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Green Wings and Chipotle-Raspberry Wings

Zola Gorgon on

Cinnamon Toast High

I ate breakfast Saturday morning at the Cinnamon Café. It’s a cute place that specializes in Mexican food. They have lots of authentic dishes on the menu so my husband loves the place. I don’t usually like Mexican food for breakfast but I think my husband could eat that kind of breakfast every day of his life.

I ordered a straightforward omelet and bacon. Boring. When the waitress asked me what kind of toast I wanted I paused. I generally don’t eat toast. I just don’t want the carbohydrates. I know now that my liver can’t tell the difference between bread and candy. It’s all the same by the time it gets to that point in my digestion. Since I am working to keep my weight steady and not gain back all I have lost I limit my carbohydrate intake to 20 percent or less of my consumption. I used to eat a LOT of carbs. Pasta. Potatoes. Whole grain bread. I used to think they were good for me. Now I know better.

On this day I decided to order toast. I figured at the Cinnamon Café they’d have cinnamon toast and I was right. I ordered cinnamon raisin toast. I had not had any in years. I remember as a kid that we’d go to the bakery and come home with one of those long tubular loaves of cinnamon raisin bread. It was in a spiral with the cinnamon in the cracks and it was dotted with raisins. I was wondering if I’d get round cinnamon toast or some other shape. Sure enough it arrived at our table and it was the round kind. I was immediately transported back to my childhood. I used to eat three pieces at a time for breakfast. We had what was a new invention then -- the toaster oven. I could fit three pieces in the toaster oven instead of the usual two in the regular toaster. I smiled when she set the plate down.

I didn’t dive into the cinnamon toast. I enjoyed plenty of my omelet and bacon first. I decided to have a bite of the cinnamon toast. When I bit into it I got a first taste of the cinnamon sugar around the rim of the bread. I had forgotten that part. If my mouth could have jumped it would have. That sugary rim just sent a shiver through my mouth and most of the rest of my body. That was what I would call true sugar shock. A cinnamon toast high. I was stunned at how sweet it tasted. I didn’t need much to satisfy me, that’s for sure. Certainly not three pieces. Not even a full single piece and I was done.

Having that experience brought back the memory of a news story that ran last week. The story discussed how sugar should probably be regulated the same way liquor is. And it should be taxed as well as have restrictions on whether children can buy it. The story came from a doctor that I follow and admire. His name is Dr. Robert Lustig. I am including a link to the article here. I hope you have a chance to read it. Dr. Lustig has taught me a ton about how sugar is metabolized in the body. It’s pretty scary stuff and the education is important. Visit this link for more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/02/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol-and-tobacco/.

I know for a fact that Dr. Lustig only lets his children eat a sugary treat once a week. He takes them out on Sunday and lets them buy something sweetened with sugar. He closely supervises their consumption of sugar. Other than that he seems like a pretty normal dad and his daughters seem healthy, happy and satisfied. I was perfectly satisfied with my bit of cinnamon raisin toast too.

Hot Green Wings

Serves approximately 6

For the wings:
2 pounds of chicken tenders or cut skinless chicken breasts into strips.
Sea Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place your breast pieces on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with olive oil. Bake the pieces approximately 20 minutes or until no pink remains in the middle. Take out of oven.

While the chicken cooks, make the sauce.

After sauce is complete you can put this all in the refrigerator to store until game day or assemble right away.

In a large baking pan add the cooked chicken. Toss with the green sauce. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Garnish: Garnish with chopped scallions, chopped cilantro and even some jalapeno slices.

For the sauce:
10 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
4 serrano chili peppers (these are hot!) You can add more if you want blazing wings
1 medium onion, sliced
1 Tbl of minced garlic (jar garlic will work fine)
1 Tbl of sea salt, grated

 

Directions:

Cut the tomatillos into quarters. Add all ingredients into a sauce pot. Add enough water just to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium-low and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the tomatillos are soft and have turned a slightly brown color. If you need to add more water during the cooking process to keep it from sticking to the bottom, do that. If at the end of cooking there is an abundance of water, drain much of it off before you puree to make the sauce. The sauce should be soupy but not watery.

When the tomatillos are soft and the other ingredients are cooked in you can put the ingredients in your blender and whiz til fairly smooth. Either let the ingredients cool before blending or be VERY careful so you don’t burn yourself. When blending hot ingredients I always put a towel over the top of the blender and hold it down securely. Turn on slowly and then increase the speed. You don’t want to blow the top off with hot ingredients inside.

Raspberry-Chipotle Wings Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

For the wings:
2 pounds of chicken tenders or chicken breasts sliced into strips
1 cup of chicken broth
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup of chopped celery
4 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will work fine)
1 tsp of dried sage
1 tsp of dried thyme
Water

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a pan or pot and bring to a boil. Turn to medium and boil for 10 minutes or until chicken tenders are no longer pink the middle. Drain.

For the sauce:
1/2 of a sweet onion (Vidalia)
3 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will work fine)
2 tsp of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (find them in the Hispanic food section). You can always add more for a hotter wing.
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 pints of fresh raspberries, mashed
4 packets of Truvia
Sea Salt
Celery sticks

Directions:

In a sauce pan, lightly spray with olive oil. Add onion. Cook until onion is loose and translucent. Add the garlic and chilies. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the balsamic vinegar, raspberries and Truvia. Blend. Taste for sweetness level. Should be tart but sweet too. And a warm heat from the chilies. (Add another packet or two of Truvia if you need it).

To Bake the Wings:

Take out a cookie sheet (with sides) and cover the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil (to make clean up easier). Toss the chicken pieces with the raspberry sauce and place each piece on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with grated sea salt and bake for 20 minutes at 375 or until ever so slightly brown.

Serve warm.

I serve all of my wings with celery sticks and something cold to drink.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola


 

 

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