes too.

Cook them in an oven that has been preheated to 450 degrees for about 25 minutes. They will be nice and brown and crispy.

like this..........

Now, there is just NO WAY to put these 2 on a plate together and make it pretty. At least I never figured it out. We were hungry and ready to eat, so I just snapped the picture and served up supper.

These potatoes are sooooooooooo good I can't stand it. Even my little picky Trey man ate them up!

Tequila Lime Chicken Wings

Tequila Lime Chicken Wings

This was another recipe I found in my latest issue of Food Network Magazine. It was a recipe from Guy Fieri, Who I happen to love. I had to change a few thing up, as our little grocery story doesn't carry some of the ingredients he used. I could always go over the bridge and do at times, but I figured I could make these wings tasty. I was right. They were a big hit! I will definately be making these again.

This is what you'll need.

That's about 3 pounds of chicken wings. I split them at the joint and removed the tips. They have been sprinkled all over with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I put them on a baking pan that I sprayed with cooking spray and stuck them in the oven at 350. They need to stay there about 45 minutes or so.

While those were in the oven I got my tequila lime marinade made up. This was so easy and quick. I zested 2 limes.



Then I squeezed 4 limes into the bowl with the zest. I put the tequilla in there with the lime juice too. Smells like a margarita!

I added hot sauce and some chili powder that once again didn't make it into the photo of ingredients that you'll need. You still need it. Chili powder is good! Mix it all up and wait for your wings to finish up.

When the wings are done, pull them out of the oven and put into a dish. Pour the marinade over the still warm wings. Let them marinade for a good 30 minutes. You'll be glad you did. Just walk away from them. They smell so good, it's hard, but you can do it.

After 30 minutes or so, get your grill good and hot. I used the Jenn Air again. I would recommend spraying or oiling the grill, which I didn't do. My wings stuck a bit, but they tasted awesome.

Grill them up til they are nice and crispy and Ta Da!!!

You have a gorgeous plate of deliciousness!

Guy Fieri's Tequila Lime Wings

3 pounds chicken wings, split at the joint, tips removed

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Sauce

1 teaspoon grated lime zest (I used the zest of 2 whole limes)

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup tequila

1 tablespoon agave syrup (I didn't have this so I used honey)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I prefer chili powder, so again, I substituted)

1 teaspoon adobo sauce ( didn't have...used chipotle hot sauce~worked fine)

1. Prepare the wings: Preheat the oven to 350. Season the wings with salt and pepper and arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Cook until just brown and crisp, about 45 minutes.

2. Make the sauce: Combine the lime zest and juice, tequila, agave syrup, cumin, adobo sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 tablespoon pepper in a bowl. Pour over the warm wings and let marinate at least 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the grill to high. Grill the wings until marked, 10 to 15 minutes, turning as needed. Transfer the marinade to a saucepan and cook until slightly thick, about 8 minutes. Drizzle the wings with the sauce.

Herb Roasted Chicken and Braised Greens

A Presidential Recipe from the Chefs at the White House

I have never purchased a Food Network Magazine, until about 3 days ago. I couldn't help but wonder WHY have I never got this magazine before? I LOVE the Food Network. The magazine was GREAT and I will definately be subscribing to it. So many recipes caught my attention, but this one jumped out at me. I love fresh herbs, and had most of these on hand already.

These are the things you will need.

Could you see?
There is a red onion, some bacon, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, olive oil, chicken broth, 2 bunches of kale, and 3 1/2 pounds of chicken. I used leg quarters. We happen to love dark meat at my house. We are soooooo bad. You could certainly use whatever cuts of chicken you prefer. It is ideal to not remove the skin or bones prior to cooking.

Remember that rosemary from the picture?

You grab that and chop it up real nice like this. Then you throw it into a baking dish.............just like this.

I am so sure you remember the parsley and thyme. Go ahead and chop that up and toss it into the dish with the rosemary. Then add that olive oil that was in the picture. A funny thing happend to me, and I spaced out for a bit. I forgot to put the dijon mustard in the original photo of the ingredients. It just so happens that you are going to need a bit of this. A tablespoon to be exact.

Grab that old whisk and give it all a good mix. The next thing you want to do is get the chicken pieces and toss them all around in the mix. Really coat them as much as you can. When you feel that they are coated sufficiently, cover them and refrigerate for at least one hour and as much as 24 hours.

I only marinated mine for an hour. It turned out just fine.

Now you want to dice up that bacon just like this. Throw it into a hot pot/dutch oven and let the fat render. This should take about 4 minutes or so.

I also feel the need to tell y'all that this next picture is where I found the "food" setting on my camera. I am thinking my photography is improving already!!!

While that bacon is cooking

go ahead and chop that onion up. It doesn't have to be to fine. It is going to cook down with the kale anyway.

Throw that into the pot with the bacon and cook until the onion becomes translucent. This should only take 5 or 6 minutes.

While you've got that going, you can take the stems out of your Kale and tear it into pieces. I didn't get a picture of this for you because my thumb still hurt from the last time I tried to get too fancy with the chopping and picture taking.

But, this is what it looks like when the deed is done.

Just throw that into the pot with the bacon and onion. Pour the chicken stock into the pot.

Throw a lid on it, and cook over low heat and voila!!! You have a big empty pot of kale in just a few minutes. Isn't it amazing how quick they cook down and leave you with nothing.

Even more amazing is the fact that I took an awesome picture of my chicken going into the oven, which it needs to do. It needs to go into a preheated oven at 450 degrees on a foil lined baking sheet. Once it's there, it needs to cook for about 45 minutes and the skin will be sooooo nice and crispy. Wouldn't it be great if I hadn't lost the pictures? I still promise to be more organized soon. Really, really, soon. So, lets pretend that we baked the chicken that we tossed in the herb marinade. Then lets pretend that we got it out of the oven and the skin was all crispy and delicous. I think it would something like this when we plated it with the kale that we cooked.

I promise you it was really good. I threw some roasted asparagus and homemade rolls on the plate before I ate it.

This is the recipe as it was posted in Food Network magazine.

White House Kitchen Garden Herb-Roasted Chicken With Braised Greens

3 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs

1tablespoon dijjon mustard

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 3-to 4 pound chicken quartered (I used leg quarters)

salt and pepper

2 slices bacon, diced

1 red onion, diced

2 bunches kale, collard, or mixed greens, stemmed and torn (I used kale)

3/4 cup chicken stock