An Italian and a Greek walk into a Tailgate

I was flipping through a stack of recipes I had torn out of magazines from back when I used to read magazines and tear out recipes.  Greek chicken wings with loads of lemon and oregano, I immediately knew I had to try these and quickly.  Most of my inspiration comes from my terrible habit of procrastinating and the need to come up with 5 new recipes 2 days before we shoot my show.  These wings seemed too easy and yet they have so much flavor it was easy to dress them up a tiny bit and make them an original Tailgating Tidbits recipe.  They can be baked and served, grilled only or try both like I did, just don't forget the feta and olives!  The following recipe is very forgiving, no need to measure much of anything, just eyeball your marinade and the final Greek toppings.  You can never have too much flavor in a simple dish like this!  

Follow along below or  click here to print

Once the recipe pops up, just use your file menu to print

Greek Chicken Wings with Grilled Lemon 

Ingredients:

15-20 chicken wings, 

       legs or combination of both 

5 lemons  (zest from 2 lemons) 

1 cup olive oil   

2 Tablespoons dried oregano 

1 Tablespoon Sweet Hungarian Paprika 

1 Tablespoon Granulated Garlic 

      (similar to garlic powder)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 

1 Tablespoon kosher salt 

1/2 Tablespoon Cracked Black Pepper 

For serving: 

1 bunch scallions, green part only chopped 

1 small can sliced black olives, drained 

Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped 

1/2 – 1 cup feta cheese 

Instructions: 

If using chicken wings, remove wing tips 

Add chicken wings to a re-sealable bag or container with a lid 

Marinate wings overnight (or a few hours) in olive oil, zest of two lemons, 

juice of three lemons, and spices from above.  

Toss and coat wings in marinade.  Place in fridge until ready to cook 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

Place wings on foil lined baking sheet 

Bake wings for 45 minutes 

Throw cooked wings on the grill for 5-8 minutes for a nice char

Add two sliced lemons to the grill 

as well for 3-4 minutes 

Remove wings and pile on platter 

Add scallions, olives, parsley, 

feta and juice from grilled lemons 

Serve immediately 

Sweet Chex Mix

I started by teaching career back in the late 90's and meet my first teacher friend, Deb.  Deb taught both high school math and German and somehow managed to make the best birthday lunches for all of us in the math department. It was there she introduced this amazing, crunchy, sweet, addicting, delicious treat to the entire math department (it's radical...get it).  In the year 2K she also brought it to every bunco night, fast forward to playdates once we had kids and to this day in 2019 she has kept the recipe going strong.  The hardest part of this recipe is deciding how many batches you are going to make because let's be honest, you are not going to eat the leftover wheat chex with milk.
Go ahead and buy two pounds of butter, you will need it!

Unlike most of my recipes this one is pretty exact with measurements.  Click the link to watch me make the yummy treat on Tailgating Tidbits.  Recipe follows below and can also be printed for quick access!

Follow along below or  Click here to print 

Once the recipe pops up, just use your file menu to print

Sweet and Crunchy Chex Mix 

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup salted butter (not margarine) 

1 cup brown sugar (dark or light)

2 cups corn chex 

2 cups wheat chex (or Crispex) 

2 cups rice chex 

1 cup pecan halves 

(I break them in half) 

1 cup pretzel circles or any flat pretzel 

Preheat over to 350 degrees 

Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil 

over medium high heat, whisking or stirring constantly, 

and continue to boil for 2 additional minutes. 

In a large bowl combine the cereal, pecans and pretzels 

Pour butter and sugar mixture over mixture and stir until combined 

Pour onto a greased 9x13 cookie sheet (I used a silpat on a cookie sheet) 

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, stir and cook another 8 minutes 

Cool before serving