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Wing Sauce, a New Take on an Old Classic

John started a series on Sauces last week with his Sweet and Sour Sauce post and not only did that post prove to be very helpful to me, it also got my wheels spinning.  Sauces often make the difference between a great meal and a bland meal, they can bring bold new flavors and textures to the plate leading to a very exciting element to a meal.  I am TERRIBLE at following recipes and seldom measure anything when cooking, I tend to follow my senses, taste, touch, smell, sight and even hearing.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, taste your food while you’re cooking, your seasoning will get better and you’ll develop instinctual habits and techniques that you will carry for the rest of your life.  I’ll write a post about some of my tips for making a sauce on the fly in the very near future.  This post is about one of those sauces that came to be almost by accident, while I didn’t measure anything I am quite certain I could replicate this sauce without much difficulty because like most of cooking it really boils down to personal taste, style and balance.

As I mentioned in the Shopping For a New Gas Grill post I wrote last month I love wings, they are such a great food that often get’s over looked as pub fare, takeout or just a boring appetizer.  I will admit I am a big fan of the traditional buffalo sauce (Franks Red Hot mixed with melted butter to taste) but sometimes you want something that is a little off the beaten trail.  I was invited to a party for a friends new grill, the maiden voyage if you will, and had very little time to prepare.  I quickly drove to the store and saw bone in wings on sale so I grabbed them quickly and new I could create a great wing sauce to go with them.

I started with a base of Raspberry Jam that I had and was approaching it’s expiration date, I thought that would bring a nice sweet element to the sauce and add a little acid.  I then added some Sriracha sauce to the jam and whisked it together.  This is a great example of how you must taste while cooking, if you’ve never used Sriracha sauce and you enjoy spicy hot food you must try it, it is a very consistent and flavorful Chili Pepper Sauce, that said a little Sriracha can go a long way, so I had to add it slowly until I had the perfect blend (for my tastes) of sweetness and heat.  Once I had reached this balance I added a little soy sauce for a salty element, again tasting until I reached the level I was looking for.  I’m addicted to black pepper so I broke out my trusty pepper mill and added a generous portion of black pepper until I had obtained the flavor I was looking for.  While I had a nice balanced sauce on my hands it still wasn’t quite where I wanted it so I added some fresh grated ginger for brightness and so that it left a super clean finish in your mouth.  Again this was added until I had reached the flavor I was looking for.  Finally I added a generous portion of melted butter to bring some richness and creamy buttery goodness to the sauce.  I wasn’t too concerned with the butter altering the flavor profile because I knew that all of the flavors would intensify once heated and the butter would brown up and burn off as a whole.  I did not plan on cooking my wings and then tossing them in the sauce, I grilled the wings until 95% cooked and then generously cooked/coated the wings in the sauce until they were finished entirely.

The only additional seasoning I added was basic salt and pepper prior to cooking the raw chicken on the grill.  I posted this image before but here is what they came out looking like.

Grilled Wings

What I was left with were amazing crispy skinned wings, with a beautiful caramelized wing sauce that had what I felt was the perfect balance of spicy heat, sweetness, saltiness and brightness.  This sauce definitely would be labeled as an Asian wing sauce, Sriracha, Soy Sauce and ginger are all classic items in Asian cooking, but they definitely had a certain American flair, while I think the term fusion is grossly over used and typically a bad idea, this I think classifies as Asian/American fusion.

I’m sorry I don’t have the exact recipe I used, but I think a valuable lesson you can pull from this post is that you can create amazing sauces by trusting your taste buds and continually tasting while creating it.  If you focus on creating a balanced sauce that provides the flavor profile you are looking for you cannot lose when combining ingredients for your sauce.

Finding the Right Kitchen Knives

As any chef will tell you their knives are one of their most prized items in the kitchen, they bring them along when they cook outside of their kitchen and they typically take better care of them than any other tool used when cooking.  There’s a number of great reasons for the esteem chef’s hold for their knives and we’ll outline them briefly and then offer some tips to help you find the right knives for your kitchen.

Chef’s don’t bring their pots and pans, their cooktops, favorite spatula or any other tool with them when cooking in a kitchen other than their own, but they will likely bring their knives.  The more you use a knife in the kitchen the more it becomes almost a part of you, you get used to the weight, the blad flex, the balance, the ability to hold an edge and the sharpness of the blade itself.  I’m not a professional chef but I will admit it is VERY frustrating to go to a friend or family members house and start helping prepare a meal, I am very hands on with everything I do, only to find they have a set of cheaply made knives from the 1970’s.  I know it sounds snobbish and even like an urban legend, but I’ve had more close calls at cutting myself with dull, down right cheap knives than I have with razor sharp knives, knock on wood * knock knock* I’ve never once cut myself with a sharp, quality knife.  This union between chef and knife is only increased the more you use it, so I can only imagine the connection a full time chef has with their knives after years of using them over 40 hours/week.

