BUFFALO CHICKEN MEATBALLS

It has been a long time since I have posted on here. I had a busy holiday season and a heck of a time getting all my Christmas paraphernalia put away. We are also trying to paint my son's bedroom. I'm sure that will take forever but at least we are finally trying!

I went to another Wining Women event last night. Those always inspire me to find a great new recipe. I didn't go along with the theme very well this time because the theme for the wines was the Pacific Northwest. The only thing that came to me for that was salmon and I do not eat seafood of any kind. Since that was out, I decided to go with something that I love and that is buffalo chicken wings. Buffalo wings are sections (also called wings or "flats") and wing drummettes that are often but not always fried and then almost always coated in sauce. Traditional Buffalo-style chicken wing sauce is composed of two ingredients: a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. I really enjoy buffalo chicken wings but they are so fatty and fattening. I didn't think anyone would appreciate me making them and bringing them to an event so close to Christmas and New Year's. Instead, I found a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. This recipe comes from the Eat Well family meals column by Terry Grieco Kenny in the February 1, 2010 Woman's Day Magazine. This recipe completely eliminates the chicken skin and all that butter! It can't be nearly as bad for you as the traditional Buffalo chicken wings, right?

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

1 lb ground chicken
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup sliced scallions
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt

Mix well. Roll into 32 balls; place on pan. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove from oven and drizzle meatballs with hot pepper sauce (I used Anchor Bar Original Sauce) to taste, toss to coat. Serve on toothpicks to dip into reduced-fat blue cheese dressing. Be sure to include healthy raw vegetable dippers.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Here is a little bit of history about Buffalo Chicken Wings taken from Wikipedia:

There are four different legends about how the Buffalo wings came to be.

One story is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar, located at 1047 Main Street (between North Street and Best Street) in Buffalo, New York, United States on October 3, 1964, by Teressa Belissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar with her husband Frank. Upon the unannounced, late-night arrival of their son, Dominic, with several of his friends from college, Teressa needed a fast and easy snack to present to her hungry guests. It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings (normally thrown away or reserved for stock) and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce. While the wings were deep frying, Teressa decided to serve left over celery sticks with blue cheese to her son and his friends to tide them over.

A second version, as told by Dominic Bellisimo (Frank and Teressa's son) to The New Yorker reporter Calvin Trillin in 1980, stated: "It was Friday night in the bar and since people were buying a lot of drinks he wanted to do something nice for them at midnight when the mostly Catholic patrons would be able to eat meat again." He stated that it was his mother, Teressa, who came up with the idea of chicken wings.

The third version of the origin involved a mis-delivery of wings instead of backs and necks for making the bar's spaghetti sauce. Faced with this unexpected resource, Frank Bellisimo says that he asked Teressa to do something with them.

The fourth version has nothing to do with the Bellisimos or the Anchor Bar. Calvin Trillin stated in his 1980 New Yorker article that a man named John Young also claimed credit for serving chicken wings in a special "mambo sauce". Chicken wings in mambo sauce became the specialty at his Buffalo restaurant in the mid-1960s. Young had registered the name of his restaurant, John Young's Wings 'n Things, at the county courthouse before leaving Buffalo in 1970.

Gingerbread Waffles

These waffles look like a great idea for Christmas morning or even a holiday brunch! I love gingerbread but sometimes I have problems making the old fashioned gingerbread cookies that I make each year. I posted that recipe last year. I had found it in a magazine when I was around 11 years old. I have been making those cookies off and on for years. Yet, I still have difficulties from time to time. I am pretty sure it is due to using cold eggs and other ingredients. I need to remember to leave the eggs and butter out for an hour or two to get them to room temperature. Anyway, these waffles sound like a good substitute if you don't feel like battling with gingerbread cookie dough!



Gingerbread Waffles
(3 servings)

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoon (3/4 stick) butter -- melted and cooled
Preheat waffle iron to medium.

In a small bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, molasses and buttermilk, then beat.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add to batter and stir until smooth, then add butter and combine.

Pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cup batter into very hot waffle iron and bake for four to five minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook