Heaven on a Plate

Marinated Wings before Grilling

I am now finding myself obsessed with chicken wings. I don't know why this is the case. My Whole Paycheck has organic and free-range chicken wings that are amazing. This week, I bought two different packages including the drumsticks and the wings. They were DELISH! The morning before I cooked them, I seasoned them up with homemade blackening seasoning, which was a mix of paprika, pepper, salt, cayenne, and garlic and onion powder. The recipe for this rub can be found on the blackened pork chop post.  I put them in a baggie with the seasoning and some EVOO and threw them on the grill that night. My hubs and I enjoyed them immensely, putting our arms on the table and chewing the meat off of the bone. This is not a meal for dainty eaters or for those that don't like bone-in chicken.  

Blackened Chicken Wings and Drumsticks (Serves 4) 

2 packages of wings (around 3 pounds)

2 TBL of blackening rub or your favorite rub (if your rub has salt, be careful how much you add)

Olive Oil

1 big baggie or bowl for marinating

1) Start up your grill with your coals on one side. I used a lot of charcoal because I had a lot of chicken

2) When it is ready, spread the charcoal out around the entire grill

3) Put chicken on the grill 

4) Cover your grill if it is super hot (don't let that chicken burn)

5) Flip the chicken when a nice crust has formed. You want crispy skin on all pieces

6) Be mindful that chicken wings cook faster than small drummies

7) Cook until the juices are no longer run pink. Cut one open if you have doubts

8) Let the chicken rest for five minutes while you get everything else ready

9) Serve them family style. Mine were so good with all that crispy skin

Don't be scared to cook these cheaper and less desirable pieces of meat. Chicken breasts are super expensive and honestly don't have enough fat for my taste. 

3 More Ideas

These wings can be coated with anything. 1) If you like BBQ wings, brush your favorite sauce on the wings at the last minute because the sauce will burn (maybe like 2 minutes before they are done).  2) If you want grilled buffalo wings, mix up butter and hot sauce and then coat the wings with the sauce after they are grilled. Maybe about one cup of hot sauce and 3 TBL of butter. Serve with bleu cheese. 3) For an Asian flare, grill as described and serve with a dipping sauce. Mix 1/4 cup soy sauce or gluten free Tamari, 1 Tsp of brown sugar, a splash of sriracha sauce and 1/2 tsp fresh ginger. Garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges. Remember to always taste your food. If it does not taste good to you, change it up. Be kitchen adventurers!

Plate of Perfectly Cooked Blackened Wings

Easy Sausage and Cabbage Bake

This recipe was taken from Mark Sisson, who wrote the Primal Cookbook. It is a Paleo friendly meal, but could be served with potatoes on the side. I like the idea of cooking things in one pot and this one is super easy for busy home cooks. We ate ours with mustard and giardinara, which is spicy pickled vegetables packed in oil. My hubs can not eat any sort of sausage without giardinara. I am somewhat addicted to it too. I think I may need to come up my own recipe using olive oil instead of the commonly used canola oil.

Sausage and Cabbage (serves 4)


1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Thinly slice green cabbage
3) Thinly slice pork kielbasa. Ours was nitrite free. If using turkey, add more fat to the recipe.
4) Scatter cabbage in a baking dish
5) Place sausage on top of cabbage in one even layer
6) Dollop bacon grease or butter on top of the sausage
7) Salt and Pepper the entire thing
8) Cover the casserole and put in oven for 30 minutes
9) Remove foil and cook for 10 more minutes
10) Serve with mustard or hot pickled vegetables (whatever you like!)

This was a winner. The cabbage was cooked perfectly and honestly, there is no better combination than cabbage and sausage. I actually assembled mine the day before so when I got home, I could immediately put the casserole dish in the oven. Enjoy!

Cowboy Ribeyes

Man oh man, do I love meat...my sister and I cooked a 2.5 pound bone-in ribeye (or cowboy ribeye). It was massive and probably would have cost close to 100 dollars in a steak house. It was so gorgeous. We decided to cook it a little differently than I normally do. Now, I am a tried and true believer in grilling steaks. My husband really can't eat a steak any other way. My sis wanted to prepare it "au poivre" style which really means that course ground pepper is pressed firmly into the steak. When the steak is done, you make a pan sauce with heavy cream and cognac. Traditionally, this preparation is for leaner pieces of meat because the sauce is super rich. But, being good southern girls and die hard meat eaters, we decided that we might as well put this decadent sauce on top of a huge ribeye. Damn, it was f'in good! Here is what we did.

Cowboy Ribeyes "au Poivre" (serves two serious meat eaters with leftovers or a normal family of 4)

1 2-2.5 pound bone-in ribeye (we shopped at whole paycheck for this steak)
2 tbls of peppercorns pounded with a mallet
1-2 tbls of course kosher or sea salt
3 sprigs of Thyme
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cognac for deglazing
Shallot or finely diced onion
1 garlic clove
Butter
Olive Oil

1) Smash peppercorns with a mallet in a baggie. Mix salt and pepper together and put on a plate. Firmly press steak on both sides into the salt and pepper mixture. It is a lot of both, but this steak is huge so you want to flavor it. Let sit for several hours to penetrate the meat.

2) Melt butter and olive oil in the pan. Get the pan smokin' hot. We used a ceramic Le Creuset pan, but castiron would have been preferable.

3) Put steak in hot pan. Sear the fire out of it. DO NOT TOUCH IT! Let it cook for five-seven minutes and then take a peak at the steak. You will likely need to turn the heat down to medium after the initial sear.

4) After 5 minutes, dump out browned oil (ours was butter and it looked black so we got rid of it and added more fat). Then replace some oil and flip steak. Let cook for five minutes.

5) Sear the sides of the meat where all that luxurious fat is. It makes a difference. My sis took tongs and pressed the steak on each side into the pan. It sizzled a lot, but really cooked the fat well.

6) Depending on how you like your steak, you can finish this steak in a 350 oven. Using a meat thermometer, take the meat out when it is five degrees below the desired temperature. There is carry over cooking. We opted against finishing in the oven.  We continued to flip the steak, but turned our heat down. The second side had the MOST AMAZING CRUST I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!

7) Once steak is done, tent it with fool on a plate. Turn down heat and add onion and garlic. Saute quickly. Remove the pan from the heat and then add the cognac. Light it on fire with a lighter. It will blaze, but it really helps cook off the alcohol. Put it back on the heat and stir.

8) Add cream and thyme. Let reduce and thicken. This sauce is soooo freakin good. It can be used on any meats really.

9) Slice meat after 10 minutes of resting. Be careful to cut around the bone. Save the bone for stock!

2.5 pound bone-in ribeye

Peppercorn encrusted steak cooking on first side

Perfectly cooked steak resting (look at that crust!)

Sliced ribeye cooked rare

10) Spoon sauce over the meat. It only needs a little bit.

11) Serve with desired sides, such as a green salad or roasted asparagus. We served ours with roasted yellow beets and a spanish red wine called Tres Picos. Cheers!

Colorful Eating

Arkansas tomatoes, fresh fried egg, bacon, avocado and mixed vegetables

I think that we eat with our eyes first. My obsession with food is often viewed as strange by those in my life. Just because it is breakfast doesn't mean that food should not be pretty and taste good....there is a t-shirt posted by a paleo blog that reads "I don't Eat Crap!" This is my philosophy. I posted this picture because of the colors. It was absolutely delicious. I have been eating veggies for breakfast because they add bulk to my protein. Since changing diets, I have been eating more vegetables than I have ever eaten. It is a good thing.

An easy thing to do for breakfast is to heat up last night's vegetables or add some fresh vegetables and cook them in the fat from the egg and bacon. Always season every layer and pay attention to the way the food looks on your plate. If I am bored, I will eat things I shouldn't. If the plate is pretty and interesting, I am much happier.

Pizza Soup

So I am always coming up with things to eat and drink that are different. I made pizza soup last night. We got home from a short vacay and I didn't have anything to eat for the week. I usually do all of the cooking or at least some of it on the weekends. I decided to make some soup, seeing as how it was 58 degrees last night. Soups are really a versatile food. You can do just about anything with them! I included the ingredients of a pizza in this soup. My husband will probably have bread or pasta with his, but I will just eat it as is. With this soup, you can add hamburger or sausage to the pepperoni (for a meat busters pizza). Olives, broccoli, tomatoes etc are also good. It is versatile. Be creative.

Pizza Soup (serves 4) 

5 ounces of nitrite-free pepperoni
3 stalks celery (diced)
2 large carrots (diced)
6 ounces button mushrooms (sliced)
1 green bell pepper
16 ounce can of tomato sauce (I used organic Muir Glen)
16 ounces water
1 tsp italian seasoning
EVOO
Wine for deglazing

Pour about 1 tbl of olive oil or butter in the pan. Slice up the pepperoni and cook it in the fat. Let the fat rinder (you want to keep that delicious stuff). Remove from pan. Saute onion and mushrooms first. Let the mushrooms brown. Add salt and pepper. Deglaze with wine. Let that evaporate. Then add pepper, carrot, and celery. Saute until soft. Add the tomato sauce and water. Stir and add italian seasoning (fresh herbs would be awesome here!). Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add back in pepperoni. Serve with pasta, rice or bread (for non-paleo eaters). I will just top mine with some mozzarella and eat as is. I calculated the calories in this soup using myfitnesspal and it is around 215, which is not bad for dinner.

The Good Life

This past weekend, my family and I were at our lake house in Heber Springs Arkansas. Wow, it is such a beautiful view from our balcony. We love sunsets. It was such a fun time to sit on the deck and have yummy food and good wine. We had the most amazing sunset on Saturday night....one of the best I have EVER seen. It is in those moments, that I realize how lucky I am to have all that I do. I feel very complete and whole after being there.

Grillin' Machine

Grilled italian sausage

I love to grill. My husband jokes that he has not been able to grill in 6 years. I sort of just took over. I have mastered the art of cooking steaks, chicken breasts, pork chops, sausages, and ribs. Now, I recently attempted a brisket and it was just okay. I wanted to post this picture (please don't judge me for my dirty grill!) because this is how a grill must be set up. Coals on one side and nothing on the other side. That way, you are able to get a char on the meat, but then move it over to finish cooking on the cold part of the grill. These sausages, I started on the hot part, but then moved them over and covered them to allow them to cook without overcooking. This is just a simple trick that I do with all of my meat.