Another reason chef’s love their knives so much is a quality knife will last the rest of your life.  With proper maintenance and a little cautionary care they will easily last longer than any of us will.  Learn the proper way to maintain your knives, take care of them and they will reward you with a lifetime of superb performance.

As anyone who knows me would tell you I have a reputation for being very frugal, though they say it in a slightly more insulting way, the term they use rhymes with “heap.”  With that said I have the most expensive set of knives of my circle of friends, they also all have knife envy when they come over.  I am a firm believer in purchasing quality when it will offer a better experience during the service life of the product and the service life is longer than a cheaper counterpart.  In fact I sometimes wish I spent even a little more, because I will have the knives I have until I die or a natural disaster takes them from me, though I have no regrets or complaints about my knives.  It’s just that when you are committing to something for the rest of your life I think making sure you’re going to be happy with it just makes sense, after all you don’t marry the first person you meet, you wait until you find the right person to spend the rest of your life with, any “until death do you part” relationship should be looked at for the long term.  If you take cooking seriously DON’T CHEAP OUT ON YOUR KNIVES!

Caveat emptor, if you know that you are not the sort to take care of things, if you tend to be on the lazy/sloppy side don’t waste your money buying fancy knives because you will just ruin them.  We are all different and some people are just inherently messier than others, if you can look at yourself and say you know you’re not going to take care of them save yourself the headache and a lot of cash.  An expensive knife will dull just like a cheap knife and if you’re not prepared to maintain your investment you’ll be better served with an inexpensive solution.

The most obvious first item you have to consider when purchasing a knife or more likely a knife set is your budget, this is totally up to you, we all have different situations we live in and I never encourage anyone to live beyond their means, though most people can easily save at least several hundred dollars/month with basic lifestyle changes, but that’s up to you to figure out.  Don’t go in debt to purchase knives but don’t go to Wal-Mart and by a 35 piece knife set for $16.99 and expect it to be even remotely decent.  In fact, if you’re budget is on the smaller side I would strongly advise not purchasing a set at all, instead just purchase the few knives you’d use the most.  I originally purchased an 8 piece knife set, keep in mind 1 piece is the steel, another piece is the block and yet another piece is the kitchen sheers, so in reality it’s a 5 knife set.  I have added another 4 knives to it over the years but still find that I use 2 or 3 of the knives 95% of the time.  It is handy to have some of the others but I think if I had a tighter budget I could happily get by with just a few knives purchased individually.  I’ve seen some professional chef’s who use a cleaver for just about everything and yet others rely on just a few knives of their sets, in other words don’t get blinded by having a huge knife block with a knife for every purpose, focus on getting the best quality you can afford on the knives you’d use the most.  Before you go too much further you should honestly ask yourself if you’re the sort who always uses the same 1 or 2 knives or if you want a full arsenal of knives that you’ll use all the time.  If I could go back this is one thing I would change, I would likely have purchased just the few that I use all the time in even higher quality, with that said I am extremely happy with my knives and plan on keeping them the rest of my life.

The next step is that you should go out and hold/handle some of the knives you’re interested in, places like Bed Bath and Beyond offer a decent selection and everyone knows about their 20% off coupons which can add up to huge savings with items like kitchen knives.  Though places like Williams Sonoma offer higher end offering and will even allow you to get medieval on some vegetables of you’re serious about purchasing.  Holding and actually cutting with the knives you want is extremely helpful to find out what feels comfortable to you, what is balanced and what isn’t, don’t pay super close attention to the factory edge, without proper care that will be gone in no time, even cheap knives can be made super sharp for short periods of time.  One of the most common complaints I hear about an expensive knife is the pricier Shun knives, between the handle shape and the blade angle some people find them to be uncomfortable to use.  The point of this is no two people are the same, we all are a little different and finding a quality knife that you are comfortable with is more important than finding a knife that other people like a lot.  The more comfortable you are with a knife the more confident you will be and the more your skills will develop.

Another big item to consider is stamped vs forged.  Some brands are kind of sneaky about this but as a general rule if the knife is forged they will tell you about it because forging a knife is a more expensive process and creates a knife that is typically always higher quality.  The one downfall of a forged knife is they are not flexible like stamped knives, if you bend them too far they will stay bent and a crooked knife is just about useless in a kitchen.  Forged knives typically cost more but will hold an edge better, be easier to realign (more on this later) and can be sharpened if dulled.  There have been advancements in stamped knives, but as a general rule they are cheaper and lower quality than their forged counterparts.

