Caribbean Style Chicken Wings

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This is a past post, but I decided to share it again. It's one of my favorite preparations for wings and I can't wait to make a batch of these to devour now that the warm weather is starting to roll in. These are a must try ...

When I first moved to New York in the fall of 1997 my new neighbors from the apartment above invited me over for dinner with their family and friends. They were from the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, a small republic off the northern coast of South America.

They made a spicy curried chicken with a number of sides inspired by their native country for the meal. At one point, I was asked to sample a peppery paste that went with the chicken. I took a small taste which made me cough and my eyes water. The entire group let out a big chuckle, because right before I sampled it I was bragging about how I could handle spicy food.

For this recipe, I make a dry rub for chicken wings with Caribbean flavors. It features ginger, coriander, allspice. It’s nothing like the pepper paste I tried at that dinner in New York, but it has many of the tropical island flavors I tasted for the first time as my new neighbors welcomed the “white boy from Indiana” into their community.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I lived in my first apartment in New York for five years. The couple who invited me to dinner moved out after the third year and I ended up getting to take-over the backyard, which I landscaped and turned into a small paradise in the middle of Queens. As soon as I moved in they let me put a charcoal grill back there, so getting to take it over for myself was the icing on the cake. It was a real luxury to have a backyard and it was there that I discovered my passion for cooking.

I would make entire meals over charcoal and way more food than I could possible eat in one sitting. It was nothing for me to buy three or four cuts of meat on a warm Saturday night and grill all of it for later in the week. I loved hanging out in my backyard with the grill blazing and the beer chilling.

That's where my culinary journey really took off - on a little patio in the middle of Long Island City, Queens.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 4; 1 hour
3 Tbs Salt
2 Tbs Brown sugar
2 Tbs Ground ginger
2 Tbs Ground coriander
2 Tbs Black pepper
1 Tbs Onion powder
1 Tbs Garlic powder
1 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
4 to 5 lbs Chicken wings

Make rub
In a bowl mix together salt, brown sugar, ginger, coriander, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, allspice and cayenne pepper.

Marinate wings
Sprinkle seasoning over both sides of wings and rub in with hands. Let marinate for 30 minutes in refrigerator. While wings marinate, prepare charcoal for grill.

Cook wings
Over medium high heat cook wings on grill until cooked through and juices run clear, 20 to 25 minutes, turning every 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and let rest at least 5 minutes, then serve

Spicy Molasses Barbecue Wings

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I recently made sauce for ribs and one of the featured ingredients was molasses. I thought it provided a great flavor and decided to incorporate it into a sauce for chicken wings.

Here, I take a traditional wing sauce and fold it into a basic barbecue sauce. It starts by sauteing onion and garlic in a
quarter cup of butter. I use butter because that is what I use to thin out Frank’s Redhot when I make traditional wings. Next, I add all the barbecue sauce elements plus the Frank’s Redhot. The molasses is the sweet that cuts the heat and balances the vinegar. It also has a distinct flavor that is really the signature here. The Redhot is present in the flavor, but the molasses adds depth and really brings the whole thing together.

The sauce is delicious but if I were to make it again I would add either two tablespoons of honey or brown sugar. The molasses has a slightly bitter aftertaste and I think an extra sweetener would eliminate that. That is just me being really critical of my work though, this sauce works and will be a hit at the dinner table.

BEHIND THIS BITE
This is my second wing recipe in a row. I have been grilling like a madman lately and really enjoying some summer cuisine. Last year we had record heat in March and by April summer was in full swing. By this time a year ago I was already burned out on summer grilling. This year, it seemed as though summer would never get here. I got a late start, but I’m in full-swing now.

I’m going grill crazy because it won’t be long and all the home gardens in our area will be churning out fresh veggies. Then I'll have enough tomatoes and cucumbers to feed a small city and grill crazy will turn to garden crazy.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 4 to 6; 45 minutes
1/4 C Butter
1/4 C Red onion diced
1 Tbs Garlic minced
1 C Ketchup
1 C Frank’s Redhot sauce
1/2 C Molasses
1/4 C Cider vinegar
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

Make sauce
In a sauce pan over medium heat melt butter. Add onion and cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in ketchup, hot sauce, molasses, vinegar, worcestershire and dijon mustard. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 6 to 8 minutes, remove from heat.

Make wings
Prepare charcoal grill. Season wings with salt and pepper to taste. When coals are ready grill wings over medium-high heat for 7 to 8 minutes per side. Baste with sauce and grill 10 to 12 minutes more or until cooked through turning 2 or 3 more times. After each turn, baste with more sauce. Remove from grill and let rest 5 minutes, then serve.

Spice Rubbed Wings

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These spice rubbed chicken wings are the second of two recipes intended for the same snack.

Find a complimentary sauce to these savory spiced wings here.

Clove is a spice native to Indonesia and used all over the world in cooking. It’s difficult to harvest, making it more expensive than other spices. The Chinese used it as early as the 3rd century B.C. and Marco Polo mentioned clove plantations in his travels through the East Indies in 13th century.

In the United States it has many culinary purposes including use as a pickling spice or an ingredient in mulled wine and apple pie. Clove can be used in both savory and sweet dishes. Its distinctive aroma comes from eugenol which is also present in cinnamon and makes the two a natural pair that work well together.

Here, I incorporate clove into a rub for chicken wings. I add a tiny amount along with cinnamon for just a hint of flavor – too much will overpower the recipe and therefore must be used judiciously. The two impart an aromatic and fragrant taste to the wings and are just noticeable along with the flavor of smoky charcoal, making this recipe a must-try gourmet treat.

BEHIND THIS BITE
After destroying a couple of chilis and a steak or two I have finally gotten the clove thing right!

The secret - use just a tiny amount.

