Fiery Wings

Kraft Food and Family Magazine

I found this recipe in Kraft Food & Family Magazine a few years ago and have been using it ever since. It's truly a delicious finger food and great for parties!

1/4 cup Miracle Whip Dressing
1/4 cup corn syrup (I sometime use honey instead)
1 Tbsp hot pepper sauce (I use 2 Tbsps)
12 chicken wings
1/2 tsp. garlic salt (I use garlic powder)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dressing, corn syrup and hot pepper sauce; set aside.

Place wings in single layer on rack in shallow baking pan; sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until wings are crisps and cooked through, brushing frequently with dressing mixture after 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone

Grilled Potatoes and Veggies Packet

Ingredients:
5 potatoes, quartered
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsps water
3 to 4 Tbsps Italian dressing
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
A hand full of baby carrots
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsps Kraft grated parmesan cheese


Place veggies in a large bowl. In a med. boil whisk oil, water, minced garlic and Italian dressing. Pour oil mixture into the bowl of veggie and toss to coat.

Preheat grill to med. heat. Place potatoes in center of Reynolds Foil Packets or a piece of heavy-duty foil. Seal packet on each sides leaving room for heat circulation inside.

Grill 18 to 20 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Cut slits in foil to release steam. Open packet and sprinkle with cheese.


Jill's Comfort Zone

Macaroni Salad

4/12/2009

There are many ways to make macaroni salad. I switch up from time to time with my macaroni salads. I'm just going to list my basic one that I use most of the time. Remember I usually eye ball my measurements and I'm heavy handed so I usually make large portions. I couldn't find a picture where I place the sliced eggs on top. :(

Ingredients:

1 box elbow macaroni, cooked, drained

1 can tuna, drained, flaked

1 can salmon, drained, bones removed, flaked

1 cup celery, finely chopped

1 cup Mayo (add more if needed)

4 boiled eggs, peeled, chopped (save one egg to slice to place on top of salad)

1/2 cup onions

2 to 3 tsps sweet relish

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 to 2 drops of hot sauce

1 small red pepper, finely chopped

Salt & pepper, to taste

paprika to sprinkle on top

Place the cooked/drained macaroni in a large bowl. Remove the cooked egg yolks for three of the boiled eggs and place in a small bowl; use a fork to mash up the egg yolks and set aside. Take the egg whites and chop them up then add to the bowl of macaroni.

In a separate med. size mixing bowl add all the remaining ingredients including the egg yolks you mashed except for the tuna, salmon, salt, paprika, and pepper; and mix well. (This is where I do my taste test to make sure my mayo dressing is the way that I like it.) Add the tuna and salmon to the bowl of macaroni and egg white and mix well.

Now pour mayo dressing in the bowl of macaroni mixture and blend together. Now add your salt and pepper to taste. Place mixture in a bowl or glass dish; garnish with sliced eggs; and sprinkle paprika on top for color.

Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone

Coconut-Curry Shrimp

Please excuse the quality of this picture. When I first decided to start taking pictures on my food which was back in 2006 I had a crappy digital camera as you can see! LOL! I just wanted to put a picture to the recipe. I will be making this again and will take a better picture to replace this one. Sorry. As I was telling you in my Thai Curry Coconut Shrimp blog, my friend HoneyB sent me this recipe to try and I love it! I believe I've made this 2 more times so I probably do have a better picture save on my computer some where. Hopefully I'll find it soon so you don't have to strain your eyes looking at this one! LOL!

HoneyB, I'm re-posting the recipe here because I can't find the link on your blog. LOL!

Ingredients:
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup minced onions
1/2 cup red pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup coconut milk
2 tsps sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb jumbo shrimps
2 Tbsps chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in large nonstick sauce pan over med. heat. Saute onions, red pepper and garlic until veggies begin to soften. Season with cumin, coriander, and curry powder. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, sugar and red crushed pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes. Stir in shrimps and increase heat to med.-high. Cook and stir until shrimps cook through, about 4 minutes. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat.

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!


Jill's Comfort Zone

Thai Curry Coconut Shrimps

5/2/2008

A while back my friend, HoneyB, sent me this Coconut-Curry Shrimp recipe which was delicious!!! Thanks again HoneyB! We truly enjoyed it! Well I was out shopping and ran across some Red Curry Paste and I thought, "I wonder how this would taste with some shrimps?" That's why it takes me so long to shop because I'm always looking for new ingredients to buy and thinking about what I could use it with! SMH!

