Lion's Head Meatballs in Spicy Coconut Sauce

What in the world are Lion's Head Meatballs??? That's exactly what I thought when I saw this recipe (which I adapted) on Cooking Light's website.  As it turns out, this recipe was part of the magazine's Chinese New Year menu and got their name for both the size of the meatballs and the fact that apparently Lions are believed to ward off evil.  I guess you learn something new every day, right?

Milk Braised Whole Chicken

We were planning on having friends over last night, so we had two chickens set out for the smoker. Plans changed when The Wife woke up not feeling the best...but we still had those chickens sitting in the fridge. I went out to fire up the smoker about 4:00 and was met with another surprise - no charcoal.

I didn't feel like running back out so I began looking for recipes - and thinking through what we had on hand. We didn't have stock, we only had one bottle of white wine (and I was going to get it before the bird did.) I knew we had milk so I googled "milk braised chicken" and stumbled across this recipe from Big Red Kitchen - based on Jamie Oliver's recipe.

Huevos Rancheros w/ Chipotle Black Bean Sauce & Avocado Salsa

What's your take on breakfast for dinner? We don't really do it - not that either of us has an aversion to it, but I just don't ever think to make a breakfast dish when I'm planning our dinner meals.

I actually love breakfast items - french toast, omelettes, muffins, eggs benedict, etc. But we aren't big breakfast eaters.  Most mornings, the Husband has an egg or two and I have Greek yogurt with fruit.  So all of the great brunch/breakfast recipes I cut out/print out/book mark/add to favorites tend to just pile up, unused.

One of those recipes I'd bookmarked was this one from Bon Appétit's April 2004 edition. 

Egg Foo Yung with Chicken & Shiitake

One of our friends brought us several dozen eggs from their family's chickens.  I was starting to make a list of egg dishes that I wanted to make and one of the Husband's first requests was Egg Foo Yung.  He had sent me a possible recipe, but that recipe contained not only chicken but also shrimp and pork - a little too much protein for me.  So, I searched around for a recipe and found this one from Fine Cooking.

Stir-Fried Beef & Broccoli

We hardly ever order take-out from Asian restaurants, though if the Husband had his way, that would  probably change.  However, when we do, I tend to stay very "safe" and order beef and broccoli or something similarly vanilla.

Hubby had suggested ordering take-out several times the past few weeks so I figured I could get out of this by doing an at home version of something we'd order if did get take-out. It didn't take very long to find this recipe from an October 1990 edition of Gourmet that came up in the search results on Epicurious.

Chicken Wing Dip

Wow! This is one of the best dips you’ll ever put in your mouth. Perfect for tailgating or just sitting home watching the game, this dip is sure to please.

And if you don't like sports, oh well, this dip incorporates the great flavors of chicken wings without having to gnaw through the bones, plus getting the blue cheese dipping sauce and the celery sticks all in one.

It doesn't get better than this!

Saucy Mama Double Lime Chipotle Taquitos

This is another recipe for the Saucy Mama Recipe Contest.

It's easy to make, but thanks to all of the flavor that Saucy Mama packs into their sauces and marinades, it only TASTES like it took all day. It'll take you about 30 minutes.

Saucy Mama Clucking Blue Meatballs

I can't believe how well this recipe turned out. This was one of the first recipes The Wife and I came up with for the Saucy Mama Recipe Contest.

I think the simplicity of the ingredients really is what really makes this dish - chicken and blue cheese. Done and done. The panko provides and nice crispy exterior, and the the sauce covering doesn't make it lose it's crispy shell.

Give these a try at your next tailgate, or the next time you have people over. No "wing fingers" or worrying about where to put the bones. And you can make them perfectly bite size, so the only thing to toss is the toothpick.

Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper Portobello "Pizzas"

For the Saucy Mama Recipe Contest, we wanted to include at least one vegetarian dish - and this is a little more hearty than the Pimiento Cheese Dip.

These personal "pizzas" are the perfect appetizer to take to a party. Because of their size, they make instant individual portions. The Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper Marinade gave the portobellos the a great flavor base to compliment the goat cheese - and the sun dried tomato gave everything a hint of sweetness.

Saucy Mama GIVEAWAY!!!

UPDATE!!! The winner is Tracy / @RVAFamilyMag. Tracy please email us at onecoupleskitchen@gmail.com with your address. Thanks for entering ya'll!

