Tagged Chicken
The Red Hot Pepper Jam Buffalo Chicken Wings
I was in the kitchen last week with my assistant Sara who is ga-ga over Football and hosts an annual Super Bowl Party every season. Our conversation quickly turned to what she would be serving for her event. And once the conversation turned to Chicken Wings – everyone in the kitchen had an opinion. We all have our favorite bar, restaurant or recipe for chicken wings – but I prefer to stay close to the source and have updated traditional Buffalo Chicken Wings.
Generally speaking, Buffalo Wings are deep-fried, unbreaded, and coated in vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. They are served hot, along with celery sticks and/or carrot sticks and blue cheese dressing for dipping. So I think they hit 4 food groups – and yes I am pulling your leg.
There are a number of claims as to the origins of Buffalo Wings. One of the more prevalent is that Buffalo Wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, by Teressa & Frank Bellissimo. Several versions of the story have been circulated by the family. the one I like best was told by their son Dominic to Calvin Trillin for an article in The New Yorker. ”It was Friday night in the bar and since people were buying a lot of drinks he (Frank) wanted to do something nice for them at midnight when the mostly Catholic patrons would be able to eat meat again.” He stated that it was his mother, Teressa, who came up with the idea of chicken wings. Maybe so.
My go to recipe is adopted from my food hero Alton Brown, who just seems to do everything right. His method of steaming and roasting the wings adds much to the texture of the meat and dare I say cuts a bit of the fat. I use Josephine’s Feast Red Hot Pepper Jam in place of hot sauce and have tweaked the spices to add more depth of flavor.
His original recipe is at FoodNetwork.com.
The Ultimate Buffalo Chicken Wing for the Super Bowl
Ingredients:
2 dozen Whole chicken wings
4 ounces Unsalted butter – clarified
1 small Clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Josephines Feast Red Hot Pepper Jam
2 T Sweet Paprika or Josephine’s Feast South Fork BBQ Rub
1/2 t Sea salt
1 – Place a large saucepan with a steamer basket an inch or 2 of water of water. Over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.
2 – Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Remove the tips of the wings and save for making stock. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes.
3 – Remove the wings from the basket and pat dry with a paper towel. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or over night.
4 – Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
5 – Remove the paper towels and replace with parchment paper or foil. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.
6 – While the wings are roasting, clarify the butter in a small pot. Add the garlic, jam, salt and spice mix. Cook for 2 minutes.
7 – It is easiest to pull the wings from the oven & combine them in sauce pot – toss to coat. Serve warm.
Alternatively the wings can be refrigerated for two days and retuned to a 400 degree oven to reheat.
Traditionally served with celery and carrot sticks along with this delicious blue cheese dipping sauce.
Ingredients for the Blue Cheese Dip:
1/2 cup Sour cream – regular or low fat
1/2 cup Crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 Small clove garlic – minced
1 T Buttermilk or milk or cream
1/2 lemon juiced – the zest can be added for extra flavor
to taste Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 – Combine the first 6 ingredients in a small bowl and blend with a wand mixer or fork.
2 – Taste and add salt and pepper.
If you are looking for an equal delicious but lower fat version of a Blue Cheese Dressing. Please view my earlier post. This recipe would have to be reduced by half or even by three quarters depending on how many wings you are making.
Split Chicken with Meyer Lemons and Garlic
I opened Susan Goin’s “Sunday Suppers at Lucques”, a favorite cookbook of mine. What to do tonight? Inspired by my recent trip to LA, I defrosted an organic chicken from Iaconne Farms in East Hampton, bought two containers of English peas – because one is never enough, and a couple of Meyer lemons and kumquats due to my daughters prompting…and now dinner.
Split Chicken with Meyer Lemons and Garlic
5 lbs Whole Chicken
3 Meyer Lemons
1 Onion
1 Head of Garlic
Fresh Sage Leaves
Salt
White Pepper
Herbes de Provence
1 – Cut the back bone out of the chicken- you can do this with a sharp knife or cheat and use poultry sheers then split the bird for more instruction see http://italianfood.about.com/od/tipstricks1/ss/aa051505_5.htm)
2 – Zest the 3 Meyer lemons. Reserve the zest and juice 2 of the lemons.
3 – I rinse the chicken under running water and then “wash”with Meyer lemon juice.
4 – Mix the Meyer lemon zest, herbes de provence, sea salt, chopped sage and white pepper in a small bowl.
5 -Rub well into the chicken – both front and back.
6 – Chop the onion and 1/2 the head of garlic .
7 – Pour 1 to 2 T of olive oil into a small roasting pan – add the onion and garlic. They will be your aromatics.
8 – Rest the chicken over the vegetables.
9 -Place the roasting pan in a 400 degree oven – close door and immediately and lower heat to 375 degrees.
10 – Chop the second half of the garlic into chunky pieces.
11- Roast for 20 minutes – take out the bird, begin basting and sprinkle the chopped garlic over the bird. It is important to remove the roasting pan from the oven – close the door and baste the chicken outside of the oven every 20 minutes. Doing so allows the oven to remain hot.
