Tag Archives: broccoli

Sriracha Honey Chicken Wings and Garlic Grilled Broccoli

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In college we used to go to this thing called Two times Tuesdays where you could get 2 for 1 wings. I’d like to formally and publicly apologize to Two times Tuesdays for not respecting the wonderful tradition of bone-in chicken wings. Yes, all, I am a boneless wings person. That is, until I tried these wings.

Oh I’ve had my fair share of chicken wings – but the sweet and tangyness of these combined with the slight grill char were SO ON PAR for an evening that I’d describe as fall clinging on to a past relationship that is summer (i.e. we are ready for fall food, but it’s kind of still hot in Atlanta). I have to say thank you to my friend Mike for teaching me how to make chicken wings and for prepping this whole meal! If you are low on dollars and low on time, I’d highly suggest this meal! The chicken only took around twenty minutes on the grill, and the marinade for the garlic should only take the day to absorb flavors.

So I’m actually talking from the perspective of Mike considering I did very little work here – but I’d love to transfer knowledge over to any of you all who are also first time wings grillers so I’ll share from my perspective.

The chicken did not have any marinade. I didn’t know this about wings! All you really have to do is cook the wings on their own (skin on) and then add the sauce in at the end. WHABAM – deliciousness. For some reason I feel very cartoonish about wings, like they should have some kitschy thought bubble that speaks with Emeril Lagasse’s voice saying “Bam!”

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Anyways, so Mike was kind enough to cut the wing tips off the wings for us before we cooked and had prepped the sauce for the Honey Sriracha Wings. This is literally all we did:

Prepped the grill – make sure to take your time to let it heat up medium/medium high heat. Mike had already prepped the sauce so we just put it on low on a burner to keep the sauce warm. If you hadn’t prepped in advance, make sauce. Add the chicken wings onto the grill, rotating every 2 minutes or so to evenly cook them. After about 20-25 minutes, wings were about done and we tossed them in the sauce and voila! a carnivorous meal. 2014-10-09 20.11.48

This is the recipe for the Neely’s Spenser’s Grilled Broccoli. The great thing about something like this is  you can really use whatever kind of vinegar you have on hand or dry rub. I think Mike has his own dry rub that he likes to use for grilling and had red wine instead of white wine vinegar. All the power to ya to use your fave flavor. I really think the only thing you need to nail here is 1) not overcooking the broccoli and 2) adding garlic.

You want to blanch the broccoli so that it just barely cooks. That way, when you add it to the grill, it won’t take very long to cook but will get a nice smoky grill flavor. So, if you think once you’ve blanched the broccoli it still looks raw – that’s actually a good thing. Mike marinated this for the day I think? and we simply put it on some aluminum foil on the grill about 5 minutes before the chicken were done cooking.

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Make this please!! And put your feet up, relax, and drink some Sweetwater 420 like we did to celebrate the fact that it’s a Thursday night and you just grilled chicken wings and managed to complete a long jog with the maniac that is Mike Kerrigan. Woo!2014-10-09 20.58.07

Sister favorites: Shrimp Broccoli Pasta with Lemon and Garlic

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This is a dish that has a long-standing history with my family. It’s kind of funny because we don’t really have a recipe, and everyone thinks of it as a different dish based on their preferences. My sister loves asparagus and lemon, my Mom loves broccoli and garlic so she thought that was supposed to be in it, and my Dad loves spicy red pepper flakes in his. Me? I want everything cooked perfectly and for the flavor to be RICCHHH 🙂

I have adapted a few different ways we cook it to basically my base for all olive oil sauces. For one thing, I really like my broccoli not too crunchy but not too soft either. I want the sauce to not have cream, but I want it to still be a sauce and not a broth. I want there to be that delicious white wine flavor and lemon acidity, but I don’t want to make a sour face while I’m eating this. No one said you can have the best of both worlds (ok maybe Miley did) but in this case, I think you can!

By the way, here’s a snapshot of what happens when two people who love each other hug and get their earrings caught, lol. The kitchen is a dangerous place.

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Here’s my ingredient list:

1 bag of broccoli florets, about 1 head, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for taste

1 lb deveined raw shrimp (I used frozen, fresh obviously works

5 big cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 small pinches red pepper flakes

1-2 lemons

kosher salt

fresh black pepper

cooking water (see instructions)

1 lb long pasta (linguini is our favorite, I had spaghetti on hand here)

fresh Italian or curly parsley

1. Boil water for your pasta in a large dutch oven/pasta pot.

2. Place a steamer basket in water simmering in a small pot. In two batches, or one if your steamer basket fits all the broccoli, steam your broccoli for 2-4 minutes, until the florets are turning bright green but not quite soft! This is just the way I like it to get a little crunch off it

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3. Once the water is boiling, add pasta and season with salt. Set a cup next to your pot to save some cooking liquid after the pasta is almost done.

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4. Meanwhile, thaw your shrimp if frozen in a colander by rinsing with very cold water. I like to leave the tails on, but take them off if you prefer.

5. Heat a wide saucepan/skillet and add your 1/4 cup oil. Once warm, add your garlic. This can burn so watch carefully! I’d only cook it for 1-2 minutes just until it becomes fragrant. Then, add your half cup of wine, and turn up the heat just for a minute to cook off the alcohol.

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6. Continuing with the sauce: Zest half of a lemon into the sauce, sprinkle about 2 big pinches of kosher salt, some cracked pepper, and the juice of 1-2 lemons. Add in the partially cooked broccoli, and add enough red pepper flakes to your liking.

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7. Save some cooking liquid from the pasta pot, about 1/2 cup. This will help thicken up the sauce. Then, drain the pasta in a colander.

8. After the broccoli softens more and the sauce thickens, add in your shrimp and some of the pasta cooking liquid. Make sure everyone is touching the pan. Sprinkle again lightly with salt and pepper and more olive oil if you need it. Flip after the shrimp are starting to turn pink and cook for another 2 minutes until the other side turns pink. Watch these carefully they have the tendency to cook fast!!

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9.  Add pasta in small batches to the pan so that you can monitor the sauce:pasta ratio. Squeeze some lemon to finish and garnish with fresh chopped parsley!

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