Food and Drink: Fully Cooked

Ingredients

• Sweet and slightly spicey chicken wing dry rub
• 3 pounds of chicken wings

Oven Directions:

• Heat oven to 425
• Coat the chicken wings with the rub
• Line a large baking sheet for lazy cleanup! Then put down oven safe cooling racks. Spread out the wings on the cooling racks.
• Bake 35-40 minutes. Done temperature is 160 degrees.

Smoker Directions:

• Heat smoker to 250
• Wood of your choice
• Smoke 1.5 to 2 hours
• If you like it a little crispier you can raise the heat towards the end, but this will also make it cook faster so adjust times accordinly.

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion
• 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 16 oz can of great northern beans
• .5 cup whole kernal corn (I use frozen)
• 1 can diced green chilis
• 1 tb chili powder
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 2 oz cream cheese
• .5 cup sour cream
• milk to thin
• shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• olive oil

Directions:

• Dice the onion and cook in olive oil, in a large stockpot, until translucent.
• Chop the chicken and add to the stockpot. Cook through before adding other ingredients.
• Seed the poblano and large dice.
• Add the poblano and next seven ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, until hot and the cream cheese has melted into the chili.
• Add milk to thin until desired thickness.
• Garnish with shredded cheese when serving.

If it's the middle of winter and you really want a delicious, but high calorie variation, sometimes I use the entire block of cream cheese and also add a half pint of heavy whipping cream. So good. But also so much fat.

Ingredients

• 1 orange
• 1 mini cucumber
• 1 lime
• Grated cotija cheese (I buy a block and grate it myself usually)
• Peanuts (about a handful; roasted, unsalted preferred)
• Garlic paste
• Fresh mint
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Thinly slice mini cucumber and put in a mixing bowl along with about 1 teaspoon of garlic paste.
• Add the juice from half a lime, along with a drizzle of olive oil, some salt, and some pepper to the cucumber and garlic paste bowl. Marinate for about 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
• Peel the orange. Halve the peeled orange, and then thinly slice. Set aside.
• Large chop the mint leaves. You want about 1 tablespoon or so. Set aside with the orange.
• Just before serving, to the bowl of marinated cucumbers, add the sliced orange, mint, peanuts, and a small handful of grated cotija cheese. Stir to combine.

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups flour
• .75 tsp yeast
• .75 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold water, plus 2 tb cold water
• Olive oil

Oven Directions:

• Mix dry ingredients
• Add 1 cup water
• Add the 2 tb water slowly if not a nice sticky conistency
• Lightly coat with oil and cover in plastic wrap. Let rise for 2 hours.
• Flatten with your fingers and add toppings of choice
• Bake at 525 for 7-12 minutes. If you pile on lots of toppings you might need to cook for longer.

Grill Directions:

• Same as for oven but grill on high heat for about 20 minutes or so, less if you don't pile on lots of toppings. I use either a pizza stone or a cast iron pizza pan. I like the cast iron best.

Ingredients

• Tortillas
• Grated cotija cheese (I buy a block and grate it myself usually)
• Flank steak
• 1 red onion
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 lime
• 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• .25 cup sour cream
• Flank steak taco rub
• Brown sugar
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Thinly slice red onion and set aside.
• Thinly slice poblano pepper and set aside with the onion.
• Put sour cream in small mixing bowl.
• Zest the lime into the bowl of sour cream.
• Halve the lime. Squeeze one half into the bowl with the sour cream and lime zest. !!!!!!!Set the other half aside for the moment.
• Mix the sour cream, lime zest, and lime juice together and place in the fridge until ready to serve.
• Use a fork to pull one decent sized chipotle pepper from the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Mince the pepper.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine about 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, half a cup of water, and the minced chipotle pepper. Set aside.
• Make the steak rub by combining in a small bowl approximately 3/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder, 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, half teaspoon garlic powder, half teaspoon ground cumin, half teaspoon ground oregano, half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper.
• Pat dry the flank steak. Drizzle with olive oil and spread it all over. Sprinkle the steak rub all over the oiled steak.
• Heat a pan on medium high with a drizzle of olive oil in the bottom. Then add the flank steak and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side. Note: A thicker steak might need more time but I suggest cooking to medium-rare. This should be an internal temperature of 130 degrees on the heat, then while resting it should rise to final done temperature of 135 degrees.
• While the steak is resting, add another drizzle of olive oil to the same pan. Note: Don’t wipe the pan out! Leave the yummy fond in it!
• Add the sliced red onion and sliced poblano peppers. Cook until lightly browned.
• Add the brown sugar, water, and chipotle mix to the pan. Cook until the onions and peppers have softened and most of the liquid is gone.
• Thinly slice the flank steak.
• Assemble the tacos. In a tortilla add steak, onions and peppers, sour cream sauce, and a sprinkling of cotija.

I like to pair this with the Orange-Cucumber Salad and a Jalapeño Margarita.