Tag: side dish

Baked Frank’s Red Hot Drumsticks

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Hello blog-land,

Oh man is it getting toasty in Southern California and like most natives I do enjoy not only the hot summer day but also the occasional hot & spicy dish – some of our favs are spicy crunchy sushi, the amazing kimchi based spicy cream that goes with buttery Hawaiian style ahi poke, and of course spicy Mexican food! But today, we are going to do a twist on a traditionally fried dish. We’re making Hot Wings…but baked…and technically drumsticks…..and they are so good! This appetizer (or main) is so easy and really a crowd pleaser. You could always dunk these bad boys in some oil and fry them up but I generally don’t fry during summer…I mean come on…it’s hot enough already. But the world is your Hot Wing oyster….so to speak…so feel free to do what you like.

The Goods

  • 6 drumsticks (bone in, skin on)
  • 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
  • Seasonings: 2 tsp Garlic Powder, 2 tsp Tumeric, 2 tsp Seasoned Salt (we used Goya Adobo but anything will do), and ground pepper
  • 1 tsp Lemon (juice and rind to make sure your lemon is well scrubbed and rinsed)
  • Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or your fav hot sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons Butter

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Note: I forgot the tumeric in the picture. Don’t be like me, don’t forget your tumeric.

Let’s get baking!

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Time for the marinade. Mix olive oil, garlic powder, tumeric, seasoned salt, a couple of twists of ground pepper, lemon and a touch of rind. Let the chicken sit (20 min to about 2 hours makes the best combo).

When the chicken is done marinating lay them on a baking sheet and bake for 30 min. Turn over and bake another 20-30 min until internal temp gets to 165 degrees. If you want to get a bit more color feel free to put them under the “High” broiler – but watch them! They can burn very quickly.

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Hello Pollo. Feel free to drizzle with a tab of olive oil here to help it get brown and delicious.

Next melt 2 tablespoons of butter (I did this in a tiny glass bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds) and put into a larger bowl. Add in a couple of shakes of garlic powder and S&P as well as 20-30 shakes of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (The bottle had the shaker top. You can’t really overdue the sauce so get at it).

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Let the chicken go for a hot sauce swim.

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Serve up with blue cheese and lemonade spiked with tequila and fresh lime.

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Enjoy!

xoxo Shawna

Summer Veggie Couscous Deliciousness

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Oh man. You know, summer grilling/roasting/eating/general tomfoolery is my favorite. In southern california we are blessed with pretty epic weather for 99% of the year and even though May can be a bit blah the sun still peeks out and days like today warrant fire and vegetables. Our good friend Billy is turning 30 and he’s brining and grilling a 33 lb WHOLE piggy. So, the side dish I’m bringing for the hostess Kiley has got to be equally as fabulous. I’m thinking veggie couscous with a lemon vinaigrette. Let’s get cooking!

The Goods

  • 2 cups uncooked couscous
  • 2 cups water (or broth)
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 3 small zucchini (or any summer squash)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 lemons
  • olive oil
  • dijon mustard
  • S&P and garlic powder
  • If you stick with water or veggie stock this dish is vegan/vegetarian

Annnnnnd go….

  1. Cook up the couscous. Generally you boil equal cups water (in this case 2 cups) and add in the same amount of couscous (again 2 cups), take it off the heat and let sit 4-5 minutes then fluff with a fork until your little heart is content.
  2. Chop up the veggies (bigger than a dice, smaller than a large chunk)
  3. Heat a pan (I used a nonstick pan) on med/hi heat and give her a couple o’ swirls of olive oil
  4. Add veggies and immediately hit it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Always, ALWAYS, season each layer of food you add to the pan. Your guests, your future judges on Chopped and your future children will thank me. So for that, you’re welcome.
  5. Once they are sauteed just until soft (mine had some random brown bits so I went with that) add them and the couscous to a large bowl. Mix it up a bit. Now, dressing time.
  6. Juice two lemons and make sure to remove the seeds. Nobody wants to eat lemon seeds. If they did, you’d probably owe them some money to visit a dentist and we do not have time for that.
  7. In a vessel (glass measuring cup, small bowl, a dressing maker…) mix 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, S&P and garlic powder. Now, drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and whisk away. Whisk. Whisk. Whisk. Now taste.
  8. Don’t dunk your hand in there like a crazed dressing cave woman (or man). Use a spoon. Like the pros do. Resist the urge to double dip said spoon. Trust me, as you get into cooking you end up using lots of spoons and your dear husband (or wife) ends up cleaning a lot of spoons but you know what? The product is usually yummy.
  9. Feel free to double the dressing or add other goodies. It’s really the perfect base.
  10. Pour dressing over couscous and veggies and stir it up. Best served soon after but it’s always yummy for left overs.

Couscous

See. There you have it. The perfect delish veggie couscous salad. Now I have to go eat some pork. Cheers until next post.

xoxo Shawna