Cast Iron Sambal Wings – The Best Spicy Chicken Wings in History
Posted on | January 11, 2010 | 3 Comments
There is something uncanny about the call of chicken wings in January. Whether it’s the Pavlovian combination of football, beer, and long bouts of time holed up in the house, or the warming comfort of spicy wings – as well as the effort to eat them – the dog days of Winter is the ideal time to perfect the oft-bastardized art of The Wing.
I’m not typically one for hyperbole, but if you’re a wing fan, and especially if you’re a spicy wing fan, the following recipe is the one to end all recipes. I shouldn’t recount it in detail, here; I should bottle it and sell it at county fairs.
Why, you might ask, do they deserve this distinction?
Thai-style Crispy Pork Shoulder with Kaffir Lime Chili Milk Sauce
Posted on | December 11, 2009 | 1 Comment
As with most recipes on this site, this dish started with a single ingredient and a dream. In this case, the ingredient in question was Kaffir Lime Leaves. I bought them at my favorite spice store in the country – Savory Spice here in Colorado. Kaffir lime leaves, for those of you who aren’t familiar, provide a faint floral-herbal sweetness that acts as an incredible base for sauces. I’d bought a few recently (with no other intention in mind then having them on hand) and, after my move to Denver, opened the cupboard to see them staring back at me on a cold winter day. A mere two shelves up sat a can of coconut milk. I had my start. Coconut milk and kaffir lime sauce. I wanted some heat as well, though, so I looked to my growing chili collection and found Korean red chili threads, which I’ve found provide a subtle and balanced heat without much chili flavor. Perfect.
Arabic Food Week – Zaatar Manakish
Posted on | October 3, 2009 | 6 Comments
A simple and savory bread
Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve added a post. Lot’s of excuses regarding travel and enormous projects, but, dear reader, trust that in my time off I’ve armed myself with a host of new influences, ingredients and recipes.
As my first post back from the long break, I’d like to introduce one of the simplest and most flavorful discoveries I encountered abroad: Zaatar Manakish.
This is a simple bread covered in a mixture of thyme, oregano, salt, savory, mint and sesame seeds – though the variations are endless.
Fish Tacos with Sweet-tea Brined Pollock and Grilled Slaw
Posted on | May 30, 2009 | 4 Comments
The bitterness of the grilled cabbage balances the briny sweetness of the Pollock
A famous joke in Boston goes a little something like this:
A man goes on a business trip to Beantown and for three days all he hears from colleagues is that, before he leaves, he has to try Scrod – a whitefish known in the area. Day and and day out, scrod, scrod, scrod – yet none of the lunch or dinner joints serve it.
The Grill is Back: Brined Chicken Thighs with Chimichurri
Posted on | May 7, 2009 | 4 Comments
Kicking off Grilling Season. Photo courtesy of Christina Dugan
Grilling season is back. Despite the spring rain, and the near-constant threat of afternoon storms, the smell of smoke and the char of seasoned steel grates is just too strong to deny.
I love to grill. So much that each season, when winter truly sets in, I go through a little of what I call OSGD, or off-season grilling depression. It’s like seasonal affective disorder, but you’re also hungry for foods you can’t have.
To show you how much I hate NOT grilling, I’ve taken the liberty of altering, ever so slightly, the great B.B. King song, The Thrill is Gone. B.B., plucking away at his guitar as though they were my heartstrings, couldn’t have said it better. Unless, of course, he was singing about Grilling.
Tags: chicken > chimichuri > grilling