What is with me and food?! Anyway, this project is a few weeks old but I thought I'd still share.
I love buffalo sauce and I especially love buffalo chicken. So when I saw this recipe (Pinterest Link | Recipe) I knew I had to try it and I figured the family New Year's Eve party would be the ideal time (yes, that's how old this project is).
Now, I know I'm totally making an excuse — but remember, I'm not a good cook. The big problem with this recipe is that how it is written implies the whole thing should really take less than twenty minutes. What all new "home makers/cooks" need to realize is that this doesn't factor in cooking the chicken. The recipe says this exactly:
1. Preheat oven, or toaster oven, to 350*.
2. Mix all ingredients together, hold 1/2 cup cheese. The Kitchen Aid with a paddle attachment does an amazing job of creaming it all together. Super easy! 3. Transfer to 9×5 loaf fan (or another baking dish), sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. 4. Bake for 15 minutes. 4. Broil for 1-2 minutes to get the cheese extra golden on top. Nowhere here does it say "Cook the chicken then do all this stuff." So before you freak out, yes I did cook the chicken, BUT I was definitely stressing out because I only allowed myself 30 minutes to put this concoction together before we left (and cooking the chicken wasn't part of the plan). So I wasn't completely unprepared and unimpressed.
It was extremely stressful because I hate being late (especially when everyone else is always thirty minutes early — or so it seems). I even yelled at D a couple times! I ended up not having the fifteen minutes that recipe requires because I was already leaving at the time I was supposed to be there (across town). So I ended up baking it for ten minutes, grabbing hot plates and a towel, taking it to my sister-in-laws and putting it in their oven for more time (which is completely embarrassing).
I also didn't know what "shredding" chicken meant and since I didn't have the time to google it, I just cut it up really small.
Anyway, if you can't tell, this was a completely stressful experience. Granted, it was mostly my fault for not looking into the recipe a little bit more and planning ahead — but what a hot mess! This picture was taken while I was at a stop light on my way over.
It wasn't a bad recipe, but I wasn't really impressed either. But this could be due to the stress it put me through. I loved the buffalo taste but didn't like the chicken chunks. It also made WAY more than it said it did — notice the difference in pans?
Anyway, final verdict: Complete Stresser (on my part). But I'll probably try it one more time while following the directions and not planning on transporting it.