This point is EXTREMELY important, don’t buy into the gimmicks! Chances are high that you’ve never cut a brick and even higher that you’ll never find a recipe calling for sliced brick, so who cares if a knife can cut a brick.  Virtually any knife can be made sharp for a short period of time, a quality knife will hold an edge and be able to be sharpened for a lifetime.  Don’t trust door to door salesmen selling a single knife brand, this is true beyond just knives, of course they know the sales tactics and angles to prove to you their knives are better while there, but you are paying for inexpensive knives at premium prices.  Do you really think they are going door to door for fun? They are doing it to make a living, in this case off unsuspecting people who are looking for good in others.  No knife will stay sharp forever, don’t believe them.  Any other claim that seems impossible means you’re probably right.  If these gimmick’s were right the pro’s would be using them too and they never are.

I’ll follow up soon with post about knife care, straightening and sharpening so you can maximize the life and user experience of your investment.

 

Shopping for a new Gas Grill

Shopping for a new outdoor grill can be a daunting task, there are hundreds if not thousands of choices and even some recent advancements that are worth consideration.  Before we get too far ahead of ourselves I want to set the record straight, there is a HUGE difference between grilling and BBQ’ing and I see the two terms interchanged far too often, almost to the point that it irritates me.  BBQ’ing is done over a long period of time over a low heat, aka low and slow, grilling on the other hand is done with extremely high heat and very quickly.  Both methods have advantages and disadvantages but most people use a gas grill for grilling and NOT BBQ’ing though they often say they are BBQ’ing when in fact they are grilling.  Now that we have cleared that from the air let us proceed.

The idea for this post came about because Tiffany and I are shopping for a new Gas Grill, we both love the flavor and process that goes along with a traditional charcoal grill, such as the infamous weber charcoal grill, however it is often handy to have a grill that you can control easier and quicker.  If we’re grilling a few hot dogs or hamburgers for us on a weeknight going through the ritualistic process of using a charcoal grill just isn’t in the cards, a minus to both of us having professional careers – bummer but all hope is not lost.  You can grill extremely flavorful food on a gas grill, just don’t expect it to be something it is not.

Onto our quest, searching for the ideal gas grill for our lives.  I think the most obvious first thing to consider is size, both physical size and number of burners, some really small gas grills only have one burner and enough cooking area for a large steak, this isn’t a problem if you are patient or single, but if there is more than one of you or if you ever entertain try to get a slightly larger grill so you have enough space to grill at least two large steaks at once.  I think at least two burners is another good rule to follow, it will allow greater temp control, the ability to create hot or cool spots and in general be more consistent with your grilling than a single burner grill.  Above I mentioned that you shouldn’t go too small, but also don’t go too large, do you really need a 10 burner gas grill that can fit a whole side of beef on it with room for baked potatoes?  Sadly, no, though it would be really cool!  The problem with the enormous “grillzilla’s” out there is often you’re cooking for 2-4 people and you have this behemoth to heat up, it will take up more space, burn through a lot more gas, be harder to master the way you can a grill that suits your needs better.  So be realistic when purchasing, get a grill that is big enough for your needs, but not the grill that makes you the talk of the neighborhood, you want the grill that is just right.

The finish is totally up to you, some people like stainless steel, others prefer painted finishes, I think both can look stunning and it’s 100% up to you which you prefer.  Often Stainless cost a little bit more, and look very pretty when new, but it’s a grill, most live outside and see all of the elements, experience enormous temperature fluctuations and get discolored within a few months of purchase so don’t base your purchase solely on the finish.

Another simple item that drives me crazy on grills is the direction the grill itself is situated, I greatly prefer a grill thats cooking surface goes away from me rather than perpendicularly to me.  This I learned the hard way, modern grills typically have little nooks near where they hinge and it can be very tricky to flip items that get situated there, it’s a very awkward action to try to flip that way.  So be cautious when purchasing, imagine flipping something on the grill, how natural does it feel?

Here’s where you have to start making some decisions, there’s been a development in recent years in the type of burners some grills have, you’ll notice a lot of infrared grills on the market and they are very interesting.  It is still a gas grill, it still uses burners, but the burner is different, they are designed to have even grill temperature across the entire cooking surface of the grill, from corner to corner.  That sounds really great, then I used one and while an interesting theory it did not seem to hold true.  Below is an image of the infrared grill I used, it’s difficult to notice, but i you look closely, directly below the cooking surface you’ll see a perforated panel, that is what evens the temps across the grill – click the image to see in it’s original size.

Infrared Grill

I made wings, I happen to LOVE grilled chicken wings, beautiful crispy skin on the outside, juicy, tender white meat chicken on the inside and coated with whatever sauce happens to excite you on that particular day.  On this day I made a classic Tim concoction, it was a sweet, hot and tangy sauce, made from raspberry jam, Sriracha sauce and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce mixed until I was happy with the sauces balance.  I am notorious for not measuring I just keep adding until I get what I’m looking for by continually tasting.  The wings were marinated in a little apple cider vinegar, salt, black pepper and ground thyme.   In any case the wings did come out beautifully as you can see below.

