Beefy BBQ Beans with Garlic cheese drop biscuits and creamy sweet-n-hot coleslaw

Nestled somewhere in the middle of my day comes a weird thing called "dinner". It sometimes sneaks up on me and today was one of those days.  So I whipped together this little master genius dinner that was so basic, yet so simple that I knew I needed to post it! Why yes, it does taste like you cooked it for hours in a simmering pot of thick barbeque sauce. Yes. It does taste incredibly evil and unhealthy. However, if you make the baked beans (I pre-freeze them in 4 cup portions in the freezer) and use the leanest beef possible...it's actually nice! Oh...and the whole grain homemade bisquit mix helps too! I use sharp cheddar, so I use less fat, more flavor! 

Beefy BBQ beans with Garlic Cheese Drop Biscuits 

and Creamy Sweet-n-hot Coleslaw

1 lg can organic baked beans (20 oz) or 3 1/2-4 cups homemade baked beans 

8 oz hamburger (lean)

1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 pressed fresh garlic clove 

2 tsp Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning 

1/2 cup Honeyville Honey Barbecue Sauce

Biscuit ingredients: 2 cups biscuit mix (my Homemade Bisquick use whole white wheat)

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese

1 fresh pressed garlic clove

1/2 cup cold milk or water

Directions:

In a large 12 inch covered skillet, saute onions, celery and carrot in 1T oil until very dark brown. Add the hamburger and cook until browned. Add the garlic and Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning and Honeyville honey barbeque sauce. Stir well. Lower to a simmer. Combine the ingredients for the biscuits just until combined. Drop by rounded Tablespoon on top of the BBQ beef mixture. Cover and simmer low 12-15 minutes until biscuits are cooked. Top with extra cheese and all purpose seasoning if desired. Serve with my favorite cole slaw. I used this recipe in the restaurant all the time and it was by far the most popular version I ever made. 

Chef Tess'  Recipe for Coleslaw 
1 head finely chopped cabbage
2 shredded carrot
 1 onion, minced
1 ½ tsp salt
1/4 cup Xylitol natural sweetener or sugar free substitute
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp celery seed
1 cup low fat mayonnaise1T  horseradish Plus 

1T hot sauce (optional)
Combine: onion, salt, sweetener, vinegar, mustard, celery seed, Mayonnaise, and horseradish. Coat cabbage with dressing. Refrigerate until service in a bowl, covered with plastic.

Serve the Beefy bbq beans hot. We drizzle ours with a little more sauce...but we're weird that way.

There you go. A quick middle of the week meal that everyone loves!

Sweet n Hot Coconut Lime Saigon Wings with Peanut and Plum Asian Slaw

Monday is usually the day I outline a few amazing things you can do cooking with simple basic ingredients from your food storage of happiness. Today isn't an exception. I visited my parent's house in Utah and we had a wing "throw down" that was intense! My Brother in law's wings will be tomorrow...But today we'll be using some of the fresh stuff from my family's garden and some of the goodies we have tucked away to make this magnificent dinner o-glory and love. Yeah baby! It's a totally amazing twist on the normal hot wings we have and my gosh...I love how the crunchy smoky crusting melts into the tender savory Asian lime and ginger rubbed wings. It's a flavor fusion that even the kid liked! The kicker was the sweet kiss of honey and the heat of the chile...incredible!

 Couple that amazing Saigon wing symphony with this Peanut and Plum Asian slaw and you will just start dancing in your kitchen. It's got savory fresh fennel, lemon basil, green onion, cabbage, crunchy dehydrated puffed carrots and peanuts with a perfect balance of sweet from freeze dried pineapple, fresh plums and homemade peach jam. It's then finished with a nice coconut milk, lime and sesame dressing...Are you ready for this?

 Let's start with the wings.

You will need:

2 lbs chicken wings, skins removed if possible

 Wayzata Bay  Saigon Seasoning 

Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend

3T honey

2 tsp sesame oil

smoked paprika

1/2 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)

You will also need a Large sheet pan and a metal oven proof rack that fits the pan. 

Wayzata Bay Saigon Seasoning is available at Honeyville Farms stores. I fell instantly in love with it!

