Homemade Garlic Parmesan Wings

These homemade Garlic Parmesan Wings make a nice hot lunch, or an appetizer, or make them in quantity and share with friends. I make this is batches of 5 wings, because it’s just me.  So if you want more - scale up the ingredients. 

5 Wings – fresh, or thawed fully. I like the bigger ones if you can get them. 

Dry mix - Put together in a bowl 1 cup of flour and about a tsp or so of Italian dried herbs. I use something called McCormick’s Perfect pinch Italian seasoning but you could make your own blend easy enough. Add about two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese… either the stuff that comes in the green canister or if you’re using fresh you’ll want it grated very fine, like tiny breadcrumbs. Some folks would add a shake of salt to this, but that’s up to you.

Wet mix – crack either one extra large or two regular eggs into a separate bowl. I use two. Add a tsp or more garlic – fresh, or the stuff that comes in a jar from the store.  Add a few drops of olive oil.  Beat that all up til frothy.

I heat up a little marinara or spaghetti sauce to dip in, and add a little more Parmesan to it.

Take the wings, roll them quickly in the dry mix, and then let them sit for a bit – at least 15 minutes.  This helps the chicken dry so the crust will form better.   While they are sitting, mix up the wet mix. 

Take your wings that have been sitting resting and dip into the wet mix to coat them.  Then dip them again into the dry mix fully covering them. Lay them out on a small rack or plate that will fit in the fridge.  This works best if one hand coats with the wet mix, and another coats with the dry mix.  The wings now sit either overnight or for at least a hour or so in the fridge. Don’t stack them up, lay them flat. This seems like a silly thing but I’ve discovered that this resting cold with the dry-wet-dry coating really makes a difference in how crunchy they are.

I deep fry these wings in Crisco. I’m lucky enough to have a secondhand deep fryer (a Presto – Granpappy fryer), but you could do it in a cast iron Dutch oven on the stove. You’ll want about three inches of Crisco, so get yourself a couple of big cans, and just commit that fat to deep frying*.  Heat the fat up to 350 degrees before you start.  Make sure there’s plenty of room for them to fit – I add one at a time, and sometimes if they are bigger only do three at a time, In a Dutch oven, probably 5 at a time is fine. The wings should reach an internal temp of 165 degrees. In the Fryer this takes 7-8 minutes, but your time may vary.



* Once you’re done cooking the wings in the cast iron pan, let the whole thing go cold. The Crisco can be used again for a number of times.

Garlic Butter Meatballs

Garlic Butter Meatballs

1 lb. ground chicken
5 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp. butter
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

In a large bowl mix together ground chicken, 2 garlic cloves, egg, Parmesan, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper then form into tablespoon sized meatballs.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and cook meatballs until golden on all sides and cooked through, 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and wipe out skillet with a paper towel.

Melt butter in skillet then add remaining 3 garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.

Add cooked pasta (or zucchini noodles) to skillet and toss in garlic butter then squeeze in lemon juice.
Add meatballs back and heat just until warmed through. Garnish with Parmesan to serve.



Thanks to https://www.delish.com/cooking/a23029289/baked-chicken-thighs/

Scallopini

This recipe is originally for veal scallopini, but the veal can be substituted with thin sliced chicken breasts if that is preferred. Makes 3-4 Servings.

1 pound veal round steak, well trimmed
1/2 grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Pound the cheese into the sides of the meat until the cheese is used up and the meat is 1/4 inch thick. salt and pepper both sides to taste and then cut into 2 inch strips.  You can do this part all the day before if wanted..

put them in a skillet and add
a crushed garlic clove
1/4 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup white wine or vermouth.

Simmer it all together for a half hour before serving. Some folks add sauteed mushrooms too.

Freezer Meatballs

Yes, a recipe for meatballs. I know you probably throw them together like I often do - some ground beef, some seasoned breadcrumbs from the store and a tad bit of milk, and I've got enough to make dinner. There's a lot of things you can do with meatballs besides just spaghetti. So this recipe makes a whole lot of meatballs. Put them in the freezer and then you can just whip them out and make - Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry. This ia starter recipe. To follow will be other recipes of things you can do with meatballs - these meatballs, which you make up and then freeze in packages of 24.

Freezer Meatballs:
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 cups soft breadcrumbs ( from 4 slices bread)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 pounds ground beef  The ground beef can be partially replaced with other ground meats such as chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, venison. Don't replace all of it, because its too lean the texture and flavor change.

In large bowl, beat eggs and then add alll but the meat. Once that has been throughly combined, mix in the ground meat.  Then chill it until cold, usually an hour is plenty of time.

With wet hands,  shape mixture into 6 dozen 1 inch meatballs. Bake meatballs in a couple of baking dishes at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or so. spread meatballs on a sheet pan, put into the freezer just til frozen. Then take frozen meatballs and package into three 24 meatball containers.

Now you 've got the beginnings of a few meals. Make Spaghetti and Meatballs. Make Sweet and Sour meatballs using my Something Sweet & Sour recipe over rice or hot chow mien noodles. Make...

Meatball Rolls
Take a container of Freezer meatballs, and add a jar of your favorite spagetti sauce. Simmer that until heated through.In a small skillet, take a whole green pepper, cut it in strips, and fry in butter with a medium onion until tender. For each roll, put four meatballs on the bottom, add some onions and pepper and then spoon more of the spaghetti sauce over the roll. Top off with a tad bit of Parmesan cheese and you're all set to eat.