Week 1: NE Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills- Buffalo Chicken Pizza

For this first week of football, the Patriots were playing one of the Monday Night games. To say Sage is obsessed with football and the New England Patriots, is an understatement. I wanted to do something special for dinner, and I thought about a New England themed dinner. But all that came to mind was seafood, and recently I've developed an odd aversion to it.

So I was still trying to come up with something and recalled a co-worker I used to have. For fun, every week during football season he'd cook a themed dinner for his family. Depending on who was the opposing team their favorite team was playing, he'd create a dinner traditional to that area or one that had the team's location in the title of the food. I thought that would be cute to attempt for this season. The Pats were playing the Buffalo Bills, so I decided on a Buffalo Chicken Pizza- something I'd already been planning on making this week.

I looked through a few recipes but most had a layer of blue cheese salad dressing instead of a red sauce. I wanted to top mine with blue cheese crumbles, so I just came up with a simple recipe of my own. This was one of my favorite pizzas I've ever made. The crust was amazing and all the toppings were perfectly balanced. It looked like a lot of blue cheese, but it wasn't overwelming at all. I'm a veggie person, so I was worried that it would be just too much chicken and cheese, but when I asked Sage what vegetables I should use, he shrugged and said "Celery?" So we went without, and I didn't miss them. I made two small pizzas and they had a party appetizer feel. Perfect for eating while watching the game.

I needed a quick rising pizza dough, because that was the only type of yeast I had, and it was my favorite so far. I found this Honey Wheat Pizza Dough at About.com. For the flour I used 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat flour and the rest all-purpose and followed all the rest of the recipe perfectly. I used only half of it for two 6-7 inch pizzas, and saved the rest for another use.

2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce, divided (I used Frank's Red Hot)
pizza dough ball or premade crusts
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup shredded mozarella
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grill chicken (I used our George Foreman.) Dice and put in a small bowl. Mix with three tablespoons of the cayenne pepper sauce. Set aside.
3. Divide pizza dough onto two balls and roll out each on a floured surface. Transfer to baking sheet (I use the backside of mine.)
4. Mix tomato paste with remaining tablespoon of sauce. Spread half of tomato paste mixture on one pizza crust, top with half of mozarella, half of diced chicken, and finish with blue cheese crumbles. Repeat for other pizza.
5. Cook according to pizza dough or premade crust instructions. (I cooked mine for 14 minutes.)

My guys this year for the first Patriot game of the regular season

First Patriots game of the season, September 2008

Beckett's first Super Bowl, February 2008, less than two weeks old.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Strips & Salad

I love Buffalo Chicken Strips! On top of a salad with Bleu Cheese, it rivals Nachos as being my favorite thing that I usually deny myself. So I was excited when I found a recipe for non-fried buffalo chicken.

I anticipated they would be good; I did not expect them to amazing. Or for Sage to say it was the best salad he'd ever had. Let's just say he is not the type to get excited over a salad. Seriously, they were so much better than any buffalo chicken I've ever ordered from anywhere. The chicken still isn't exactly healthy, but way better for you than fried. You could make these with regular breadcrumbs, but it is the Panko (Japanese) ones that makes them so good and crispy!

This recipe is from the awesome blog A Year In The Kitchen

1.5 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders (we used 2 large breasts, cut up)
1 cups flour
1 cup wing sauce (recommended Frank's Red Hot)
2 cups Panko bread crumbs (found in the Asian food area)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Lay out 3 plates or bowls, put flour in one, hot sauce in another, and bread crumbs in another. Season flour with salt and pepper. Take chicken tenders and dip them in flour, tap excess off, dip in hot sauce, then coat in bread crumbs.

3. Lay on a cookie sheet until all tenders are coated. Bake for 20 minutes.

Sage made the chicken, and I placed the the strips on a salad of romaine, peeled diced cucumber, julienned carrots, celery chunks, tomato wedges, and shredded cheese, drizzled with lite ranch and bleu cheese dressings. They are also great by themselves, and would be great as party finger food with dipping sauce!