Hello everyone!  My name is Denise Holman and I blogged (once upon a time) over at Denise’s Pieces.  This is my first time guest blogging and I will admit, I am honored to have been asked by Jessica to share some recipes with you all.  I will also say this was a bit of a challenge for me because I am such a recipe and food lover!  One of my favorite things is trying new recipes and foods.  Luckily for me, my husband Stuart is open-minded and willing to try out new recipes and foods along with me!  We have been eating organic and buying local since the Fall of last year.  We transitioned because of the way most of America’s food industry treats their livestock and their employees.  If you have ever watched “Food Inc” you will know what I am talking about, and if you haven’t watched it I encourage you to watch it — it’s on Netflix instant so there are NO excuses! It will change your life and the way you view food, forever.  Needless to say, I encourage every person to buy local when they can, shop organically, and to make a conscious effort to think about what they’re putting into their bodies.  Not only is the food better for you, it tastes better too!

For the month of March I challenged myself to a “Meatless March” and I succeeded, but will say, I felt very tempted to eat meat at times. Like when I was over at a friend’s house for a cookout!  Hamburgers and hotdogs are the best!

As a result of not eating meat for a month and it being grilling season and all, both of the recipes I am sharing today are meat and grill inspired!  The first recipe is quite simple, Grilled Hot Wings…perfect for a week night.  If you and your significant other are anything like my husband, and you LOVE spicy foods, this wing sauce is the right amount of sweet with a spicy kick!

SWEET AND SPICY GRILLED WINGS

24 organic chicken wings
2 cups of your favorite hot sauce (Cholula or Franks)
3/4 cups butter
1 cup honey
2 tbsp garlic salt
Cayenne (optional)
Black Pepper

First, pre-heat your grill to high heat, lightly oil the grill grates, and season the chicken wings with salt and pepper.  While the grill pre-heats, start the sauce on the stove top. Add 2 cups of hot sauce, 3/4 cups of butter, 1 cup of honey, 2 tbsp garlic salt and a pinch of cayenne and black pepper.  Mix all sauce ingredients together in a skillet over low heat and then put your chicken on the grill.  Grill the chicken wings for 8-10 minutes on each side or until the juices run clear.  Meanwhile, check on your wing sauce – it should be brought to a low simmer.  Once the chicken and the sauce are ready, toss together until the chicken is evenly coated.

Serve with carrots, celery and blue cheese or a simple side salad like we did!

 

The second recipe I’d like to share is what we had for Easter dinner this year.  Traditionally in both of our families we had an Easter Ham accompanied by green bean casserole and deviled eggs.  Delicious, yes, but this year, we weren’t feeling it.  Instead, we decided to keep the pork theme rolling and grill baby back ribs!  This dinner is recommended for a weekend, but if you have additional time during the week, it could work then too.  What goes better with baby back ribs than a slice of warm, honey, corn bread and bacon-induced kale and red peppers?  Drools!

GRILLED BABY BACK RIBS AND BACON-INDUCED KALE WITH RED PEPPERS 

1.5 lb baby back ribs
Arrowhead Mills cornbread & muffin mix
Bunch of fresh kale
Red bell pepper
Red onion (optional)
4 slices bacon
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper
1.5 cups corn  – 2 ears of corn
1 egg
3 heaping tbsp honey
2 tbs canola oil
1 1/4 cup water
Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
BBQ Sauce

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees.  While the oven pre-heats, cut the ribs into sections of 4 (the rack will likely all be connected).  Coat the ribs generously with chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste.  Place the ribs in a large baking dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Bake the ribs for one hour.  While the ribs are baking, start preparing the corn bread. Mix together egg, honey and canola oil in a large mixing bowl. Add corn bread mixture, corn, and stir lightly until well-moistened.  Pour into an oiled 8″ square baking dish and bake in oven with the ribs for 30-40 minutes, or until done.  While the ribs and the corn bread are baking, brown the slices of bacon. Wash and tear off the leaves of kale, leaving behind the stems. (I recommend tearing them into bite size pieces.) Slice the red bell pepper into thin strips and finely chop the red onion. Pre-heat your grill.  Once the bacon is finished cooking, set it aside on a paper towel to discard any excess grease.  About this time, the ribs should be ready to be taken out of the oven and put onto the grill. Before grilling, make sure to coat in your favorite BBQ sauce!  Grill for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the red pepper slices and red onion in the same pan you cooked the bacon in (discard any excess bacon grease leaving only a fine  coating on the pan).  Once the peppers and onions reach a desired consistency (5 minutes on medium heat will do the trick), start adding in the kale.  The kale only takes about 4-5 minutes max to cook.  Finely chop the bacon into bits and drizzle the kale with a little balsamic vinegar or glaze before serving. If you follow these steps, all 3 items should be ready at about the same time! Serve them up and gobble them up!

 

I hope you and your loved ones have a great weekend and have the opportunity to grill out and try one or both of these recipe favorites!

  XOXO Denise

Aren’t they just the cutest!? Ever since Denise and Stuart got married in 2009 (they were my first official JFP wedding!!!), I’ve been admiring their married-ness. Always cooking up new recipes, taking outside adventures, decorating their super cute homes, and raising pups…they are seriously a super couple and I love to see them being ambitious and true to themselves. AND they are both sweethearts! All three of us attended Bridgewater College, so we’ve known each other for a while. While we don’t get to see each other nearly as much as we did four and five years ago, we’ve still been able to meet up for some photo opportunities! So as I close this first ever JFP guest post and embark on a new fabulous weekend, enjoy some of my favorites from Denise and Stuart’s wedding and 2011 spring portrait session…