Grilled Wings

The problem was the grill didn’t cook them that evenly, there were hot spots, which I actually like on a grill but not when it’s supposed to have an even cooking surface.  The real gripe I had was I grilled them most of the way and then sauced them in the last 5 minutes flipping continually to carmelize the sauce.  What happened was between the chicken fat/juices that cooked out and the sauce it totally crusted up the perforated portion of the grill leading to very uneven cooking temps across the grill, flame ups and in general an unpleasant cooking surface for others to cook on – this was a party and there were at least two other batches of food cooked after the wings.  To add insult to injury, the grill surface had to be disassembled and thoroughly wire brushed once it cooled.  Apparently you are supposed to do this before you use the grill every time, and it just seems enormously time consuming for the limited benefits.

So with that digression out of the way, it may come as no surprise that we are leaning towards a more conventional gas grill.  One trick you can use to extract more flavor from your gas grill is to soak wood chips in water, drain them and wrap them in aluminum foil, place them on the grill surface, under the cooking area of the grill or any place you are comfortable with them not catching fire and still adding the smokey wood flavor of a charcoal/wood grill.  We are still shopping, but I think something in the 3-5 burner range will be on our patio in no time.  I’ll be sure to follow up when we’ve finally made up our mind.

Happy Grilling!

 

Betty Crocker Warm Delights Review

By now I’m sure you’ve seen these in your grocery store, the Betty Crocker Warm Delights.  The first time I saw them I literally laughed, a microwaveable cake mix in a little plastic cup, hilarious I know!  For those of you who haven’t paid attention this is what they look like in the store:

Betty Crocker Warm Delights

We Purchased the mini’s and figured we would appease the purist sense of chocolate eating and went with the Molten Chocolate Cake (the one on the right). There are other flavors, including the caramel that is on the left of the above image and then they make the full size versions in additional flavors, including a Fudge Brownie, a Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie – there are additional flavors listed on Betty Crocker’s site but I’ve never been to a store that carries all of them.

I was very apprehensive before trying this, like I said I thought they were something of a joke, so I had the bar set really low.  After reading the directions I was even more discouraged but we proceeded cautiously.  When you open the package you’ll see two ingredient packets, one with the cake mix and the other with the fudge topping.  You are instructed to mix the cake mix with “1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of water” which is an odd measurement, I used 4 teaspoons to keep it simple.  Then you stir the water in with the mix and knead the fudge packet approximately 10 times and apply on top of the raw batter.  We tried to be artful with our decoration but they both turned into fudgy train wrecks.  Finally microwave for 30 seconds, I found ours needed 35-40 seconds but they still “cook” remarkably fast and cook time will vary slightly from one microwave to another.  During this lengthy cook time I read “Finnegans Wake.”  When we opened the microwave we were pleasantly surprised to see that it rose, cooked and smelled like a chocolate dessert!  Please note, we cooked them individually, not both at the same time.

We let them sit for a minute or two and proceeded to consume.

Betty Crocker Warm Delights

We had a number of tiny ice creams we were sampling at the same time, but the focus of this post are the warm delights.

I have to admit I was remarkably impressed with these things!  It is not a gourmet dessert, but it has no right being as good as it is for something that costs so little and cooks so quickly.  It’s a very light chocolate cake, a touch spongy but by some miracle not rubbery.  The fudge is gooey and rich, the kind that practically welds itself onto your spoon and you have to feverishly lick clean.

We will likely try them again and maybe modify it slightly, I like a denser cake, in particular with fudge when it’s labeled as a “molten chocolate cake” I picture a rich, dense, glistening chocolate cake with a gooey fudge center that oozes all over your plate as soon as you cut into it with your eating utensil. Experiment 1 will include using some sort of fat in the cake mix, either canola oil or more than likely butter to add a little richness and flavor – either way I suspect that will add to the cake density but may impact it’s cook time and rising.  The other thing I am toying with is saving the fudge packet for after it’s cooked and stuffing the center of it like a jelly donut with the fudge, then I would have a real mini-molten chocolate cake.  Then again it may require dual stage cooking, 20 seconds with no fudge, add the fudge to the center and then microwave for another 15 seconds.  Either way I think these have promise and are worth trying.  They are fast, simple and really not even terrible for you as far as desserts go.

I’m not a dessert guy and I try to avoid using microwaves as much as possible but think these are worth keeping around if you ever get that delicious chocolate dessert craving and are pressed for time.  As we experiment with them more I will follow up with our results.  Let us know if you’ve tried them and what you think!