This past Saturday I made a batch of chicken wings with two different sauces.  Both were very tasty.  The first one was a variation of the Chipotle Chicken Thighs marinade, where I used roasted red bell peppers instead of chipotles.  The other recipe was an Orange Chipotle marinade that I kind of came up with just by walking around the grocery store.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Marinade Ingredients:

• 15 oz jar roasted red bell peppers
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 lemon,juiced
• 3 C mayonnaise
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3.5 lbs chicken wings, cut at each joint, tips tossed

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Marinade Instructions:

1. In a blender combine the roasted peppers, cilantro, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and onion and blend till well mixed.
2. Put cut chicken wings in a resealable plastic bag and pour marinade in.
3. Let wings marinate for approximately 4 hours.

Orange Chipotle Marinade Ingredients:

• 2 jars orange marmalade
• 1 7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3.5 lbs chicken wings, cut at each joint, tips tossed

Orange Chipotle Marinade Instructions:

1. In a blender mix in the marmalade, chipotles in adobo sauce, cilantro, and onion and blend till well mixed.
2. Put cut chicken wings in a resealable plastic bag and pour marinade in.
3. Let wings marinate for approximately 4 hours.

Grilling Instructions:

1. Prepare grill for medium indirect heat
2. Place wings on grill away from fire (prevent flare ups)
3. Grill till wings are done, approximately 10-15 minutes

Hashbrown Casserole Ingredients:

• 30 oz bag frozen hashbrowns
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 C sour cream
• 2 C shredded mild cheddar cheese

Hashbrown Casserole Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
2. In a bowl, mix together the sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, and cheese
3. Add in the hashbrowns and mix well
4. Pour mixture into an 8 x 12 baking dish
5. Bake for 45 minutes

Results:

As you can tell I like a couple of ingredients a lot.  Chipotle Peppers in adobo and Cilantro have been two ingredients I have used a lot of this BBQ season.  They both bring in a lot of flavor.  I ended up cooking the wings with low direct heat, and had a lot of flare ups, but wings still came out great.  The chipotle wings had a lot more flavor then the roasted red pepper wings.  Next time I do the roasted red peppers I will probably add in another jar of the roasted red peppers and maybe some seasoning like Paprika.  The chipotle wings had a average spiciness to them, if you are looking for something very spicy, add another 7 oz can of chipotles in adobo.  The Hashbrown casserole is a family favorite and if we do have leftovers they do not sit around for long.

The other day, I decided to cook up some Black Bean Burgers which I had blogged about a couple other times.  They always turn out great, but this time I wanted  to do something different with them.  First off I wanted to add corn kernels to the mixture and use refried black beans.  This is the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients:

• 2 20.5 oz cans refried black beans
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 2 C chunky salsa
• 3 T Tabasco Sauce
• 2 T cumin
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 C plain bread crumbs

I mixed up all the ingredients in a bowl and formed the patties.  I made about 10 patties and probably had enough for 14 patties.  I then put them on the grill over direct medium heat and I noticed right away that they were not going to stick together.  I attempted to turn the patties over around 5 minutes and they completely fell apart.  I could of probably used more bread crumbs, but I do not think this would have held the refried black beans together.  As this ended up being an experiment gone bad, but then my wife pulled out some crackers and dipped it into the black beans and started commenting how much of a great dip this was.  I then had to try it, and she was absolutely correct, so here is the recipe for the Accidental Ultimate Black Bean Dip:

Ingredients:

• 1 20.5 oz cans refried black beans
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 1 C chunky salsa
• 2 T Tabasco Sauce
• 1 T cumin
• 1 white onion, chopped

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together and server with tortilla chips or crackers.

It was grill at work today this past Thursday.  The request this time was for some stuffed jalapenos.  I did a combination of cream cheese stuffed jalapenos and BBQ bacon cheeseburger stuffed jalapenos.  Since we were going to be in meetings all day, I ended up getting in the office at 6 A.M. to get everything prepared.  The first thing I was going to do was to get my charcoal grill setup, but as soon as I pulled into the parking lot, the downpour of rain had started.  We ended up coring and stuffing 55 jalapenos.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos Ingredients:

• 2 packages cream cheese, softened
• 30 jalapenos
• 15 slices of bacon, cut in half

BBQ Bacon Stuffed Jalapeno Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef, browned and fully cooked
• 2 C shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce
• 25 jalapenos
• 13 slices of bacon, cut in half

Instructions:

1. Mix together the ground beef, mild cheddar cheese, and BBQ sauce together in a bowl
2. Remove tops of jalapenos and using a jalapeno corer or potato peeler, remove the core and seeds of the jalapenos, removing as much as possible
3. Rinse the jalapenos of all seeds
4. Place desired filling in a plastic bag with one of the bottom corners cut off
5. Squeeze filling out of plastic bag into jalapenos
6. Top each jalapeno with a 1/2 a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick
7. Grill with medium indirect heat until bacon is completely crisp and the jalapeno is fairly soft, approximately 45 to 60 minutes
8. Let cool and serve

Results:

Stuffed jalapenos are my favorite appetizers, so of course I am going to say these turned out great.  Even though it was a tough grilling day here in Iowa.  As many of you are aware we are having some major flooding in Cedar Rapids, and the rain this past Thursday sure did not help things.  Every time I tried lighting my charcoal grill the rain came pouring down.  Unfortunately the rain forced a lot of the people out of their offices and to their homes before all routes were cut off or to try and prevent flooding inside their house.  But many of the co-workers that tried them, had a lot of complements, which is always good to hear.  There were probably about 10 of us eating them, and all 55 were ate up pretty quick.

Here is the video I filmed to enter the Ultimate Grill Master contest on the Food Network site.  It was a chance to get on a new T.V. show with Bobby Flay called Grill It.  Never heard back, so thought I would post it on my blog as it is a good example on how to stuff jalapenos, and will probably provide some of you some good laughs.

I make a lot of quesadillas at home for snacks or a quick meal when in a rush, as they are simple and easy. 

Ingredients:

• 1/8 C Chopped Pulled Pork (try not using the outside bark of the pulled pork)
• 2 t Mexican/Fajita Seasoning
• 1/8 C Shredded Cheese (I like a good Mexican cheese from the specialty cheese section at the grocery store)
• 2 8-inch flour tortillas
• Butter/Non Stick Spray
• Guacamole
• Chunky Salsa

Instructions:

1. In a skillet over high heat, heat up the pulled pork with the Mexican/Fajita seasoning until pulled pork is cooked through out
2. Remove juices from skillet
3. Let skillet cool down to a medium heat
4. Assemble quesadilla by placing pulled pork and cheese on one tortilla and and topping off with second tortilla
5. Apply butter or non stick spray to skillet to get a nice crisp tortilla without burning
6. Place quesadilla in skillet and let cook for 2 minutes, then flip over and let cook for another 1 or 2 minutes
7. Serve with Guacamole and Salsa

Results:

Tastes great and has a good combination of smoked BBQ flavor with a good Mexican flavor.  As a variation and if you have the grill already going, try to grill these up, maybe with a little bit of wood chips, a definite good way to add additional flavor.