Buffalo Wings, Teriyaki Wings, a Giveaway and Happy Moments

Bear with me.  

I'm going to throw a lot of stuff at you before we get to the wing recipe.  

It all started early this morning with a few happy, happy, happy moments, one right after the other within  a span of about 5 minutes.

 I was picking up a prescription at the pharmacy.  As I was leaving, one of the pharmacists was just coming in and he stopped me to ask how everyone in my family was doing and as we were talking the store loudspeaker started playing a Bee Gees song.  It brought the biggest smile to my face and both of us started laughing and I said, "I can't help it, whenever I hear the Bee Gees it makes me feel like I did way back then!" and he said, "You mean back in your Saturday Night Fever Days?" and we both laughed.

I was still smiling when I was sitting at the traffic light, waiting to exit the parking lot.  I looked over at the very old, vintage car that was sitting in the lane next to me and noticed the elderly lady driving the car, gripping her steering wheel tightly.  A steering wheel that was covered with a plush, fluffy, bright pink steering wheel cover.  I had to stifle a laugh, because I didn't want the woman to think that I was laughing at her, but I was thinking to myself that when I'm eighty I hope that I have a fluffy, pink steering wheel cover in my vintage car.  But make my vintage car a Ferrari, okay?

Then the light changed.   I turned out of the parking lot and a couple of blocks later found myself waiting at another traffic light.  Staring at the back of the minivan in front of me, I noticed a sticker on the back with the profile of a beautiful, long-coated dog.  I decided that it was probably either a Newfoundland or a Great Pyrenees.  As I pondered which of these gorgeous breeds it could be, a movement in the back window of the minivan caught my eye.  There in the window, staring right at me, was an English Bulldog, in all his smushed-face glory, complete with an immense underbite with his bottom teeth jutting out.  I started laughing again, thinking how odd it is that the sticker on the car has a beautiful Newfie or Great Pyrenees but the dog in the car is actually a bulldog.  And the dog continued to stare at me, as if to say, "Yeah, and I'll bet your husband once had a picture of Farrah Fawcett or Bo Derek on his wall. But just like the sticker on this car, that picture on his wall didn't mean anything, did it?  Because he ended up with you instead, right?"  Which only made me laugh more.

My good mood continued throughout the morning (I know that I am really in a good mood when I'm still smiling as I vacuum and do laundry).  As I sat down to blog about chicken wings, I thought to myself that it has been a really long time since my last giveaway.

So I gathered up a bunch of fall-themed kitchen toys from Williams-Sonoma for you!

 The winner will receive everything you see in this picture.  A set of pumpkin and gourd candles, Halloween cookie cutters, a pumpkin spatula, a pumpkin pocket pie mold, and a set of fall-themed piecrust cutters.

I also bought a set of the candles for myself.   Here they are on my fall mantel.

Cookie cutters in the shape of a ghost, haunted house, bat, pumpkin and witch's hat, and a pumpkin spatula.

Turkey, pumpkin, leaf and acorn piecrust cutters, and a pumpkin-shaped pocket pie mold.

To win the giveaway, all you have to do is 1. be a follower of this blog and 2. leave a comment on this post. Comment about anything you like, anything from your favorite Bee Gees song to Let's Go Red Sox or anything in between!! 

The winner will be drawn via random.org on Friday, October 4 and contacted via their blog comment email address.

This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents, and it is sponsored by me--believe me, Williams-Sonoma has no idea who I am.

Update: The giveaway is closed.  The winner has been emailed-- and the winner is:  Heather, from Vintage Grey.  I have been following Heather's blog with its lovely crafts and creations for a long time, her handiwork is amazing!  Congratulations, Heather!

Okay, onto today's recipe.  I do not eat chicken wings.  I'm happy to eat white-meat chicken, but I don't do wings.  Mr. Terrific loves them, however.  And now it's football season.  And I spend a lot of time making appetizers on Sundays before we watch the Patriots.  These wings are part of football Sundays.  Partly because they are good football food, but also because it's best to make these on a day when I am spending a lot of time cooking, because of the refrigeration and the wait involved after the wings are steamed.  If you have the time, I recommend using this steam-then-roast method!

I don't fry the wings.  I figure there are enough calories in the sauces, why pile on more grease by frying?  So I steam them, and then I refrigerate them and when they are cold again I roast them.  Roasting the steamed-then-refrigerated wings makes the skin crispy which then holds in the moisture from the steaming.  I think.  I can't say for sure because like I said, I don't eat wings.

So I asked for Mr. Terrific's honest opinion.  I told him, don't spare my feelings, be brutally honest with me!!  I only blog about recipes that I think are really awesome, the last thing I want is for someone to make a recipe off of my blog and say "EEEWWWWW."

And he said, he really likes the texture.  They are crispy on the outside, but very moist on the inside.  Sounds like a good wing to me!

