Firecracker Chicken

This is a recipe that seems to be floating around the blogosphere these days, and since I'm hardly on blogs these days, it looks like I missed it.  So I'm super glad that Stephanie shared this because we LOVED it.  Most telling, though, was that the boys said they liked it even though it was spicy.  Wow!

This came together really quickly, which was a saver on the crazy day we had when I made it.  I thought it was really great; the flavors were awesome and the broccoli had a nice crunch since I chose not to precook it.  I was really disappointed when these reheated very poorly for lunch the next day.

Firecracker Chicken and Broccoli, Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks via Stephanie Cooks

Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1/2 c. cornstarch
2 eggs

For the Sauce: 
1/3 c. buffalo sauce
1/2 c. light brown sugar
2 t. rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced 
1/2 t. salt

2 c.  broccoli florets

Directions:

1- Preheat the oven to 350.

2- Dice chicken into 1" pieces.

3- Pour the cornstarch in a shallow dish. Beat the eggs in a separate shallow dish.

4- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip the chicken into the cornstarch and then in the eggs. Cook the chicken for 5 minutes or until just browned. Place in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish along with the broccoli florets.

5- In a bowl combine the buffalo sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, salt. Pour evenly over top of the chicken and broccoli and bake for 30 minutes (until chicken is cooked through), stirring every 15 minutes, until the sauce is completely coating the chicken.
6. Remove from oven and serve over top of rice.

Bbq turkey meatloaf

I made this one a long time ago and haven't made it since.  This was foolish, because this is an amazing meatloaf.  My husband made it this go around.  The BBQ sauce on top is sweet and yummy while there's a real savory flavor in the meat itself.  The onions and pepper add some nice crunch too.  

Make this one soon when you're craving some comfort food!

BBQ Turkey Meatloaf, courtesy of The Neely's 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon Neelys' BBQ Seasoning, recipe follows (I used a pinch of paprika, a pinch of sugar)
• 1 teaspoon crab boil seasoning, (recommended: Old Bay)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups BBQ Sauce, reserving 1/2 cup for the top (this was a bottle's worth)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 pounds lean ground turkey (I used ground chicken)
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix BBQ seasoning, crab boil seasoning, soy sauce, beaten egg, 1 cup of the BBQ sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
In a saute pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add onion, bell pepper, salt and pepper and garlic. Saute until tender. Remove from heat and add to wet mix.
Pour mixture into bowl with the ground turkey. Add bread crumbs and mix all together with your hands.
Transfer the meat mixture to a cookie sheet or baking pan. Using your hands, shape the meat into an oblong or rectangular shape. *Cook's Note: Alternately, you can pat the meat into a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan and pour 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce on the top of the loaf.
Bake for 35 minutes. Remove and add the reserved 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce to the top and continue to bake for 20 more minutes.