12 – I roast my chickens for 90 minutes – the basting interrupts the cooking time but insures a juicy bird.
13 – When the chicken is cooked – the juices run clear.
14 – Tent the chicken and rest for 10 to 15 minutes. In the mean time juice the last lemon and drizzle the juice over the carved chicken pieces.
Easy Peasy English Peas with Kumquats
What shouts Spring more than English Peas? nothing! Absolutely nothing. Their season is short so cook them when you can. Traditionally they are cooked with mint and butter. But what about kumquats? The colors are so spectacular together – it has to be good.
1 lb. of Fresh English Peas
9 to 12 Kumquats
Pitch of Sea Salt
Pat of Butter -optional
1 – Slice the kumquats painfully thin – 5 to 6 slices per kumquat.
2 – Add to a pot with a scant 1/2 cup of water. Simmer on a low flame while you shell the peas.
3 – When the peas are shelled add a pinch of sea salt to the simmering water and then add the peas.
4 – Cover and cook longer than you think – about 4 to 5 minutes – the peas should still be bright green and not a bit grey.
5 – You can add a pat of butter to the pot – but I find them delicious as is. A nice change from mint and equally as fresh.
Green & Yellow Squash Gratin
Truthfully, I have to clean out my refrigerator and the yellow & green squash have to go into a gratin. This one is easy and very light – using milk and a tablespoon of flour instead of cream. Honestly if I had the cream, I would have used it – but cooking in the moment is my best at – so here goes.
2 Yellow Squash
2 Green Squash
1 T of Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup of Low Fat Milk
1 T Flour
Pitch of Salt
White Pepper
Grated Nutmeg
1- Slice the green & yellow squash on a long slim diagonal.
2 – Butter a gratin dish with 1/2 the butter.
3 – Layer the squash alternating with a layer of grated parmesan cheese.
4 – when finished, wish the milk, flour, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl and pour over the gratin.
5 – Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes – when the top is golden.
6 – Lets cool for 5 minutes and slice into serving pieces with a sharp knife and serve with an off set spatula.
BBQ Chicken – My Way
I am not a big fan of BBQ Sauce – the commercial bottles are loaded with all kinds of things I would never eat – preservatives, stabilizers and high fructose corn syrup. But my 8 year old ( Josephine! ) recently went through a period where she could not eat a meal with out it. She used it as a condiment, a dipping sauce and a salad dressing – what is a mother to do?
I spent a good part of the winter trying to answer that challenge and a friend dared me to create an interesting BBQ sauce – because as she put it, a good BBQ sauce makes everything better. Really?
The question I am asked most get asked at the markets is how do I use a BBQ sauce to cook? After we decide between a hot and spice BBQ Sauce –
Josephine’s Feast! Organic Smoked Heirloom Apple & Chipolte BBQ Sauce or a sweet and fruity BBQ Sauce – Jospehine’s Feast! Organic Hand Foraged Wild Beach Plum BBQ Sauce
I do prefer a “whole bird” – as my grandmother would say. But this recipe seamlessly for chicken pieces and is often easier for many cooks to master.
By all means start by purchasing an organic chicken at your local market– it really does taste so much better and is so much better for you.
Shopping List:
1 Whole Organic 5 lbs Chicken or 8 Chicken Pieces
Juice of one lemon
1to 2 T olive oil
2 T Josephine’s Feast! Shinnecock Bay Seasoning
1 T of Josephine’s Feast! Natural Sea salt with Herbes De Provence
1 cup Organic Smoked Heirloom Apple & Chipolte BBQ Sauce or Organic Hand Foraged Wild Beach Plum BBQ Sauce
- Rinse chicken under cold water & lemon juice
- Pat dry
- Evenly coat the chicken with 1 – 2 T of olive oil
- Rub 2 T of Josephine’s Feast! Shinnecock Bay Seasoning onto the chicken
- Cover & let rest for 0ne hour – this helps to develop the flavor.
For even more flavor – refrigerate over night.
- If marinating overnight – take chicken out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking to bring the chicken to room temperature. This is a very important step as it allows for more even cooking.
- While the chicken is resting build an indirect grilling fire. Allowing the heat to reach 350 degrees
- If using a whole chicken – truss with cotton string. TRUSS
- Cook for 50 minutes on the grill
10. Baste with BBQ sauce every 5 minutes for the next 15 minutes
11. The chicken is done when the meat easily pulls away at the joints and the crust is golden brown.
For an oven alternative:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees –
- While you are waiting on the oven to heat, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and allow to reach to room temperature.
- Brush the chicken liberally with ½ cup of BBQ sauce.
- Place the trussed chicken on a rack in the center of the oven. Immediately turn the oven down to 350 degrees
- If you are using chicken pieces – place them face down on the rack and flip once half way thru the cooking process when basting.
- Baste with BBQ Sauce every 20 minutes.
- The chicken is cooked after 1 hour and 10 minutes or when the meat easily pulls at the joints