Today's Playlist

"1983"...Neon Trees

"Perfect Situation"...Weezer

"She"...Green Day

"Pretty Fly (For A White Guy"...The Offspring

"Steady As She Goes"...The Raconteurs

"Say Hey (I Love You)...Michael Franti & Spearhead

"Naive"...The Kooks

"The Pretender"...Foo Fighters

"Trash Tongue Talker"...Jack White

"Last Nite"...The Strokes

Chicken Wings with Buffalo Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce

Total Time: about 3 hours (1/2 hour prep, 1 1/2 hour inactive time, 1 hour cook time)

Chicken Wing ingredients:

• 3 lbs chicken wings

Buffalo Sauce ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (like Frank's Red Hot Sauce)

chopped chives, for garnish

blue cheese dressing, for dipping

Teriyaki Sauce ingredients:

• 3/4 cup lite soy sauce (low sodium)
• 1 cup grapefruit juice
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons rice wine 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1-inch piece of a hot red chile
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, smashed (with the flat side of a large knife)
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed (with the flat side of a large knife)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

Gather your ingredients.  You are going to start by preparing the chicken, and the chicken only, but it is helpful to have all of the ingredients out and handy.  I don't prepare the sauces until the chicken is roasting in the oven, but if you want to prepare the sauces in advance, go right ahead!  I admire your advance planning.

Put  1 inch of water into the bottom of a large (6-quart) saucepan and bring it to a boil.  If your chicken wings are whole and need to be separated into segments, do this now while you wait for the water to boil.

All I could find were whole chicken wings.  I had to separate them myself.  If you can find chicken wings that are already separated at the joint, buy them.  Or you will have to separate them yourself.

Here is a picture of the wing pieces, after separation.   From left to right: 1. the pointy wing tip, 2. the part that nobody in my house really likes (commonly called a "drumette"), and 3. the part that is the favorite in my house (also known as the wing).

Separating the wing tip is easy, you can use kitchen shears or a sharp knife.  It separates easily.  Throw this piece away, or if you are so inclined, save them and use them to make chicken stock.

The other two sections?  I admit it, it's a struggle for me.  Maybe it's because I feel so barbaric cutting through it.  There is some some space between the bones, filled by (deep breath) soft tissue, you can (remember to keep breathing) cut through this with a sharp knife to separate the pieces.

Or like I said earlier, try to find a source where you can buy them already separated.

When the water starts to boil, arrange the wings in a steamer basket and place the steamer basket into the saucepan.

Reduce the heat to medium (so that it is at a high simmer but not a rolling boil), cover the saucepan (make sure to leave the cover a bit off-kilter--just a crack--so that the cover isn't jumping around and the steam doesn't build up), and steam for 10 minutes.

Not all of the wings will fit into the steamer basket at once.  I steamed them in two batches, 10 minutes each batch.

While the wings are steaming, line a sheet pan with paper towels and place a cooling rack on it.

Remove the steamed wings from the pan.

Place them onto the cooling rack.  Using a paper towel, pat any excess liquid off the chicken.  Put the rack of chicken (uncovered) into your refrigerator to dry and to cool down.  This should take at least an hour.

When the chicken has cooled, remove the pan from your refrigerator.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Lift the rack with the chicken and remove the paper towel.

Line the pan with parchment paper.

Place the rack back onto the pan.

Place the chicken wings into your preheated  425-degree oven and roast for 20 minutes.  Then turn them over and roast for about 20 to 25 more minutes or until they are completely cooked and the skin is golden and crispy.

While the chicken is roasting, prepare your sauces.  I like to do the teriyaki sauce first, because it takes longer than the buffalo sauce and after it's done you can let it simmer while you prepare the buffalo sauce.

In a small sauce pan, combine 3/4 cup lite (low sodium) soy sauce, 1 cup grapefruit juice and 1/4 cup hoisin sauce.

Stir in 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons rice wine,

1/3 cup packed brown sugar,

and the red hot chile, garlic and ginger.  Yes, these last three ingredients are large and easy to spot.  You just want to infuse the sauce with their flavor and will be removing them when the sauce is finished.  

Simmer the sauce over low heat for about 15 minutes, so that it reduces and thickens slightly.

While the sauce simmers, toast the sesame seeds.

Place them in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Stir until they are lightly toasted.  This only takes about a minute.

Occasionally stir the teriyaki sauce as it simmers.  Once it starts to thicken, reduce the heat to low, just to keep it warm while your chicken finishes roasting.

 After they have roasted for 20 minutes, turn over your chicken wings and roast for an additional 20-25 minutes.

Make the buffalo sauce.

Place the 4 tablespoons of butter into a small microwave-safe bowl.  Crush the garlic directly over it.

I could not find my garlic crusher!  So I minced it instead.

Microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds, or until the butter is melted.

Add the 1/2 cup of hot sauce.

Stir to combine.

 Remove the large pieces of garlic, ginger and the chile pepper from the teriyaki sauce.

Your sauces are done, now you just have to wait a few minutes for your wings to finish.

 When your wings are done (cooked completely through and the skin is golden and crispy), divide them into two bowls.  One bowl for the teriyaki wings, one for the buffalo wings.

 For the buffalo wings, pour the sauce over the wings.  Stir to coat thoroughly.

Sprinkle with the chopped chives and serve immediately, with blue cheese dressing for dipping.  Use your favorite brand of blue cheese dressing, or click here to be taken to a post that includes my recipe for homemade blue cheese dressing.

 For the teriyaki wings, pour the teriyaki sauce over the wings.  Stir to coat thoroughly.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cilantro and serve immediately.

Enjoy!