NY, meet KY.

Legend has it that the first buffalo chicken wing was created at the Anchor Bar Restaurant in Buffalo, NY in 1964. I was informed of this bit of culinary trivia by my brother Sean after he and his family returned from a visit at that landmark establishment. According to one version of the story, the recipe was prompted by the late night arrival of the owner's son and his ravenous friends. Taking part of the chicken she would normally use for stock, Teressa Bellissimo cooked up the now famous recipe.

So leave it to me, a New York girl, to have to go all the way to Kentucky to try to best Buffalo Chicken Dip I have ever tasted! While visiting Mr. B's family this past weekend, I was lucky enough to sample this delish recipe made by his sister-in-law. And I just had to have it! Luckily, she was willing to share, so here it is:

Buffalo Chicken Dip (serves 12, or 2, depending)


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (abt. 2lbs)
1 120z. bottle Frank's Hot Sauce (legend has it this is what Teressa used)
2 80z. packages cream cheese, softened
1 16oz. bottle blue cheese salad dressing (or Ranch)
80z. shredded sharp cheddar or Monterey Jack (or both!)


Pre-heat oven to 350. 
In a large pot, boil the chicken until cooked through and shred with two forks. 
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine cream cheese and dressing, stirring until well blended. 
In a large bowl, combine chicken and hot sauce, until chicken is well-coated. Spread chicken mixture in a 13 x 9 glass dish. Cover with cream cheese/dressing mixture. 
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top and bake another 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

dietetic, it ain't

Now, you may wonder, aside from the Anchor Bar tie-in, why you should use Frank's and not say, Tabasco. Both are Louisiana style hot sauces, consisting primarily of cayenne, vinegar and salt. Tabasco, however, is aged in white oak barrels for three years, whereas Frank's, Trappey's, and other variations aren't. I can't really speak to all the nuances of hot sauce, not being the connoisseur of it that I am of wine, in which sometimes oaky is good and sometimes not so much. So, should you use only Frank's? The answer is yes, and no, depending on what you like. You gotta eat it after all! 

I think this is the perfect party dip, filled with so much creamy, chicken-y, cheese-y goodness, you will have a hard time not eating the entire thing before your guests arrive. Now I just have to have a party! Or I could just make it for me and Mr. B. You don't think that's too gluttonous, do you?

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. 

J. R. R. Tolkien

Cobbled Together

As far as desserts go, I always think of cobbler as the more virtuous of the pastry options. This is probably foolish on my part, but the fruit allows me to convince myself that I am not being that naughty.

This recipe for Cherry-Apricot Cobbler was originally published in Bon Appetit magazine. This cobbler doesn't require fresh fruit, so it's the perfect summer into fall cobbler recipe. Since we are staring autumn square in the face (the equinox is this week), I thought I should share a recipe that had an autumnal feel. And, since I just got back from Kentucky, I thought it ought to have a little bourbon in it!

Cherry-Apricot Cobbler
Serves 8


Ingredients:
Filling:
3 14.5 oz cans pitted tart cherries in water, drained
1 1/2 cups dried apricots, diced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice


Topping:
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 11x7x2" glass baking dish. Combine cherries, apricot, 3/4 cup sugar, almond extract and allspice in a large bowl until fruit is well-coated. Spread evenly in prepared dish.


Whisk together wheat flour, 1/2 cup sugar, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Add in eggs, milk, bourbon, lemon peel and vanilla. Combine well. Spoon mixture over fruit filling.


Bake until topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling thickly at edges, about 50 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Goin' to Kentucky

I'll be in Kentucky this weekend visiting Mr. B's family. So you won't be hearing from me for a few days. Since I'm sure you'll miss my posts desperately, I thought I'd leave you with some booze for thought.


In case you didn't know, a full 95% of all bourbon made comes from Kentucky. This week, September 13-18, 2011 is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, Kentucky,  advertised as "6 full days of smooth Bourbon, delicious food, and great entertainment." I don't know about you but I wouldn't last 6 full days of smooth Bourbon! I definitely believe in the adage, "brown liquor makes you sicker quicker." Oddly, I, a clear liquor kind of gal,  seem to drink bourbon whenever I am in the Bluegrass State. I mean, nothin' beats a mint julep on a hot summer's day at the Downs.


Of course, there is that joke Mr. B tells about making the perfect mint julep: First, pluck the finest mint in the fresh morning dew. Muddle said mint with homemade sugar syrup in a shaker glass. Add crushed ice to the glass and stir. Pour a jigger of bourbon. Dump out the shaker glass and drink the bourbon. 

However, the official drink of the 2011 Kentucky Bourbon Festival is not a mint julep or a shot of bourbon. It is the "Bluegrass Sunrise" created by Azur Restaurant and Patio in Lexington, a take on the classic Tequila Sunrise. 

