What's Cooking?

This afternoon I came to a realization... I hate cooking. I cook everyday of my life at least once a day. Figuring out what to cook is frustrating. Preparing is a disaster. Clean up is a hassle. But we gotta eat and we are too poor for an in house chef (my fantasy) even eating out everyday is not an option.

OK... I guess I overstated it a bit. This is just the build up of a days and days of being a short order cook for four lousy tippers.

Many of our happiest family memories are in the kitchen over a bowl of cookie dough or a griddle of silver dollar pancakes. All three kids love to help prepare meals and Ben is the best guinea pig ever! I have a repertoire of recipes I prepare regularly, but every now an then I'll try something new. Sometimes it flies and sometimes it flops.

This weekend I had a taste for Buffalo Wings (skinless, boneless to be exact). My relationship with Buffalo Wings is an interesting one. I used to despise them. The smell would turn my stomach. Then during my pregnancy with Owen I started craving them almost daily. Not being one to deny a pregnancy craving I ate them and I liked them! And would eat them in a train... in a box... with a fox! I've heard they aren't hard to make at home and I gave it a whirl.

Here's the recipe I chose:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp margarine or butter
1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
about 2 lbs chicken
vegetable oil or olive oil

You just mix the first four ingredients to coat the chicken pieces in. Then mix the next four for the sauce. You coat the chicken in the flour then brown in small batches in the oil in a pan on the stove top. Remove them from the pan and dip them in the sauce and place on a baking sheet. If you have extra sauce, pour it over the chicken. Bake the chicken at 350 for 5-10 minutes. And voila... Buffalo Chicken!

I tweaked the recipe some. After I mixed the butter, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce it seems too Worcestershirey so I added more hot sauce. Ben loved it and declared it "better than a restaurant." I am not so sure. They were good, but not quite true Buffalo Wings. The next time I may only use one or two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.

As for the name of this recipe? I cut the chicken into nugget sized portions so I started calling them Buffalo Nuggets and of course, Buf Nugs for short. Ben said it and I was thinking it...great minds, huh?

One more side note... I left the sauce off some of the nuggets and baked them on a separate baking sheet for Emeline and Owen because I thought the hot sauce might be too much for them. They were moist and delicious. Reminded me of Chick-Fil-A nuggets, but way less greasy. They ate 'em up!

I will be adding Buf Nugs to the rotation especially for football nights and parties!