Whole30 Day 5 Dinner: no matter how much you love to cook or how zen you feel in your kitchen, everyone enjoys a night off now and again. There’s just this indescribable, primal satisfaction of having someone else prepare food for you, especially if that someone is a significant other. Thursday night, and much to my delight, Amy stepped in as chef extraordinaire and I took on the role of sous-just-let-me-know-what-you-need kitchen helper.

Baked Buffalo Wings and Brussels won the vote, but seeing as dry rubbed hot wings are Amy’s favorite she decided to concoct a signature Whole30 compliant rub. After grinding spices in the mortar and pestle and whisking a bit of this and that from our pantry together, she asked me to taste test the rub for her and ermahgerd! I absolutely loved it and immediately grabbed my notepad and wrote down her recipe. You could literally coat old boot leather in this dry rub and it would taste delicious! She also, per my special request, made a batch of suicide hot Buffalo sauce to accompany the wings. These wings turned out Nashville Hot even without the sauce so scale back on the Red Pepper Flakes and Cayenne powder in the rub, if you don’t have an adequate heat tolerance that is. These wings were so damn hot they literally set off our fire alarm! You’ve been warned.

Luckily, Amy only lightly seasoned the Brussels Sprouts and they turned out mild and creamy. The roasted Brussels ended up acting as the cooling agent for this dish since the usual Ranch/Blue Cheese dressing was off limits. Halfway through her first unsauced Nashville Hot dry rubbed chicken wing, with sniffles already setting in, Amy realized she wasn’t gonna be able to grab that generous serving of Ben and Jerry’s she’s used to enjoying right after one of our spicy dinners. Immediately she stopped eating her Brussels and saved them for last. However, I particularly loved the deep smoky flavor of the dry rub tossed in the garlicky vinegar of the Buffalo sauce she made. But as cautioned before, if you aren’t tolerant to the higher levels of the Scoville Scale you may want to skip this sauce altogether.

Overall, this dinner made me extremely happy and the most enjoyable part for me was watching my wife work her creative magic in our kitchen. Fire alarm fiasco and all!

Amy’s Nashville Hot Dry Rub

Ingredients:

1 tsp Mexican Oregano

1 tsp Alder Smoked Sea Salt

3/4 tsp Red Pepper flakes

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Ginger Powder

1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp Mustard Powder

2 tsp Cayenne Powder

2 tsp Chipotle Powder

Method: 

In a mortar and pestle, grind the Mexican Oregano, Alder Smoked Salt, and Red Pepper flakes into a fine grind then transfer to a small mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and mix with a fork until well incorporated. Serve rubbed on your favorite meats or vegetables.

Amy’s Suicide Hot Buffalo Sauce

1 tsp Ghee

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot

3 tbsp Tabasco Sauce

1 tsp Red Pepper flakes

Very generous amount of cracked Black Pepper

Method: 

In a small saucepan over med low flame, melt the Ghee. Add the garlic and saute about 3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and just cooked through. Add in the remaining ingredients and continue to cook until the sauce has somewhat thickened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Serve with chicken wings.

Amy’s Nashville Hot Buffalo Wings 

Ingredients:

6 good quality Chicken Wings

1/4 cup Amy’s Nashville Hot Dry Rub

1/4 cup Amy’s Suicide Buffalo sauce, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken wings with the dry rub until thoroughly coated on all sides. Position a baking rack over a sheet pan and layer the coated chicken wings on top of the rack. Bake the wings in the oven about 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees and sear for 5 minutes (or until the fire alarm goes off haha!). Remove the wings from the oven and serve immediately as is or toss in Amy’s Suicide Buffalo sauce (or Buffalo sauce of choice).

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients: 

2 cups Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and quartered

1/2 tsp Amy’s Nashville Hot Dry Rub

2 tbsp Grapeseed oil, or oil of choice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a sheet pan lined with aluminium foil, toss the Brussels with the dry rub and Grapeseed oil. Roast in the oven about 30 minutes. Finish with salt, if desired. Serve immediately.