Here at One Couple's Kitchen we are GIVING AWAY a variety pack of Saucy Mama Products courtesy of the great folks over at Barhyte Specialty Foods!!! This package includes:

Saucy Mama's Cracked Pepper Marinade

Saucy Mama's Jalapeno Stuffed Olives

Saucy Mama's Lime Chipotle Marinade

To Enter:

1. Check out our blog and leave a comment below letting us know your favorite recipe on our blog.

2. For a 2nd entry, follow us on Twitter @1CouplesKitchen & leave a comment here letting us know you did so. OR if you already follow us on Twitter, leave us a comment letting us know that you already do.

3. For a 3rd entry, tweet our giveaway to your followers and leave us another comment letting us know you did so.

Winner will be chosen at RANDOM on September 15th at 12 NOON EST.

Saucy Mama Chipotle Pimiento Cheese

This will be the first of a few recipes over the coming days featuring Saucy Mama ingredients. A couple of months ago we were invited to participate in a recipe contest, open only to 50 food bloggers nationwide. As you know, the past few months have been travel filled for us, and while we've been cooking, we haven't been posting - and the contest deadline is drawing near.

There's the background - now on with the food: Let me start this post by saying that southerners love food. The way a tomato tastes fresh off the vine, or how much better a squash is when it’s just out of your own garden.

Isn’t it funny how we can taste or smell something that takes us back years, even decades? Smells and tastes that are all too familiar but can’t be placed at the time – or maybe they immediately transform you to the place you were.

Growing up in the South, food was an important part of the culture, and a strong family tie. Whether it was my grandmother on my father’s side, Mammaw, who grew blackberries and would make her own jelly (that would bring a tear when we’d find an unopened jar in the years after she’d passed) – or the memories of waking to fresh buttermilk biscuits that she had made from scratch to a chicken and dumpling dinner to use the rest of the biscuit dough from that morning.

On my mother’s side – Nanny would make these delectable breakfast treats we always just called “stickies”. They were like cinnamon rolls but about the size of a silver dollar. It was just homemade dough, butter, cinnamon and sugar – but there wasn’t a recipe. When her health started failing I remember asking my mother to get the recipe for “stickies” so that I could pass it along to my children one day. She wasn’t able to, there wasn’t a recipe, and try as I might, I’ve never been able to duplicate how my grandmother made them.

It was from my mother’s mother that I got my first introduction to Southern Caviar – pimiento cheese. She would always have a batch of pimiento cheese in the fridge. Now, don't be scared of pimiento cheese, it's just shredded cheddar cheese, with pimiento peppers and a little lubricant - in this case, mustard and mayo - nothing to be scared of.

Sweet Asian Hot Wings

It's finally September and more importantly it's FOOTBALL SEASON!!! We love love love football in this house. And what screams football better than chicken wings??? Not much, in my opinion. 

The Husband & I have definitely made our fair share of wings in the past, and we almost always bake them instead of fry them. We have our go-tos - Alton Brown's Chicken Wings & Parmesan Garlic Wings, but I wanted to shake things up a little, and try something new.

Looking through wing recipes on Tastespotting, I came across this recipe on the blog Crepes of Wrath.  Not only did the beautiful photos make my stomach rumble, but when I saw all the Sriracha (for those of you who don't know us well, we use it like ketchup!) this recipe called for I knew I HAD to try this.

Fried Green Heirloom Tomatoes

For some reason, all of my plants have been very late to come to fruit this year. I don't know if it has been the heat, but it's just been within the past week or two that my tomatoes have ripened - and only the San Marzanos have turned red. On the other side of the house I planted heirloom tomatoes from The Wife's grandmother's garden, from plants that she's been harvesting and planting for decades.

They've been getting bigger and bigger, but not turning red. I haven't given up on them yet, as the plant has gotten ridiculously large - almost 5 feet tall, and just about as wide. I now have three stakes holing vines up. What makes it worse, is i don't know if they will turn -- or if they're a green heirloom variety - time will tell.

Lemon & Basil Eggs Over Foccacia

If you are looking for a different kind of brunch recipe - not the typical quiche or casserole, then this one is right up your alley!

I printed this Giada De Laurentiis recipe out over a year ago, after Hubby and I had watched her make this in a "Breakfast in Bed" episode on the Food Network

Apple Muffins

My Mama is a big reason I enjoy cooking - especially baking, so much.  As early as I can remember, she had my sister and I in the kitchen with her as her little "helpers".  We loved it - even if "it" was just helping measure out the flour and sugar or dumping chocolate chips into a bowl of cookie batter.

She's a great cook, and growing up my family was very lucky to have a mom that would put a hot, homemade meal on the table for us every night.  But not only dinner, she also made a lot of our breakfasts.  We weren't allowed to eat pop tarts or cereal very often.  She was constantly making eggs, pancakes, cinnamon rolls and muffins.