Easy Chicken Wings for Dad

Well, is everybody enjoying summer? Although it won't officially arrive until Saturday, I think we're all finally feeling some warmth, aren't we? Kav, how about you?

Here in Texas, we're just thrilled that we haven't hit 100 degrees yet. That means we can actually be outside. We had  pleasant temps and a nice breeze this weekend, meaning it was delightful weather to just sit outside and read, grill or hang by the pool.

But Sunday was Father's Day and while not quite as exciting as Mother's Day, we had a grand time.

As always, I was faced with the dilemma of what to fix for dinner. And since I'd been staring at a large package of chicken wings in my freezer for a few months now, I decided it was finally time to give those babies the lovin' they deserved.

First, I had to thaw out the wings. These were real wings, the kind with three sections to them, so first I cut off the tip section and set it aside. No real meat there anyway. Then I cut the little drumette from the rest of the wing and tossed both sections into a bowl. 

Now let's add a little seasoning. You can use whatever you like. Anything from seasoned salt to hot and spicy.

You might remember Julie and I talking about Penzey's Spices before (you can find them here).

They have all kinds of wonderful seasoning blends, but there were two in my cupboard that fit the bill.

I actually prefer the flavor of the BBQ3001, but I only had a couple of teaspoons of that. So I started there, then added a teaspoon or so of the Barbecue of the Americas and tossed everything together.

Nope. They're not there yet. They needed something more. 

I grabbed my old standby that I mix up and keep in the cupboard in a large container. It consists of kosher salt, ground black pepper, granulated garlic, some paprika and who knows what else. I put several tablespoons into a bowl then added some wonderful smoked paprika (also from Penzeys) and stirred it all together.

PERFECT!

I sprinkled in some of that.

Stirred it some more and then let it sit while I fired up the grill.

Once the grill was nice and hot (I used a gas grill), I added as many of the wings as would fit and still have enough space in between to get crispy.

Flip them halfway through cooking.

They're looking good.

When cooked through, remove from grill and keep warm until ready to serve.

Of course, if anyone sees them, you might find yourself missing a few.

Oh. My. Word.

These were some of the most delicious wings I've ever had. Hubby even told me they were "way better than the frozen ones" and that I was not to buy the frozen variety any more. Now if that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.

Just think of the fun you could have with these little babies. We had them for a meal, but you could also do them for a party. Set up a little wing bar with a variety of seasonings and dipping sauces. Hot sauce, Ranch dressing, Terriyaki sauce... You name it. Bet there'd be a crowd gathered there.

Ah, but summer is just beginning.

How is yours shaping up? Are you doing anything special?

Screaming for Ice Cream

Father’s Day, you know it is Father’s Day this weekend, right?  Mothers get a lot of attention on Mothers Day. Dinner out, flowers, chocolate. But fathers? Not so much. I asked my sister the other day what we did for Daddy when we were growing up.  It was a tradition to take our mom to a really special plant nursery and get her every flowering plant she desired. But Daddy?  We couldn’t remember. We both felt awful because what we remembered was Dad grilling FOR US on Father’s Day. 

Well, this weekend Man O is grilling!  It was enough to make me scream.  I feel so guilty. What could I do to make his Father’s Day dinner special? After much pondering and head banging against the wall - oh, that was when I came to bed late and Man O had the lights off, I narrowed in on what my guy loves. Ice cream tops the list.

Let me be more specific. Man O loves Goodberry’s Frozen Custard. It is thick and creamy with a texture hard to beat. But he will eat anything frozen made of milk and cream. My dad turns his nose up at cheap ice creams with a lot of gums and other ingredients. I must have gotten ice cream snobbery from him. Even so called "healthy" non-dairy substitutes are full of guar and xanthan gum. YUCK. No way am I eating that stuff in a carton or making recipes with extra ingredients to make it "taste" like ice cream.  It's better to just have a smaller serving of the real thing. Daddy and Man O both like a smooth texture and mouth coating appeal. The richer the ice cream the better. And wouldn’t you know it, that works for me. So what could I do?

My favorite website for anything gluten free is Gluten Free on a Shoestring.com. Recently, they shared an ice cream recipe I couldn’t believe. Only three ingredient. No need for an ice cream maker. Bonus? I could make it and eat it (in limited quantities) because, tah dah, Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed milk doesn’t have corn sugars in it!!!!  Again, IT DOESN'T USE AN ICE CREAM MAKER. Could you hear me yelling for joy? How great is that? But would it taste as well as it looks? I had to do a test run on Gluten Free On A Shoestring's Amazingly Simple Vanilla Ice Cream  

Random Factoid: Did you know a man named Gail Borden invented sweetened condensed milk in the 1850s after he saw infants starving on a boat trip when the cows on board stopped producing milk? Stop focusing on the cows on ships and think about the miracle of the product!  He made a fortune during the Civil War when he supplied the Union troops with the canned milk beverage and cooking ingredient that wouldn't spoil and sicken the soldiers. Soon, Eagle Brand was credited with reducing infant mortality, making the life of a harried cook simpler, and being the go-to ingredient for everything from fudge to key lime pie.

Hmmm, back to my dry run for Sunday. So I got out my THREE ingredients: Sweetened condensed milk, one carton whipping cream and vanilla.

Yep, that's it. Three ingredients.

I put the condensed milk and one tablespoon of vanilla in a freezer safe bowl that also has a matching lid. You could use plastic wrap and aluminum foil if you don't have a lid. I mixed the ingredients until blended and stuck it in the refrigerator.

Condensed milk with a splash of vanilla makes a great Rorschach test, you know the one where you look at an ink blot and say what you see? I am trying to decide if  I see a puppy or a flower.

I whipped the whipping cream on medium high until I had “semi stiff” peaks.  It looks pink only because I was wearing a red tank top that is reflecting on that white cream. Food stylist, I'm not.

I folded the whipped cream into the milk and vanilla until blended but not over blended, smoothed the top and put on the lid. Then I stuck it in the freezer. Once again, remember you don't need an ice cream maker!

Then the hard part.  I had to wait for at least four hours to see how it turned out! Um, I couldn't quite wait that long.

If you have the patience to wait longer, it will be a bit more solid. I couldn't!

Oh, so creamy. The mouth feel. The richness. Sigh. I probably should have added more vanilla. But I will be making my infamous chocolate sauce to make it special Chocolate sauce recipe here. and voila! Because the only thing my guy likes better than ice cream is chocolate on his ice cream AND his kids.

PS. I ended up serving Man O this ice cream and chocolate sauce when the crazy storms of the week passed through and I, ahem, couldn't cook dinner. He was thrilled. So there you go, Man O approved.