Chicken wings on the grill

Most people have trouble getting wings crispy unless they are fried. A lot of recipes I've read for grilling wings the authors think they need to add all kinds of weird ingredients like cornstarch or marinate them with some special concoction. As long they are cooked indirect at a high enough temperature they will "fry" in their own fat. My favorite wing is first cooked crispy with no marinate to burn, just plain wings...at first. Then I like them tossed in the sauce and thrown back on the grill for direct heat to give just a little char. Maj and I personally don't think smoke and chicken mix well. The smoke seems to penetrate too much and can over power all other flavors. I know many people like smoked wings but the charcoal flavor is enough for us.

1. I started with 2 dozen Smart Chicken fresh wings. (We will never buy a huge bag of frozen wings again) The grill is setup to cook indirect at 425 degrees.

2. After 20 minutes, I flip and cook another 20 minutes.

3. (40 minutes of total cooking time) The wings are cooked all the way through and crispy. Now time to pull them off the grill and toss with buffalo sauce. I like to toss some with my secret Mt. Fuji sauce.

4. Meanwhile I removed the plate setter and opened the vents, so I could crank up the heat for a direct cook. Once the heat is somewhere over 500 degrees, I throw the sauce covered wings back on.

5. Once I get the last wing on I start flipping the first ones. I move quickly, maybe 1 minute per side.

Coq Au Vin, or no?

Staub Dutch Oven

When we received the Staub Dutch Oven as a wedding gift, I told JS the first thing I was going to make in it was Coq Au Vin. We were fresh off watching Julie and Julia and it seemed like a fun and challenging first recipe to try using such a fine piece of cookware. Only, it was Spring and then Summer and so it was too hot to be cooking in a Dutch Oven inside. The Coq Au Vin would have to wait until Fall.

This weekend were at Whole Foods, and JS spotted the fresh squid. We had bought it before and grilled it, much to our enjoyment. So we decided to buy some more! Only once we had it home, we decided that instead of grilling the squid, we'd make homemade calamari. JS had been dying to try and make it ever since he watched the Alton Brown episode "Squid Pro Quo."

We ended up making two kinds of calamari. We started with the Dry Fried Calamari (using Alton's recipe of course). 

To start we rinsed the squid and patted it dry.  We then sliced the tentacles in half and the tubes into 1/2 inch rings. 

Then we had to make the batter. JS threw together the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. While he was doing that, I poured 1 quart of grapeseed oil into the Dutch Oven. It had to be warmed slowly to 375 degrees F.  The batter was ready, as was the oil. Time to fry some squid! Per Alton's recipe, we took small handfuls, dredged the squid in the flour and cornmeal mixture and shook off the excess. Then lowered them into the grapeseed oil one by one.  We let the first batch cook for 1 minute. They weren't as golden or crispy as I like, so we left the second batch in for 2 minutes. It was at that point we realized it wasn't the timing, it was the batter. So we decided to make the rest using Alton's Wet Fried Calamari recipe.

This was way better! He still said to cook for 1 minute, but we found cooking for 2.5 mins was more to our liking. We served the calamari with hot pepperocini rings. It was no Coq Au Vin, but it was fun trying these new recipes!

I am only including the recipe for the second calamari. The first one isn't worth wasting your time to make.

Cheers!

Ingredients

• 1 quart grapeseed oil
• 1 pound squid, tubes and tentacles
• 1 egg
• 1 cup ice water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place the grapeseed oil in a 4 to 5-quart Dutch oven and place over medium-high heat. Heat oil until it reaches 375 degrees F.

Rinse the squid thoroughly and pat dry. Cut the tentacles in half lengthwise and the tubes into 1/2-inch rings. Set aside.

Place the egg, water and flour into a bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine. In small handfuls, dip the squid in the batter and shake off the excess. In batches, gently lower the squid into the hot oil. Cook for 2.5 minutes. The squid will not be browned, but lightly golden in color. Remove the squid and transfer to a cooling rack turned upside down set over a newspaper-lined sheet pan. Season with salt and pepper, as desired. Repeat until all of the squid is cooked. Make sure to check the temperature of the oil before each batch to ensure it is 375 degrees F. Serve immediately.