Grilled Skewered Chicken Wings

This is about technique or “how-to” rather than a recipe.

I just love chicken wings, especially whole grilled wings with nice sweet and hot glaze like Char Siu. One problem with grilled wings is that the skin tends to stick to cooking grate no matter how much you oil it before cooking. I cook a bunch the other day but I wanted the skin intact and only sure way to do it is to keep them off the grill, suspended in the air. Easy to do! Just skewer them on flat skewer and rest them on something about 1”-2” high. Why I didn’t think about this technique before, after all I grill whole bunch of foods on skewers, not just meat but veggies and fruits as well and I keep these above the grill. As for the marinade and glaze use whatever you like. To cook them to “fall-off-the-bone” I grill them 15 minutes per side and since my skewers have a flat at the end they stay parallel to the grill. If you don’t have one use 2 bamboo skewers, that were soaked in water for an hour side by side and about 1-1/2” apart.

More Food for Rainy Cold Days

As I said before, I hope that this batch of comfort food is last one this spring. It is May, after all! Even though my barbecue grill is under roof it is still opened on two sides and when it rains the wind always finds its way right where I’m standing. Murphy’s Law rules, what more can I say?

As you can see on pictures my oven was a busy appliance: Ribs, Oven roasted potatoes, Chicken wings…

This is repeat of same recipe I’ve done last week. Ribs were on special and I wanted to test my new technique of roasting the ribs on parchment paper. It worked like a charm: the ribs didn’t stick to bottom at all. I love this technique!

Another repeat, but if your protein tastes like candy, what can I say? Perfect dessert for dedicated carnivore like me. This version of chicken wings was done with Char Siu sauce enhanced with  little bit of extra honey.

Update of The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Monday

Western Beef Stir-fry.

The rice was cooked like a regular fried rice with vegetables but the beef steak was cook in a hot frying pan till medium rare and then sliced into 1” wide strips on bias and then tossed with BBQ sauce. Since no knife is necessary in order to eat it, it makes it a good branch meal where all you need is a fork or chopsticks.

Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Wings.

Yah, I know, I had it last week and maybe week before that but hey, they are so good! Sweet and hot and sticky…heaven on the plate. As is usual for me I served it on bed of chopped Napa cabbage.

Wednesday

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

This was a nice light lunch. It was just a previously made chicken stock with meat, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, rice and topped with Parmigiano cheese. I put a Parmigiano cheese rind in the stock and simmered it for 30 minutes and it gave the soup such a complex flavor! Since I have so much rind from the cheese I will use it in every soup base.

Thursday

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Rice was the last staple that I didn’t use with frozen seafood mix. Week ago I saw on Food Channel tip for using frozen scallops and squids. As anybody that used them knows that they have a sort of metallic after taste that is hard to get rid off. I think it was on America’s Test Kitchen, they suggested to use lemon juice. I went one step farther: I have marinated the mix with grated zest and juice from 1 lemon. Did it work? Not a trace of any chemical preservatives. Not exactly like fresh stuff but pretty good. This trick will be in my repertoire from now on.

Friday

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Many restaurants cook risotto for a sole purpose of having it for cakes and I can understand why. When you bite into one first sensation is the super crispy Panko coating. Then you feel the cheesy and creamy rice followed by melted, stringy Mozzarella Bocconcini. Then you take a bite of crispy Napa cabbage. Wow! This is not a leftover meal, this is a meal worthy to be on a banquet menu. I did make one change since I cooked my last risotto: before forming the patty or cake, I mixed in a lot of grated Parmigiano cheese to help in binding it and hold shape. Great move! After all, I bought so much cheese at a basement price J !

Saturday

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.

In my opinion this version is so much juicier, tender and quicker to prepare then traditional cooking method over barbecue. Even though I have marinated for 6 hours skinless and boneless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch strips, I am not sure that it is necessary when cooked in non-stick frying pan. The chicken pieces are basically sauted in the marinade and when I turn then over after about 10 minutes I add the green onions and cook another 10 minutes, partially covered. At the end of cooking time the marinade turns into a thick sauce. Served over rice along with cucumber salad makes it a summer delight.

The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Rice Terraces

Last week was fairly light as far as food is concerned. When I went over the pictures I have realized that we had rice every day. Mind you, I did use 3 different types. Arborio (short grain) for Seafood Mix Risotto and Risotto Cakes, Japanese Shirakiku (medium grain) for Stovetop Chicken Teriyaki and Thai Jasmine-scented rice (long grain) for Western Beef Stir-fry, Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup and as a side dish for Barbecue Chicken Wings. Since every meal was so different from each other I didn’t even notice that we had rice every day!

Arborio was soft and creamy, Shirakiku soft and sticky and Thai rice had a nice bite. I guess that this is just a preview of things to come. In warmer months we eat lot of rice and light Oriental noodles like Rice noodles, Cellophane or Mung beans noodles, Japanese Soba and Sōmen among others. Many of them are served at room temperature or cold in salads. I will be posting a lot of noodle recipes.
Here are the pictures of the dishes. More detailed descriptions will follow in next few days.

Western Beef Stir-fry.

BBQ Chicken Wings.

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.



 

Oven Roasted Chicken Wings

I did not alter the color! This is real!!!

In a way, there is no recipe. I have marinated my version of regular sized wings  (as opposed to ostrich sized wings that I usually cook) in Char Siu sauce overnight, massaging them and turning them over every 8 hours or so.

Preheat oven to 375 °F, place wings on a rack over a baking sheet and bake for90 minutes. Start with good side down (outside of the birds wing) and turn over after 40 minutes. Baste both sides with the marinade that was reduced to almost jelly consistency and turn over. Bake for another 50 minutes till golden brown.

Serve, eat and enjoy.  

Ready to turn over after 40 minutes.

Ready for the plate.

I just love the crunchy wing tips!