Chuck's wings make for a good night in

I cooked up another one of Chuck's recipes the other night, and it was delicious. I admit, I've been on a bit of a Chuck Hughes binge - whether tying out his dishes, watching "Chuck's Day Off", or his 8-week trip to Mexico "Chuck's Week Off". His recipes most certainly will take up much space here. As far as making some of his recipes come to life at home, I think I love them so much because they are challenging yet simple, and they always taste so good. My girlfriend has also become a fan of Chuck and of the many nights I try my hand at his food. I'm a big fan of comfort food, and many of Chuck's dishes fall in to this category - but with a bit of a kick. It's never chicken wings, but "stick balsamic chicken wings" with lemon zest. These wings are so good they "stick to your rib" and your face. Nothing says you've had a good meal like going through an absurd amount of napkins. Here's how they turned out:

These wings live up to there name. They're both sweet and savory, and you can taste the clean fresh ginger too. There are so many levels of flavor, and my only regret is that I didn't buy more wings! p.s. I've found that lemons don't zest too well if you refrigerate them. The skin gets soft and it makes it pretty much impossible to get any of that tasty rind.

First time

I've been pondering whether or not I should start a blog about food and about food I make. There must be thousands of blogs that do something similar already, but I've kept coming back to the idea for months now. I've posted a few pictures and descriptions of some dishes on Facebook, and I got such a good response that I think it's about time Maybe people are surprised that I cook or that I like to cook. Their probably not surprised, if they've known me for anytime at all, that I also like to eat. I started cooking with my mom years ago, and she showed me the basics, taught me to love being in the kitchen and how "sling" things together for dinner. But I feel like I'm just now getting into trying out some new things in the kitchen. It's a big world of food out there, and I think it's a good idea to take it beyond meat and potatoes (or as my roommate would have it - meat, cheese, and potatoes). One of biggest inspirations (other than my mom) is Chef Chuck Hughes. I've been trying out some of his dishes recently and enjoying many of them. Here is one of the first recipes of his I tried and loved. Chorizo Bites with Arugula Pesto (courtesy Chuck Hughes):