Bluegrass Sunrise

1 and 1/4 oz Makers 46

¾ oz Grand Marnier

4 oz orange juice

Splash of grenadine

Shake & Strain

Serve in chilled martini glass

Garnish with orange twist & cherry

Sounds pretty good, don't you think? Of course, you won't be catching Mr. B or any of his relations imbibing such a cocktail. They drink their bourbon the way God intended, sans fruity additions. 'Cause they're no nonsense folks. 

Of course, there are a lot of culinary uses for bourbon. So, here's a recipe to make this weekend to celebrate Bourbon Festival whereever you are.  

Bourbon-Molasses Chicken Drumsticks Bon Appétit | July 2004

Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1 cup minced onion 1 cup ketchup 1/4 cup molasses 2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons yellow mustard 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided 1/4 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 cup bourbon 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt 12 chicken drumsticks Preparation: Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until soft, about 6 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and chili powder. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Stir in bourbon; cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Mix 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in bowl. Loosen skin on drumsticks. Rub salt and pepper mixture under skin without tearing skin. Cover; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Grill drumsticks until skin is crisp and juices run clear, turning to cook all sides, about 25 minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup barbecue sauce to small bowl; reserve. Brush drumsticks with remaining sauce and cook until glaze forms, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer drumsticks to platter and serve with reserved sauce.

See you Monday! 

Return of the Toe Crusher

Well, I finally got around to putting batting on the ottoman. This wasn't as simple a job as it could have been as my staples would not take hold in the base of the table. I now know this is because my table is not actually wood but some sort of space-age polymer that for the life of me refused to accept a staple.

Be that as it may, I wasn't about to give up. So out came the hot glue gun and, with some maneuvering, I managed to affix the quilting batting to the ottoman! Halleluia! Of course, nobody ever told me about the perils of hot glue and ploy batting, that bits of fiber sticks to the gun and then your hand and then your pants.

Of course tucking in the ends was a bit tricky without the use of staples, but I managed to get the batting to stay pretty well secured. I wasn't going to let the Toe Crusher defeat me!

After battling the batting, I didn't have the energy to even think about the fabric. You see, now I know I have to glue it, which makes me a little nervous. Since the fabric is not a solid like the ones on the dining room chairs, it's going to be tricky. When working with a pattern, you always want to make sure it's centered and straight, but with hot glue, there's more room for movement. The end result is anyone's guess.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets!

No Greater Love

There is no love sincerer than the love of food. 

- George Bernard Shaw

Picker with a Vision

As the saying goes, One man's trash is another man's treasure. I subscribe to this but with the caveat that in order for something to be treasure, it generally has to be made a little less trashy. It is currently somewhat fashionable to be a "picker" i.e. one who takes other people's cast-offs and brings them back to market, usually to antique dealers. The tv show American Pickers showcases this lifestyle.

I, however, am a more personal picker, meaning I keep the things I pick for my personal use. I have found perfectly good items on the curb on garbage day, which is quite a common occurrence in NY. One of my finds was this quilt rack, found in perfect condition on the sidewalk in Brooklyn on a walk home from the park with my friend Jeannie and her kids. Her husband thought I was nuts when I picked it up and took it with me, but all it needed was a good cleaning. Now it's used in my bedroom for the extra blankets that I always need.

Another great find was this table:

Now you must understand, this table looked NOTHING like this when I found it outside my apartment. First, it was brown. Second, it was decorated in a very cheesy Cowboys and Indians motif suitable for a little boys room circa 1957. By which I mean: the top was cushioned and upholstered in beige pleather that was attached by twine looped through holes drilled at one inch intervals in the top and the multicolored plastic knob had feathers and beads hanging from it. Ick! I wish I had taken a before picture, but this was prior to my desire to document such things.

I felt the table had potential. It was a small enough that I thought I could use it in my bathroom to hold toilet paper in its cabinet and maybe a candle on top. So I brought it home and proceeded to pull off all the cheesiness.

Then I filled the holes with wood putty, sanded, primed and painted it a glossy white. I figured I was done. I was telling a friend of Mr. B's all about it (she likes to do a little dumpster diving herself) and she said I wasn't a picker, I was a picker with a vision. Hmm, I liked it.

I revisited the table. The painted-over knob looked weird, so I thought maybe I'd silver leaf it. But again, my silver leaf fear caused me to procrastinate this for some time. Well, a year went by and I moved. It was time.

So finally I silver leafed the knob! Then I painted the top a glossy black, leaving the rest of the table glossy white. I really like it now. Of course, I don't know where to put it, since I have a different bathroom now, with plenty of room for the toilet paper.