Chicken Wings

Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings

I was looking for a spicy chicken wing recipe that was a little different. I wanted something non-goopy that didn't get its heat from a bunch of Tabasco heated with butter or ketchup. These fit the bill and they were not very hard.

The raw garlic in the sauce is a little aggressive, so next time I make them I may either roast it first or use elephant garlic to tone it down a bit. I used predominantly cilantro (and some Italian parsley) for the herbs as I think it is best with things that are "hot". Two of us ate 3lbs of wings as a main course and washed it down with a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc.

From: Grill It! by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby
For the wings:
3lbs of chicken wings
3T olive oil
2T smoked hot paprika
Salt and pepper

For the dressing:
1/4cup EVOO
Juice of one lemon
1/4 (0r more) chopped fresh herbs (any combo: parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano)
2T dry sherry
1T minced garlic
1T red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Coat the chicken wings in the oil, paprika, salt and pepper. Let sit. Grill over medium/high heat for ~15 minutes. Longer if cooking from frozen (which works fine).

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and drizzle over the wings when they come off the grill.

City Grill has chosen

Gas Grilled Hot Dogs

City Grill has finally chosen a gas grill. I labored long and hard and settled on a Weber Q200. The primary decision factor here was size. I needed to be able to carry it up the stairs and I didn't want it to take up the entire deck, so that ruled out some 27 burner Charmglow monstrosity with an IR rotisserie and built in propane powered blender. I also wanted something that I might want to own in the future when I was able to use my charcoal grill again and frankly, I wanted a Weber. I would have gotten a Q300, but they are special order pretty much everywhere and I was tired of waiting.

On my way home from Boston this weekend I stopped at the Hookset, NH Home Depot and picked it up a Q200, rolling stand and the LP tank conversion hose. I figured there was no better way to christen it tonight than with a couple of hot dogs. I can report that it cooks hot dogs and buns well. It also did a nice job on the whole bone-in chicken breast I cooked to make lunch sandwiches. The flavor is definitely a little different, but I am looking forward to learning to use it.

Stay tuned.

A pilgrimage of sorts

One of many gargoyles at Stone Brewery

I was in San Diego a few weeks ago for the marathon. I took an extra day after the race, rented a car and made a trip to Stone Brewery just north of the city. We had lunch at the "World Bistro" and went on a brewery tour which finished with a free tasting. The bistro was just ok, but the beer was of course fantastic and as is always the case, it was that much better fresh from the tap at the brewery.

If you are not familiar with Stone (website here), it's my favorite. I highly recommend the original IPA. They do a whole collection of other stronger, super hopped beers, but having tasted most of them, I can now confirm that the IPA is indeed the best. Fortunately, it is also the most widely available. Unfortunately, it is not available here in Canada.

Flank Steak

Beer Marinated Flank Steak with Tomato and Spinach Orzo

I have made this orzo (recipe here) twice now this weekend. I really like it. I used elephant garlic to keep it mellow and I rough chopped the spinach to make the whole thing mix a little better.

The flank steak is straight out of this month's Bon Appetit. I skipped the guac and I just mixed all the marinade ingredients in a bowl rather than go thru the rub process described in the recipe. It didn't seem to suffer. The flavor is predominantly cumin, which is just fine with me.