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
2 to 4 tsps red curry paste
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 lbs jumbo shrimps
1/2 tsp ground pepper medley
1 Tbsp garlic pepper seasoning

Clean shrimps and drain.

Cut up some onions and green peppers. Melt some butter in a sauce pan. Saute the onions and peppers in the pan.

Season the shrimps with seasoning above except for the curry paste and coconut milk; add a little sea salt & crush pepper. After the onions and peppers softens, pour in the coconut milk, add curry paste a little at a time (add as much to your liking) and simmer for about 6 to 8 minutes.

Add shrimps to the pan. And simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve over some Thai Jasmine rice with some Baby Spring Mix Salad and Chunks of pineapples on the side. Yummy!!!

Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone

Grilled Chicken Bites

5/9/2008

I'm always trying to create something new. Food gets boring if you keep eating the same old stuff over and over again. In my house we eat nothing but chicken, seafood and beef oh and lots of veggies. So sometimes I just pull out some herbs, seasonings, etc. and start mixing things together and give it a taste test. If it taste good and my other two taste testers (Beena and Jazzie) approves, then that's what I'm using! LOL! Yeah, I spend too much time in my kitchen but that's what relaxes me!

Below are the ingredients that won the taste test for my Grilled Chicken Bites! I had to adjust the ingredients until I got it right and of cause I didn't write down the measurements when I made this. :( I use my stove top grill when it's cold outside, raining or snowing.

Dried oregano leaves
Cilantro
Garlic & pepper seasoning
Paprika
Peppercorn Medley
Tabasco
Sesame oil
Lea&Perrins Marinade for Chicken
2 to 3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

Wet rub: Take the first 7 ingredients and whisk together. Set aside to use later.

Clean chicken; place chicken in a zip lock baggie and seal; and using a mallet, pound chicken to flatten. Remove chicken from baggie; cut into bite size pieces and place in a sealable bowl. Pour the Lea&Perrins Marinade for Chicken over chicken pieces, toss to coat, seal and place in the fridge to marinade for up to 1 hour or more.

Lightly spray grill with Olive Oil no-stick cooking spray and heat med.-high. Remove chicken from fridge. Once grill is hot, place chicken pieces on grill. Cook for 10 minutes per side, turning once and brush on wet mix after turning the last time.


You can serve this on top of salad too! This is truly delish peeps!

Enjoy!


Jill's Comfort Zone

Onion Rings

I made this for my housewarming a few years ago. I believe I found this is one of my Rachael Ray Magazines but not too sure. Like I meantioned in my Egg Roll blog, I didn't have time to take pics! Next time I make this I will add a little more salt because they didn't have enough flavor to me. But everyone else enjoyed it.

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 Tbsps all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp coarse salt, plus more for seasoning
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup beer
1 large egg
4 cups peanut oil
2 large white onions, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick and separated into rings

Combine flour, cumin, cayenne, and 1 tsp salt in a med. bowl. Slowly whisk in buttermilk, beer, and egg until smooth. Let batter stand 15 minutes.

In a large saucepan, heat oil over med.-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375. Working in batches, dip onion slices in batter, turning to coat. Gently drop slices into hot oil. Cook, turning rings once, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. (Adjust heat between batches as necessary to keep oil at a steady temperature.)

Use a slotted spoon to transfer rings to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Season immediately with salt.

Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone

Southwest Stuffed Burgers

Rachael Ray Magazine

I seen this in one of my Rachael Ray Magazines and just had to try it! These were truly delish and each time I make them me and my girls enjoy them every time. Of cause I don't stick to the recipe. I make my own salsa, use different cheeses (like the pic above, I used Muenster cheese), and sometimes I use ground turkey or chicken instead of ground beef. Doesn't matter which way I go with it it's always delicious!


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup Mayonnaise, divided
1 pkg. (1 1/4oz.) Taco Bell Home Originals Taco Seasoning Mix
1/2 cup Kraft Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese Crumbles
1/2 cup Taco Bell Originals Salsa, divided
6 lettuce leaves
6 slices tomato
6 hamburger buns, split

Preheat greased grill to medium-high heat. Mix meat, 3 Tbsps of the mayo and the seasoning mix; shape into 12 thin patties. Combine cheese and 2 Tbsps of the salsa; spoon over 6 of the patties. Cover each with one of the remaining patties; pinch edges together to seal.

Grill 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through (160 f). Place burgers on top rack of grill, place slice of cheese on top and let melt. Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 Tbsps salsa and remaining 1 Tbsp mayo.

