August 13, 2004

• You want hot? i'll give you hot: Ginger- abt 2 tablspoons worth of freshly ground ginger garlic- 2 cloves freshly ground half large red onion - pepper - 2 medium habaneros (or scotch bonnets), 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper half bottle worcester sauce juice of 2 lemons freshly squeezed some salt to taste fresh mint (i dunno, i just grab a clump from the flowerpot) ................................................. - Take all the ingredients and dump in blender (excluding mint) - Make a mess in the blender. - Take mess out of blender and pour on about 12 wings - Rip mint apart with hands (go crazy here) - Wear gloves now. - Put gloved hands in yucky chicken mess - Stuff mint in crevices of meat. - Rub chicken with gunky mess till every part of chicken is covered completely. - Cover with saran wrap - Stick in fridge for 24 hours - Take gloved finger and stick in eye (just kidding) - Next day take chicken out of fridge and bring to room temp. - Poor concoction in ovenproof bowl/baking dish cover with foil - Stick in oven (450F)and bake for 10 mins. - Lower heat to 375 and leave for 5 mins - After 5 mins take foil off and mix around with spoon - Stick back in oven for another 5 mins. - Take off foil and switch oven to broil - Broil for abt 7 mins till nice and golden brown - Remove from oven. - Grab an ice cold beer. (and a fire extinguisher) -Say your prayers. - Dunk wing in ranch sauce if u like - Stick wing in oral orifice... - ....? - Profit!!
• Ramix, you forgot: - Have a generously endowed, clingy-T-shirt wearing, cheerful female friend serve them on big plate.
• Thanks ramix! I've got fresh mint and I love ginger too. :-)
• Why were these chicken legs so cheap?
• Not a recipe, but a "trick" for cooking chicken legs: If you cut through the tendons at the knuckle end of the drumstick (cut all the way to the bone or whack the knuckle off entirely), the meat doesn't take on that tough rubbery character that chicken legs sometimes have. The drumsticks look a bit odd but they come out much less chewy.
• ramix, that sounds delicious! *stuffs oral hole*
• Wings are wings, not much you can do with 'em save to not bread them like a hump. Sauce? I've made a dozen different kinds, and the one I always come back to is the easiest: 4-2-1 proportions of Durkee's RedHot hot sauce, butter, and red wine vinegar. Heat hot enough to melt the butter and blend. That's it. Deep fry your unbreaded wings to crispiness (half-cooked wings are both gross and full of not-so-delicious salmonella bacteria), pour a generous amount of the sauce in a bowl, dump in the wings, flip em around a few times to get sauce in the nooks and crannies, spill it all out onto a plate, eat.
• Dave Barry wrote a great bit about chicken wings years ago. Something about how they're simply a transfer medium for spicy barbecue sauce and are popular in bars because drunk people will eat anything. Douse 'em in sauce, let the customers gnaw at them, put them in the dishwasher, and repeat. If your fingers get burned from the capscaisin oil in the peppers, try sponging off with rubbing alcohol before rubbing your eyes or petting your kittens. Speaking of which, how are the sweet little monsters? Any pix yet?
• Fes' recipe is almost the same as mine, except I add the hot sauce and vinegar first, simmer for a couple of minutes (open the window!), then add butter and a pinch of sugar, whisk until melted.
• I must add...its HOT! Naah, scratch that, think smoke coming outta your ears! But its good. So the good cancels out the hot.... *i think...
• Hey ramix, just tried your recipe tonight. Verdict: awesome! Thanks. :-)
• Well, this isn't a hot wings recipe, but we did a chicken dish tonight that is truly awesome, and this was the closest thing to not doing a ffp for one recipe. It makes a bunch of chicken, so I generally cut it in half. Trust me on this. It's to die for. CINNAMON-ROASTED CHICKEN WITH HARISSA SAUCE 1 cup olive oil 1/4 cup ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon sugar 8 small chicken breast halves with skin and bones 8 chicken thighs with skin and bones 1 cup (about) all purpose flour 4 tablespoons (about) peanut oil Harissa Sauce Mix first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Place chicken breasts and thighs in 2-gallon resealable plastic bag. Pour oil mixture over; seal bag. Turn bag to coat chicken with marinade. Chill overnight. Preheat oven to 475°F. Transfer chicken to rimmed baking sheet, shaking off marinade. Sprinkle chicken all over with flour. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add chicken to skillet. Cook until golden, adding more oil as needed, about 3 minutes per side. Return chicken to baking sheet, skin side up. Roast until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve with Harissa Sauce. Makes 8 servings. Bon Appétit September 2002 Helen's, Richmond, VA Epicurious Food © 2002 CondéNet Inc. All rights reserved. HARISSA SAUCE This recipe is an accompaniment for Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken with Harissa Sauce. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 1 tablespoon caraway seeds 4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled 4 large red bell peppers 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper Stir coriander and caraway in small skillet over medium-high heat until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Transfer to processor. Cook garlic in same skillet, covered, over medium-low heat until tender, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cool. Peel garlic; add to processor. Char bell peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in paper bag; let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed, and coarsely chop peppers; add peppers, oil, sugar, and crushed red pepper to processor. Puree. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Yum!
• Way more than "yum." It's my new addiction. I had some cold for breakfast this am, and was going to dip bread in the sauce for late lunch, but someone else got there first. Oh, and, if you don't want to go through the charring of peppers, you can get Greek glass-jarred peppers - no water added. I think the brand is Pelopenese. The fresh ones are a bit better, but the jarred ones won't distract.
• Second "oh, and." If you use fresh peppers (pimientos), be sure to save the juices to add to the sauce while pureeing. Can you tell this is my addiction?