 I can't be sure if it was the lime and coconut combination in conjunction with the ginger, anise and coriander...or if it was just a brilliant cousin to my Wise Woman blend...

However...these two together proved to be a brilliant match for flavor.

Sprinkle generous amounts of the Saigon seasoning on the chicken and lightly dust with my seasoning.  Place on an metal rack on top of a sheet pan (with sides to catch the drippings). I bake my wings and I find this method helps keep them really crisp.

Drizzle the seasoned wings with honey...

Sprinkle with sesame oil. Sesame oil adds a bit of a smoky flavor...so you don't want to substitute here. It will totally change the flavor. In fact, when you taste a smoky hint in Chinese food...this is usually the magic ingredient. Mmmm. Sesameeeee.

Look at those babies! I'm seriously drooling. I shouldn't drool this long after making them but honey...they were so good!

Sprinkle with smoked paprika if desired.

Then take a few teaspoons of coconut and use the honey as glue to hold the coconut to the wings.

Bake 400 degrees 35-40 minutes until cooked through and crispy. We made the salad while they baked. It worked out perfectly.

Now for the magical dancing slaw of happiness...

Peanut Plum Asian Slaw
1/2 cabbage
3 fresh plums
1 small fennel bulb, sliced fine
1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped rough
3/4 cup  Honeyville Dehydrated Carrots  
1 cup Honeyville Freeze Dried Pineapple  
Dressing:
1/3 cup lime juice and zest of one lime
1/3 cup  Lucero Crushed Mandarin Orange Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 T Sesame Oil
1/3 cup peach jam (we used homemade)
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup chopped cilantro and 1/4 cup chopped lemon basil
1/2 bunch green onion
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed

 It started with a short trip out to the garden where we got crazy! Thank you daddy for having this ready for me to play with. I love visiting a home where the grocery store lives outside the back door! Don't you?!

We pulled some green onions and jalepeno and some herb-age.

 The cilantro was a little loved...but we got what was left!

Dad had some gorgeous fennel bulbs going strong. They are perfect thinly sliced in an Asian slaw...and I couldn't stop myself from ripping this bad-boy-bulb out of the earth. Loooook at it. It's like a bulb-acious-babe. Wow. I just coked my head to the side like on Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and said, "Bulb-acious-babe." Now...how odd is that? Don't answer. For Pete's sake...I'm totally aware of how odd I am.

Oh...and a moment of silence for home grown lemon basil of happiness. It made my heart sing. Ya know, like Elvis singing Now or Never...but to a plant. "Oh lemon basil...you are the queeeeen. Kiss me my darlin'. Be mine tonight!" Resist the urge to put this between your teeth and do the fandango across your kitchen floor...or not.

 The fresh plums came to us straight from Bountiful Baskets via Honeyville Farms in SLC. Thank you Lisa Barker for setting that up for me! Xo. They were gorgeous...oh...and the cabbage came from them too.

So...thinly slice the cabbage. Thin...because nothing ruins a slaw more than surfboard size cabbage planks. Yikes.

 Baby fine slices on the fennel bulb-acious-ness as well. Ya know...because we want it to be a garnish not a hair-do. We want it to mingle like a suave French-man at a swanky party...but in your salad...and without any random kissing on ladies.

 Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl... including the dehydrate carrots (yes I know they're dry...but the Honeyville ones are crispy and fluffy like carrot candy...so they won't break a tooth.)

You can add the jalapeno to the salad dressing or to the salad. It's your choice.

 Look...Isn't it pretty already?

Bwahaha! Now add the plums...

and the peanuts...

Now...the Freeze Dried Pineapple you can do one of two ways. You can  re-hydrate the pineapple separate in a bowl with hot water...or you can do what I do.

 Mix the dressing ingredients with a whisk:

Add the dry Freeze Dried Pineapple and let it soak up the dressing to hydrate it. UM yum. The coconut milk with the pineapple and the...oh...dang it...I popped.

Mix into the salad. Very technical-wizard-like...but I think you can do it.

Serve with the wings....and pass out too. 

There you go! Excellent food storage and fresh garden fusion 101. Keep on cookin' folks.
Your friend,
Chef Tess.