Place lettuce, tomatoes and burgers on bottom halves of buns; top with salsa mixture. Cover with tops of buns.

Enjoy!


Jill's Comfort Zone

Prosciutto Wrapped Cornish Hens

Oh my, this is truly delicious folks. The prosciutto was a tad bit crispy but yet delish!!! Next time I make this I will cover the hens for the first 30 minutes of baking and then uncover them for the remainder cooking time so the prosciutto won't over cook. So make sure you cover the hens...

Ingredients:

3 Cornish hens
Salt & pepper, to taste
Zest of a lemon
3 Tbsps honey
1/2 stick of butter
1 pk 5.29 oz of prosciutto

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Clean hens and pat dry and season w. salt & pepper. Mix lemon zest, honey and melted butter. Brush on honey mixture. Wrap prosciutto around each hen, secure prosciutto with toothpicks, and brush w. honey mixture again.
Cover hens with foil for the first 30 minutes of cooking, remove from oven, remove foil and brush with honey mixture again then return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes.
Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone

Baked BBQ Beans

Ingredients:

2 (16oz) cans vegetarian beans
4 slices cooked bacon, cut into strips
2 Tbsps brown sugar
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1 med. onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
Pinch of cayenne

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour into a baking dish. Bake, covered, for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!


Jill's Comfort Zone

Jill's Butterscotch Strawberry Dessert

My girls truly love this dessert!


Ingredients:
1 pint strawberry's, rinsed and sliced
1/4 powdered sugar
Edy's slow churned rich & creamy vanilla ice cream
1 cup nestle butterscotch morsels

Toss sliced strawberries in bowl with powder sugar and set a side. In microwaveable glass bowl, melt morsels for approximately, 2 to 3 minutes high in microwave, stirring after each minute.

Scoop ice cream and place on dessert dish or in bowl, top with strawberry and drizzle butterscotch on top.

Enjoy!


Jill's Comfort Zone

Shrimp & Broccoli

July 8, 2009

Oh I was having seafood withdrawals!!! I don't live close to a fish market so I don't get the chance to go as frequent as I would like to! That's one thing I miss about New York City! No matter where you live there's always a fish market near by!!! I love me some seafood! Especially a nice Whiting sandwich on rye bread with lots of hot sauce!!! My mouth is watering right now! That's another thing I haven't found yet since I've been in PA...fresh Whitings! All they sell is those nasty frozen Whitings. I like my seafood fresh! So I decided to have a Seafood Fest one night! I played around with some ingredients and came up with a lovely dish of Shrimp & Broccoli to add to my mini seafood fest! We had all this delicious seafood and no veggies so I had to come up with something.

Yummy! It came out great! Don't really measure so you'll just have to use your best judgment...that's what I did and the sauce was really delish! I served it over some white long grain rice.

Ingredients:

1 lb of fresh extra large gulf shrimps
fresh broccoli
chicken broth
canola oil
crushed garlic
powdered ginger
rice vinegar
corn starch
diced onions
crushed red pepper flakes
paprika
green peppers
bean sprouts (canned...I didn't have time to pick up fresh ones)
soy sauce
Salt & Pepper, to taste

I combined chicken broth, ginger, rice vinegar, paprika, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and corn starch in a measuring cup and whisked until corn starch dissolved. In a sauce pan I heat oil and then sauteed onions and garlic. Then I poured in gravy mixture followed by broccoli, shrimps, and green peppers. Cover & simmered for 5 minutes or so and then added the bean sprouts...salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Mini Seafood Fest at home: crab legs, broiled Lobster Tails, fried jumbo battered shrimps, fried porgies, salad, spicy Western fries and shrimp & broccoli served on top of white rice!

BAM!!!! We are overdue for another Seafood Fest! :(

Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone

Pecan Pie

Christmas 2008: My friend, Kevin begged me to baked him a pecan pie for Christmas. All because someone gave him a slice one day. As I have stated before, I am not a baker but I'm not bad at it either. So since he gave me the money for the ingredients, I was tied into a legal binding contract! LOL! That is how it works right? SMH! The things I do for my friends but it's worth it! They are good to me and my girls so this is nothing. Besides...I enjoy experimenting anyway! ;)

Browsing the Internet for a recipe I finally came across one (can't remember which site I found it on). While reading the recipe I thought to myself (ewwww...this is going to be to sweet for me. Oh well, it's for a friend and I did promise I'd make it for him.) I'm not into the sweets area. I'm more of a savory girl and a chip lover! Well the pie turned out great and it wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be at all!

