Month: April 2016

Savannah’s Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Visit the Melton house any day of the week and chances are you will be here when we are serving something with buffalo sauce. Savannah is the buffalo sauce queen. It works out well for me, especially when I tell her that I’m craving one of her specialities and SHE cooks dinner! Because even though I enjoy cooking, I love a night off every once in a while.

These awesome buffalo chicken wraps are one of my favorites! On nights that we are grilling, we like to throw a few boneless skinless breasts on the grill to refrigerate and have later in the week.

When ready to assemble wraps, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and cut into cubes, then reheat in a skillet.  Savannah assembles the wraps and then toasts them on a skillet or a panini press. They are delicious served with Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing.

Make sure your tortilla is large enough for its contents because you don’t want a “blow out” as you are eating dinner. A good rule of thumb is to buy tortillas that are at least twice as big as the contents you plan to put in it.

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Savannah's Buffalo Chicken Wrap
 
Author:
Print
 
Ingredients
  • 2 to 3 boneless skinless chicken breast, grilled and cut into cubes
  • Frank's RedHot Wings Sauce
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • Shredded lettuce
  • 2 to 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • Purple onion, diced, optional
  • Ranch or Blue Cheese salad dressing
  • Large flour tortillas
  • Carrot sticks
  • Celery Sticks
Instructions
  1. Toss the cubed chicken in desired amount of buffalo sauce.
  2. To assemble the wrap lay the tortilla on a flat surface. Spoon a small amount of dressing down the center of the tortilla, leaving about 2 inches at edges. Add cooked and cubed chicken on top of the Ranch. Top with shredded Cheddar, shredded lettuce, and diced tomatoes. Add onions, if desired.
  3. Roll the wrap by bringing the left side of the tortilla over the contents. Fold the bottom of the tortilla up and over the contents, then the top down and over the contents. Bring the left side toward you and using the tortilla as a guide, slightly pull the contents toward you and using both hands roll the wrap away from you until completely rolled into a cylindrical shape. Let the wrap rest for a minute or two with the flap underneath the contents.
  4. Grill in a buttered skillet or a Panini press until it is warm, toasted, and lightly browned.
  5. Cut wrap in half. Serve with additional Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing and celery and carrot sticks, if desired.

 

Southern Cornbread Salad

Southern-Cornbread-Salad

 

Do you remember the cornbread salads from twenty years ago? Cornbread layered with tomatoes, pinto beans, peppers, and onions, salsa, and usually Ranch dressing. My cousin could make one that always had you going back for seconds!

Recipes are like clothing styles. Of course, there are classics that will always be around. However, the most popular recipe today will most likely not be the popular recipe ten or fifteen years from now.

This recipe for Southern Cornbread Salad is amazing!  With family reunions, cookouts, and picnics in season, this is a great salad recipe to go into the summer months with.  This version of a cornbread salad is completely different. This salad is full or light and fresh flavors. Very much like an Italian Panzanella salad, but made with Southern cornbread rather than Italian bread.

If you are taking the salad to another location, take the vegetables in the salad bowl. Take the toasted cornbread in a ziplock bag, and the vinaigrette in a separate container. Combine just before serving.

Southern Cornbread Salad
 
Author:
Print
 
Ingredients
  • ½ to 1 pan cornbread (any recipe, preferably 1 to 2 days old)
  • DRESSING:
  • 6 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • SALAD INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 or 2 red bell peppers, diced
  • 2 c. cherry tomatoes, quartered (or 2 lg. tomatoes, chopped
  • ½ c. thinly sliced scallions (white and green parts)
  • ¼ c. chopped fresh basil
Instructions
  1. Cube cornbread and place on a baking sheet. Toast in oven, turning to toast all sides of bread. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, set aside.
  3. Add toasted cornbread to a salad bowl. Add black beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, scallions, and basil to the salad bowl. Toss gently.
  4. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to combine well. Serve immediately.
Notes
If you are taking the salad to another location, take the vegetables in the salad bowl. Take the toasted cornbread in a ziplock bag, and the vinaigrette in a separate container. Combine just before serving.

 

Chocolate Almond Pastry Braid

 

Chocolate-Almond-pastry-Braid

 

Jimmy and Michelle are great friends of ours. Greg and I met them shortly after moving to the farm, and they quickly became like family. We love going to eat or to a good concert with them. Even chilling by a bonfire and catching up on life is fun.

Michelle will be the first to admit that cooking is not high on her list of favorite things to do. Jimmy says that he can never tell Michelle when he likes something she cooks. He says that she’ll cook it every night for three months straight until he’s sick of it. I think he likes to give her a hard time and tease her. Michelle is a better cook than she (or Jimmy) give her credit.

Chocolate croissants are one of her favorite things to make, and she has me hooked with this recipe. With frozen puff pastry, this Chocolate Almond Pastry Braid could not be easier. This recipe is so basic and fast that she often makes these pastries before school and work. The chocolate is out of this world, and I can’t wait to try apple filling, peach filling, and prune filling!

Chocolate Almond Pastry Braid
 
Author:
Print
 
Ingredients
  • 1 box Frozen Puff Pastry
  • 3 (1.55-oz.) Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Demerara sugar, optional
  • Sliced almonds, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Unfold both pieces of puff pastry. Using the folds as a guide, place 1½ Hershey's bars down the center of each piece.
  3. Usding a sharp knife, cut diagonal cuts from the fold line to the edge on both left and right sides, about ¾-inch apart. (approximately 8 or 9 cuts) Discard the corner piece. (2 per pastry)
  4. Begin folding cut pieces over the chocolate, alternating left and right pieces and overlapping until you have a braid pattern.
  5. Brush beaten egg over braid. Sprinkle with sugar and almonds. Bake until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve.