Crispy Miso (Baked!) Wings

CRISPY MISO (BAKED!) WINGS

Super Bowl = wings! And these are what I'm making. The spread, for me, is what it's all about…..eating "bad" (but oh-so-good) food. I figured it was time for me to up my wing game, and I’ve been slightly obsessed with putting white miso paste in everything lately. There are a ton of varieties of miso, and you can find it in any Asian grocery store in the refrigerated section. I use it in salad dressings, marinades for fish, meat and, of course, in my baked wings recipe.

I LOVE some good wings, but I wasn’t so into deep-frying them and making a splattered mess of my kitchen. But you can still get them crispy in the oven. If you crank it up high enough and cook the wings on a rack over a sheet tray - the chicken skin fat will render out, they'll stay tender AND the skin will crisp up nicely! These are slightly sweet, umami, and with a great kick. Enjoy!

Serves 6

For the marinade + wings:

½ cup white miso paste

¼ cup plus two tablespoons mirin

3-4 tablespoons sriracha (plus more if you want extra heat)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 lbs chicken wings, tips removed, drummettes and flats separated

Kosher salt

Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

For the dipping sauce:

½ cup sour cream

½ lime, juiced

small handful of cilantro, chopped

Extra sriracha, to taste

For the marinade: In a bowl, whisk together the miso, mirin, sriracha, soy, sesame oil, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar. Set aside/refrigerate a half cup for the dipping sauce. Add the minced garlic to the marinade and toss the wings with it until they are thoroughly coated. Transfer to a plastic bag and refrigerate for a minimum of 5 hours and preferably overnight.

For the wings: Preheat oven to 400° F. Put a wire rack over a baking sheet and set aside.

Transfer the marinated wings to a colander to drain, and then wipe off any excess. The marinade can burn, so you want it dry-ish. Season the wings with salt and transfer to the rack over the baking sheet. Bake the wings for about 40 minutes, rotating half way through cooking..

For the dipping sauce: In another bowl, add the reserved marinade and mix with the sour cream, lime juice, cilantro and more sriracha, depending on your heat preference.

Serve hot with the dipping sauce and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds!

Superbowl Sunday Essentials

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY ESSENTIALS

I love Superbowl Sunday, but, if I'm being honest, it has little to do with football! it’s an excuse to have a few friends over for a nice relaxed appetizer party, watch good commercials, and enjoy a little entertainment at halftime! Is that terrible? Anyway, I wanted to share what I'll be cooking this Sunday...Enjoy!

HARISSA-CHEESE STUFFED FRIED OLIVES

I know, deep-frying is kind of a pain, but if you have the oil out and are going to do wings anyway, you might as well get some bang for your buck. And these fried olives
are amazing!! Pitted olives filled with a bit of harissa-scented ricotta and cream cheese, rolled in panko and parm and fried to crunchy-creamy finish....my man complains that I make food that's too refined for a football party, but...then he eats these anyway!

BAKED JALAPEÑO POPPERS

So if you don't want to fry, this is just the right snack, and who doesn't love jalapeño poppers? They've always been one of my favorite bar foods, but over the years I’ve learned to create my own and somewhat healthier version (baked, not fried, and super easy)! Slice the peppers in half, and take out the seeds and the ribs. In a bowl mix some shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheese with Mexican oregano, granulated garlic, granulated onion, smoked paprika, chopped cilantro and a little cumin. Toss together and stuff in the pepper halves. Dip the halves in flour, then egg wash, then some panko; bake in 400 degree oven until tender or follow the recipe above.

BAKED TRINI WONTONS

Another recipe for the frying-averse: my baked Trini wontons. Think wonton skins filled with ground pork (or whatever meat you like) that have the best of Asian and West Indian flavors. Garlic, ginger, soy but also habanero, lime zest and cilantro. Seriously yummy and great to keep in your freezer for impromptu parties.

VEGETABLE SAMOSAS

Vegetable samosas are the perfect vegetarian appetizers - little packets of crisp dough filled with cumin- and chili-scented potatoes. These require a bit of work but are so worth it!

QUESO FUNDIDO

Nothing beats a a hot, melty, cheesy dip at a Superbowl party and this recipe gives you exactly that and then some! What is better than dipping your tortilla chip in a bowl of melted cheddar with tomatoes, chorizo and fresh cilantro? Yea....I can’t think of anything else either.

KOREAN-STYLE WINGS

And, finally, the wings! Superbowl isn't Superbowl without wings, and though there's nothing wrong with the old-standby, hot wings, why not try something new? These are genius, oven-baked but with the crisp texture you love in a fried wing. The sauce comes together by stirring together a few ingredients in a bowl - tamari, rice vinegar, ginger, chili flakes, etc. It's seriously one of the easiest (and tastiest) wing recipes out there.

Have fun this weekend!

Tempura Wings with Sriracha-Honey

So when I dream up a recipe, I usually come home and google to see what else is out there. Is it truly a unique idea or am I late to the game?!? The once in a while that I see something similar, I am really happy that people are inspired to experiment with exotic spices and flavors. I was making this tempura batter the other day when the idea of frying wings in it and drizzling them with a sweetened sauce of sriracha popped into my head. And, when I googled, I found out I’m not the only one that appreciates this combo!

That said, this is a bit of a departure from any of the other recipes out there. First of all, I use a traditional tempura batter as a base, which gives quite a different texture than a typical wing batter. Second, I like to remove the skin from the wings – it’s not necessary to achieve the crisp texture, and it’s much healthier. Third, I don’t completely coat the wings in the sauce because they can get a bit soggy, so I use this sauce more for dipping or to drizzle on top.

The light as air, crispy (and NOT greasy) texture of the resulting wings goes without saying. But the sauce made from sriracha, honey, lime, and a bit of fish sauce for that umami flavor is divine! It’s such a salty-sweet satisfaction and pairs beautifully with the crunchy wings. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 4 servings as an appetizer

For the wings:

Oil for deep-frying (I use peanut)

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup rice flour

½ tsp hot paprika

1 tsp finely ground black pepper

½ tsp salt

1 egg yolk

½ tsp baking powder

2/3 cup seltzer water / club soda, very cold

1.5 lbs chicken wings (approximately 12), trimmed, skinned and at room temperature

flour for dredging

For the sauce:

2 tbsps unsalted butter

2 tbsps sriracha*

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp lime juice

½ tsp fish sauce

pinch of salt

toasted sesame seeds (optional , for garnish)

chopped chives (optional , for garnish)

Procedure

Heat 2 to 3 inches of oil in a Dutch oven to 360° F.

In a bowl, mix together flours, paprika, black pepper and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolk with baking powder and the cold seltzer water. Whisk the wet mixture into the flour mixture until uniform and lump free.

Make sure chicken wings are room temperature. Dredge chicken wings in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip into the batter and let excess drip off. Fry for 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. If the wings are particularly large, you can place them on a rack on a baking sheet and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes in a 350° F oven. Otherwise, they can be kept warm in a 200° F oven.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add remaining ingredient and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors combine.

Serve wings hot, drizzled with the sauce and garnished with sesame seeds and chopped chives.

*Sriracha is a Southeast Asian hot sauce that you can find now at most grocery stores in the ethnic foods isle. It’s tangy, sweet, and spicy and is my table hot sauce of choice…

Crispy Piri Piri Wings

I decided fall and the arrival of football season were good enough reasons to think about wings that are decidedly man-friendly but also perfectly delectable for my girlfriends and I to munch on. I didn’t want to diverge so far from hot wings, but wanted more flavor beyond simple, vinegar-y heat. I wanted crisp without deep-frying (it’s a pain) and, because I like my couch to stay clean, wings that weren’t too-too saucy or messy.

“Piri piri” (sometimes peri peri or pili pili) is the Swahili reference for pepper, specifically the African bird’s-eye chili. Piri piri sauce and dishes originated in Mozambique and Angola, ex-Portuguese colonies. The peppers were brought to Africa by Portuguese traders and are a big part of Portuguese cuisine. Piri piri can also be found in parts of West Africa, Cape Verde, South Africa, Southern India and Brazil.

African bird’s eyes have ridiculous heat, so I took it down a few notches using fresnos and cherry peppers. These cherry peppers were actually pretty hot, so I only used one – you can use your own discretion and whatever red peppers you like for your heat tolerance here. The marinade is fantastic, infusing incredible flavor into the chicken, and with a bit more acid can be used as a sauce by itself.

Dredging the chicken and basting it in the spiced butter results in an amazing crust with juicy, flavorful, tender chicken underneath. Literally, the smell while they were cooking in the oven drove me (and my two dogs who were doing crazy circles) insane. Crunchy, spicy, garlicky, salty with a cool contrast from the dollop of crème fraiche I served alongside. Great for a party, a football game, or any night of the week…Enjoy!

Ingredients

Makes approximately 26 wings

Marinade:

2 lbs chicken wings, drummettes separated and tips reserved for another use

1 cherry pepper

2 fresno peppers

6 garlic cloves

½“ piece of ginger, peeled

1 small shallot

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 ½ tbsps brown sugar

handful of cilantro

juice of ½ a lime

2 tbsps vegetable oil

Coating:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsps salt

½ tsp black pepper

2 tsps garlic powder

1 ½ tsps paprika

½ cup butter

Procedure

Place all of the marinade ingredients (except wings) in a food processor and process until pureed. In a baking dish or nonreactive bowl, combine wings with the marinade so that all are completely coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 1 day in advance.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

In a resealable plastic bag, add flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Seal and shake to combine. Remove chicken wings from marinade, wiping off and reserving any excess marinade, and place in the plastic bag. Seal bag and shake to coat. Remove wings, shaking off any excess flour and place on a rack on a baking sheet.

In a small saucepan, heat butter with a few teaspoons of remaining marinade until completely melted. Using a pastry brush, brush both sides of wings with spiced butter. Bake (on the rack on a baking sheet) at 400° F for 30 minutes. Lower temperature to 375° F, flip wings over, and bake another 20 minutes until golden and crispy.

Serve with a side of crème fraiche.

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CRISPY MISO (BAKED!) WINGS

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY ESSENTIALS

Tempura Wings with Sriracha-Honey

Crispy Piri Piri Wings