Put 1 cup of pecans in the microwave for 1 minute. Take out and turn them over and put back in for another minute. If they don't look done, put them in for another minute.

Chop the pecans so that each has been chopped in half.

Pie Crust (I brought I frozen one):
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 6 Tbsps unsalted butter
- 6 Tbsps shortening
- 6 to 8 Tbsps ice water

Mix in a large bowl 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp sugar. The mix in 6 Tbsps butter, 6 Tbsps shortening, and 6 to 8 Tbsps ice water.

*I just wanted to add photos to this blog.  3/17/2013


Wrap pie crust in plastic wrap; then place in the frig for at least 20 minutes or as long as it takes you to make the pie filling.

Pie Filling:
- 1 cup white corn syrup
- 1 cup brown sugar
-1/3 tsp salt
-1/3 cup melted butter
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 eggs
-2 cups roasted pecans

Melt butter; preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1 cup corn syrup, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/3 tsp salt and tsp vanilla in a bowl and mix. Slightly beat eggs and the add eggs to the batter and stir well.

Take pie dough out and roll it out flat. It should be 1/8 of an inch in thickness. Apply more flour to rolling pin. Wrap the dough around pin and unroll it into pie pan. Cut off excess crust.

Pinch around the edge so it folds in half. Now go around the edges and pinch to create a wave shape. Pour in filling. Sprinkle 2 cups of pecans on the top of the pie filling. Some pecans will sink into the filling, while others will remain on top. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

After pie has been in over for about 30 minutes, take it out, put foil around the edges to keep from burning. Return to oven. After an hour, stick a knife in the middle to test for doneness. If the knife comes out clean, its done.

Enjoy!

My girls had another great Christmas and so did Tipsy (our cat)!


















































Jill's Comfort Zone

Spicy Cajun Shrimp Dirty Rice

3/25/2009

I just love spicy food! If your looking for something quick, simple and delish, this is it folks!

Ingredients:

2 dozen large shrimp
1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed basil leaves
1/2 tsp oregano
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 cup beer, room temp.
1 cup green onion, chopped (You can use less if you want...I just love onions!)
3 cups of cooked dirty rice

After you have removed the shells and cleaned the shrimp, set aside. In a small bowl combine the seasonings. Combine butter, garlic, Worcestershire, and seasonings in a large skillet. When butter melts add the tomato and the shrimps. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add beer and cover; cook 1 minute longer. Add green onions and remove from heat.

*I used Zatarain's Dirty Rice and followed directions on the box except for adding the ground beef. Take the cooked rice and mix with the shrimp in the same skilled until well blended. I served this will salad.



Enjoy!


Jill's Comfort Zone

Grilled Pizza w. Summer Vegetables & Fontina Cheese

Cooking Pleasures Magazine
8/7/2009

I've never grilled a pizza before and boy was this the best pizza ever I ever made! I made two of these babies and they were truly delish! The girls don't care for onions and tomatoes that much but they truly enjoyed this pizza. Using the sweet onions made it easy on the taste buds. This was also my first time trying Fontina cheese and I truly enjoyed it! I use it in my Baked Macaroni & Cheese . haha! Did I tell you how much I love cheese? Yummy!




1 1/2 Tbsps Olive oil, divided
12 asparagus spears, sliced
1/2 large sweet onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1/2 large red bell pepper, sliced (I added yellow pepper too!)
1 (14 oz) baked pizza crust
1 large tomato, sliced (I'm going to slice mines as thin as possible!)
1 cup cubed fontina cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I didn't have fresh basil so I used a little dried basil)
1/2 tsp coarse salt

*I didn't use the green pepper because I felt it would over power the taste of the other veggies.


Heat 1/2 Tbsp of the oil in large skillet over med.-high heat until hot. Cook asparagus 2 to 3 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally; remove asparagus. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil in same skillet until hot. Cook onion and bell pepper 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. (I cooked my veggies for lesser time because I like mines crunchy!)

Heat grill. Place crust on large baking sheet (I used my pizza pan); arrange tomato slices over crust. top with asparagus, onion and bell pepper; sprinkle with cheese. Slide pizza onto grill. Grill, covered, over low heat or coals 10 to 15 minutes or until bottom of crust is crisp and dark brown and cheese is melted, rotating crust occasionally. Sprinkle with basil and salt. Add a little red crush pepper for some heat and your good to go!!!

Enjoy!

Jill's Comfort Zone