Cooking with a 6 year old - 101

Alright Adrienne, this one is for you, lol.

Adrienne has told me on more than one occasion that, I should TRY and cook sometime with Jayla. You know, it's all about the experience and learning (for WHO?) Well, personally, I don't like having "help" in the kitchen...I make a big enough mess by my darn self! LOL

BUT...the other day, I got a wild hair and decided to let Jayla help out. Ok, ok...I'll admit it, I had a great time. She's helped me before with something quick, like a salad or mixing the ingredients for cornbread or patting some meat dry after I've cleaned it. But not too much more than that. Cuz that girl just really likes to get her hands all messy. YUCK! And honestly, I almost don't even want her in the HOUSE, let alone the kitchen, when I have to use flour! As most of you cooks out there know, there's NO WAY on EARTH to sneak and use flour! It's EVERYWHERE!!! So she always manages to catch me and that's when I hear, "Oooo, Mom! Can I help? My fingers are clean!" LOL

SO, I rolled up my sleeves and grabbed the camera and let Jayla help. How bout we chalk one up for me on the "cool mom chart"!

This first picture is kinda funny to me. She was a little...shall we say "grossed out" by the whole wet chicken & flour combo. But as you can see, she got over that pretty quickly.
In this 2nd shot, I thought the girl was gonna climb in the bowl! lol. Now she's good and comfy with the mixture and is 2 fisting it!
Here's a close up of the 2 handed action.
Awww, success! After 5 minutes of the "mixing" process...she FINALLY got one little drummette fully coated. :-)

And here's where mommy took over. I'm not comfortable with her being near the stove, especially with the potential grease poppage (is that a word?). So we had a production line goin. She'd flour the chicken and I'd fry it. She also helped dip the chicken in the baking sauce and I put them in the oven. And here's the finished product. YUMMY!!!

These wings are a huge hit in the Bibbs household. I don't normally put recipes on my blog. But this one is very easy and worth sharing. Try them for yourself and let me know what you think.

Spicy Honey Wings

20 chicken wings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows (you can also buy Essence of Emril in the spice aisle at the grocery store)

1 teaspoon kosher salt (regular salt will work just fine. SeasonAll season salt is also good)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (regular pepper will work)

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 cup hot sauce

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar (light brown will also work)

Blue cheese or ranch dressing, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil.
To prepare chicken wings, cut off wing tips at the joint and discard the tips. In a large bowl, combine flour, garlic powder, Essence, salt, and pepper. Dredge the wings in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess.
In a large, deep-sided pot, heat several inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees F. When the oil is heated, deep-fry the wings until crispy and golden brown, about 12 minutes.

While wings are frying, mix the hot sauce, honey, and brown sugar in a large bowl until mixture is smooth. Remove the wings from the oil, pat dry and then dip in the hot sauce mixture to coat. Lay the wings on the baking sheet. Bake coated wings until the sauce is dry, about 12 minutes. Serve hot with blue cheese or ranch dressing.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
Yield: 2/3 cup

Well, there you have it. Enjoy!!! Have a great rest of the week. Oh, I'm meeting Cheryl and her girls tomorrow...I can't wait. Talk to you soon. TOODLES!!!