Jerk Chicken Salad with Mango Vinaigrette

Jerk Chicken Salad with Mango Vinaigrette

Field Greens or Baby Spinach
Jerk Chicken Breast, sliced with skin on
Carrots, sliced thin
Red Bell Pepper, diced
Ripe Mango, diced
English Cucumber, sliced or diced
Mango Vinaigrette

1) In a large bowl, toss all ingredients with Mango Vinaigrette to taste.

Mango Vinaigrette

1 whole ripe mango, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1-2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (for lighter taste) Use balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar for more flavor.
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 -1 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
1/2 cup light olive oil or canola oil


1) In food processor or blender, combine all ingredients up to kosher salt. Blend well.
2) Slowly drizzle in oil while food processor is running. Combine until emulsified.
3) No food processor...that's ok...you can combine all the ingredients in a mason jar with a tight fitting lid and shake that baby up for 20-30 seconds.

Oven Baked Jerk Chicken Breast

lemon juice or white vinegar
3-4 whole chicken breasts with bones and skin on
1/4 cup mushroom soy sauce (I was taught by a Jamaican chef with this sauce but any soy sauce will work)
3-6 tablespoons Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning, to taste ***See Note
1/4 cup water

1) Clean chicken breasts with lemon juice or white vinegar and cut whole chicken breasts in half.
2) Place chicken breasts bone side down in baking dish.
3) Toss to coat chicken breasts with mushroom soy sauce.
4) Add water to bottom of baking dish.
5) Using back of spoon or gloved hands, rub walkerswood jerk seasoning all over top of chicken breasts.
6) Marinate at least 4 hours for full flavor.
7) Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or internal temperature reaches 160F.
8) Broil for 5-10 minutes to allow skin to crisp.

***NOTE: Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning can usually be purchased in most major cities at a caribbean grocer. Check your yellow pages. Take a lil field trip and you may discover a whole bunch of delicious products you never knew were out there.

Look out for another delicious recipe coming soon using Walkerwood Jerk Seasoning!

Alton Brown's Crispy Wings

These wings are so delicious! As always Alton Brown comes through with another great recipe with moist juicy meat on the inside and a crispy exterior. And the best part these taste like a restaurant but are oven baked wings!

Alton Brown's Wings
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

12 whole chicken wings

3 ounces unsalted butter

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup hot sauce---to kick up the heat add more hot sauce
(Two Crazy Cupcakes likes Frank's Hot Sauce)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1) Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

2) Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

3) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

4) Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

5) While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

6) Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

Honey Lime Cilantro Grilled Chicken Salad

Honey Lime Cilantro Grilled Chicken
Printable
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

6 cloves garlic (minced in food processor)

1-2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

1) Pound chicken breasts to 1-1.5" inches with mallet so they will grill evenly

2) Place chicken breasts in baking dish

3) For easy clean up---combine all marinade ingredients in food processor

4) Reserve 1/8 cup of marinade on the side

5) Pour remaining over chicken breasts and allow to marinate at least 30 minutes

6) Preheat grill to medium to medium-low

7) Using tongs, allow marinade to drip from chicken breasts before placing on hot grill

8) Grill 4-5 minutes per side or until internal temp reaches 160F

9) Remove from grill to platter, brush chicken breasts with reserved marinade and allow chicken to rest 5-10 minutes before cutting

Honey Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette
Printable
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/8-1/4 cup red wine vinegar (optional to add more tang)

2-3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-------------------------------------
1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1) Add all ingredients up to cayenne pepper in food processor or blender. Blend until combined.

2) While food processor/blender is running slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified.

3) Add fresh cilantro leaves and give food processor a quick spin to combine.

To Assemble Salad

Mixed Field Greens

Corn

Roma tomatoes, diced

Black beans, drained and rinsed

English cucumber, cut in thin strips

Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese

Honey Lime Cilantro Chicken Breasts, chopped

Honey Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette

Tortilla Strips, optional

1) Add all ingredients into a large bowl.

2) Add vinaigrette to taste and toss before serving.

Lil Monkey Baby Shower

I recently hosted a LIL MONKEY baby shower for a good friend of mine who is expecting her 3rd baby and this time it's a boy!

The baby shower was a brunch. We served french toast casserole (recipe coming soon), quiche, mini cinnamon rolls, mini muffins, ambrosia, mimosas, fresh cut up fruit, and chocolate peanut butter cupcakes which were super yummy!!

I created some cute party printables using photoshop.

And of course I had to put my Silhouette SD to good use for some of the decorations. Her older daughter and I put together some really cute vines to hang around the party area. You may see these again for my lil monkey's 1st birthday party ;)

I made her a diaper cake to match the party decor. It was simple to make and really adds a cute lil touch to the present table.



Here are some more photos from the shower. The plates and napkins are from Target and the candlesticks are from around my house.

I wanted to snap a picture of the food table before we started eating but I got too busy greeting shower guests and serving drinks.



The mom-to-be's mother helped me host the shower and make some cute bracelets and earrings as favors.

We played two really cute games: unscramble the baby words and name the baby animal.


Thanks for stopping by!