Although there is only a quarter teaspoon in this recipe it still makes its presence known in the rub - in the best of ways. It provides an aroma and a hint of flavor (along with the cinnamon) and it’s just enough to be noticed – but hard to identify. Both of the testers I served it to ended up asking what the secret flavor was.

This is the first time I had accomplished this with clove. Like I said, I have destroyed a couple of other recipes with it. (One was a chili that was ruined with a full teaspoon of the stuff, which is really enough for about two gallons of chilli – not 2 quarts.) I can’t wait to use my smoker this summer at the family campground - just to use a rub like this one on a couple of whole chickens I plan to smoke!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 6; 1 hour
2 Tbs Salt
2 Tbs Chili powder
1 Tbs Cumin
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Clove
4 to 5 lbs Chicken wings

Make rub
In a bowl mix together salt, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and clove. Season wings on each side, first sprinkle on then rub in with hands. Let chicken marinate 30 minutes.

Grill wings
Prepare charcoal grill, let brickets burn until mostly covered with ash, 20 to 25 minutes, then spread evenly on bottom of grill. Place wings on grate, put cover on grill and cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning once half way. Remove when cooked through. Let rest 8 to 10 minutes then serve.

Mesquite Smoked Pork Loin

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My niece thinks Justin Bieber is awesome. I can’t wait for “Bieber Fever” to disappear. She thinks I’m a little off my rocker because I like Metallica. Different people have different tastes.

As with music, food has a similar effect, and in the end, personal taste determines what each of us think is the best. Saturday, I entered the Turtle Days Barbecue Cook Off and much fun was had.

My favorite part was at then end when I got to sample the other entries. They were all great in their own way and each very different. The one I thought was the best (which wasn’t mine) didn’t win – And neither did I. That’s no rip because the winning entry was delicious, it just happened to capture the judges fancy that day.

For this recipe, I share my entry in the competition. I use a basic brine to bring out taste and add moisture to pork loin. Then use the charcoal and wood chips to add flavor. A sauce or rub could be added for more taste but I wanted the smoke from the grill to be the star of the show.

BEHIND THIS BITE
Two years ago, my first food column was based on the recipe I cooked at the Turtle Days Barbecue Cook Off. It’s hard to believe it has been that long. Things have changed so much since then – the column’s design, quality of the photography and my cooking knowledge to name just a few.

I would not have been able create the recipe I did for the competition this year back then. One of the many things I have improved on is cooking large cuts of meat on charcoal. That is why I choose to do a diagram of the grilling set up. It is really the secret to smoking and cooking large cuts of meat over coals.

In honor of this milestone I am going to post my first food column as well. I wasn’t blogging at the time, so I am posting it in the format of my current blog. Here it is!

JUNE 30, 2010 – LOIN CHOPS WITH PINEAPPLE-MUSTARD BBQ SAUCE

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In May, after 12 and-a-half years living in New York City, I relocated to Churubusco to pursue a career in the culinary world.

When a family member tipped me off to the Turtle Days BBQ competition, I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some of the area’s finest pit masters and the perfect chance to create a new recipe to showcase.

I thought most competitors would be using tomato based sauces and meats that would take a while on the grill like ribs and bone-in chicken. To stand out, I created a mustard-based BBQ sauce, which I sweetened with pineapple, and used to smother inch-thick pork loin chops that would only require a half hour of actual cooking and resting. The end result was a tangy sweet sauce over melt-in-your-mouth meat with no bones to get in the way while it’s devoured. All said and done, I didn’t win, but I met some cool area cooks and created a killer sauce and recipe to share on Behind the Bites!

Eat well, cook often ...

Chicken Wings With Bacon Chipotle Sauce

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Over this past Memorial Day weekend my cousin-in-law grilled up an inspiring mess of chicken wings. He used a teriyaki glaze that he kept basting them with as he turned them on the charcoal grill. The end result was a juicy and tender bite with great flavor. I’m glad there were bones to slow me down, because if there hadn’t been I would have plowed through the entire batch like a great white shark at a seal gathering.

For this recipe, I make my own version of grilled chicken wings. The sauce is made from scratch and features bacon and chipotle pepper as smoky elements to compliment the charcoal flavor from the grill. Also included is a hefty amount of fresh cracked black pepper for kick.

I made these with my nephews visiting. They begged me to leave the sauce off a few but I refused. I talked them into trying the wings by convincing them they were “peppery” and not “spicy.” It worked because they ate as many wings as the adults did at our Friday night feeding frenzy.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I love chicken wings, but for the most part I have only ever had them breaded and fried. Grilled wings are a relatively new experience. I love the smoky grill flavor and it’s a little healthier.

I make the sauce for these and leave out any Tabasco which seems to be the spice of choice with wings. I like buffalo style but for me a little goes a long way. Tabasco sauce is so acidic that after a few bites, all I can taste is the acid and it is not a pleasant flavor. That is why I enjoy making my own sauce. I can make it as hot as I want, I just do it without Tabasco. No offense to the residents of Buffalo, NY. It’s just not my style.

As I mention in the introduction, my nephews were visiting when I made the wings and they pleaded with me to leave the sauce off of some, but I didn't. I’m glad that they trusted me enough to try them with the sauce and I was genuinely surprised at how many they ate. My youngest nephew really chowed down. I am hoping that they will be more inclined to try spicy food, I’m sure they will eventually enjoy the spicier stuff like their uncle. They just have to acquire a taste for it.

Heat is kind of like beer, you have to gradually get into it before you can go bonkers. I’ll introduce my nephews to the spicy stuff now, but they're gonna need to wait until they’re legal before I tempt them with Miller Lite. By that time though, I'm sure they will have already have become experts through the corruption of their friends – especially if they decide to go away to college.

Eat well, cook often ...