Happy Canada Day 2014!

Wing on Guard for Thee . . .!!!

Best in Chow interviews Lord of the Wings

I received an invite by a producer of the show Best In Chow to be interviewed for one of their segments, Wing Wars, and I happily agreed.

Best in Chow is hosted by Chris Nannarone and each episode they go to a city and have 3 restaurants compete against each for the title of champion. Chris asks locals where their favourite place to go is, he checks out the top 3, then a panel of judges decide who is the best. In Canada the show is usually toted by it's meal subject nature, "Burger Wars" or "Taco Wars."

Here's a clip from an episode:



Their next season is coming up and they are doing everything from carnival food, lasagna and of course wings.

I met the crew up on Avenue road at a restaurant they were filming in for another segment wasn't open - so on the sidewalk I had make-up applied, was mic'd up and we went around the corner to film against a brick wall. I thought the interview was going to focus on Toronto wings, but it was just wings in general and my opionion that they focused on.

 It was quick, but it was great (and a little weird) to be the focus of expertise. In between camera set ups Cris and I chatted about wings (he likes them big, dry and tasty - no heat) and I learned one of the camera guys did a heat challenge wings with scorpion peppers and was sick for three days.

Thanks for seeking me out and for showcasing Lord of the Wings on your show!

Check out the next season of Best in Chow this June, Cooking Channel in the US and CMT in Canada.

Nutella Chocolate Cake Balls with Cream Cheese Marshmallow Frosting

No not a wing recipe, but I just made a batch of these to reward some of my staff for helping me out and I felt it was good enough to share. 

I did not plan to post so I didn't document along the way, but here is the final result.

Cake balls have been a fad for a while now, but they are easy to make and taste pretty awesome.

Rough instructions. I don't measure so it's all relative.

What I would do differently next time is add Nutella to the melted chocolate stage as well because you can't taste it in the cake.

Otherwise, this is rich, chocolaty, and gooey good. Excellent way to finish off a wing meal . . . if I was eating wings right now.

Creole Wing Pr0n

I was at the St Lawrence Market where I picked up some jumbo fresh wings as well as some Creole seasoning. I rubbed those wings down, tenderly massaging the skin and making sure every inch of that bird was covered.

I had kept the wings whole (drummette, wingette and nub) and roasted them on parchment paper at 400 for about 30 minutes. They came out crispy and juicy.

They were so tender that I cut them up and they just sliced easily. The skin was crispy, but they all did come out oily from the bird naturally so I drained it on some paper towel for good measure.



I also made a sauce on the side: butter, Texas Pete, the Creole seasoning, and some vinegar. I knew the wings would be salty from the rub, and this sauce came out a bit salty, so I added some pepper jelly and bbq sauce to sweeten it up. It was still more savoury but it complimented the wings nicely.

These were a tasty wing. I shared with a few friends and they too enjoyed them. In fact they were gone in a short period of time. 

Simple, but good.

Happy Easter!

coming soon: WINGSANITY @ St Louis Wings

I don't know about $20 AYCE wings as a deal, but considering its $22.99 for 2lbs, if you can eat 2lbs or more, this deal is worth it.

I don't know, that's just me . . . but hey, AYCE wings and Free Wings for a year? I could live with that.


http://www.stlouiswings.com/wingsanity/

WINGSTREET WINGS vs DOMINO's - an EPIC WING BATTLE OF HISTORY

Inspired by these guys http://goo.gl/qfekWg

The Lord of the Wings blog was contacted by the Zeno group on behalf of Pizza Hut & WingStreet. There are eight flavors: Buffalo Mild, Buffalo Medium, Buffalo Burnin’ Hot, Spicy Asian, Spicy BBQ, Honey BBQ, Lemon Pepper and Garlic Parmesan and one can choose from several varieties including Bone-Out, Traditional or Crispy Bone-In. They asked what kind I wanted and for me to give an honest review of the wings and I could compare against the competition.

Well that sounded like a great offer, so I said yes. What I appreciate is not asking for a biased review - they specified they wanted an honest review. And as always, when I review a product, even if it is free, I cannot guarantee it will get my approval. But clearly they felt they could do well by sending me some Domino's wings.

And so a new segment on LOTW was born: EPIC WING BATTLES OF HISTORY!

Take out wings are a really hard product to get right because ideally wings need to be served immediately after being cooked, but can take 15-40 minutes to be delivered. Then so many things can go wrong.

First off we have the delivery. The good news is both locations delivered on time if not a bit early. Both were served in cardboard containers. Domino's was a LOT of cardboard and while that physically protects the wings in transit, it's a lot of material. But the same box is uses for cheesy bread and other sides, so it's kind of a catch all.

Both places also put their wings into tin foil wraps. Most take-out wing places put them in styrofoam containers, which are not only terrible environmentally, they also help steam the wings. Dominos uses straight up tinfoil, while WingStreet uses a paper-lined tinfoil. I'll be honest, I don't know if that makes any kind of difference. Either way, both wings were still hot with steam coming out when opened up.

I ordered 4 orders of wings from each location. My first order was a hot wing comparison. Size wise these wings were about the same - both were small, but Domino's wings were just a big meatier.

Their cooking styles were different and it was noticeable. WingStreet deep fries their wings, which makes the skin a bit crispy and gives the wing more structure, especially considering they were soaked in sauce. Domino's on the other hand bakes their wings, which does not produce a wing with either crispy skin nor a solid structure. In fact, these wings were just mush. The bones just popped out and the texture is jelly.

Both joints gave lakes of sauce - so you do not have to worry about these wings being dry. Domino's only has 3 choices: BBQ, Honey Garlic, and Hot. Hot is, well I don't know what it is. For some reason it's sweet, but slightly vinegary. There is zero heat. Its actually ghastly sauce. WingStreet gets it though. They have a variety of flavours, and Buffalo Burnin' Hot has a cayenne based flavour with an actual bite of heat. There is a slight HFCS syrupy quality, but over all is a good sauce.

For my second order I went with BBQ sauce. For Domino's I tried their boneless wings; for WingStreet I went with Crispy Bone-In, or breaded wings. The Boneless were large chunks of white meat chicken, with a light batter on them. They were not uniform and thus not some cookie-cutter chicken nugget. They were cooked just right, so that the meat was moist. The breaded wings were crispy, in fact crunchy from the breading. It is a heavy heavy breading that creates a thick wall between the sauce and the meat. It was on the verge of being too much.

The sauces were both different. Domino's BBQ sauce was a dark, 'bold' flavour, but I put it in quotes because it was not a sauce that stood out. It is a savory sauce, not really sweet, but just like a generic sauce from the store. WingStreet's Honey BBQ was smokey, syrupy, and sweet. It was unique and I love the smell it gave off before I even got to is. The thick breading on the wing also meant that the wings did not get soggy in their syrupy bath.

The BBQ options were harder to select a winner, partially because they are different chicken options. Domino's produced a great chicken piece that was tender and tasty and because the sauce was served on the side, retained its structure. WingStreet's breaded wing was a crunchy option, but the breading almost ruined it. What put it over the top was the sauce. Plain sauce from Domino's (although I appreciate that it was of the savoury variety, not sickly sweet), but WingStreet's just had so much more dimension to it.

When it came to the Hot wing, WingStreet won hands down. It was not as crispy as if it hand been served immediately, but it held up surprisingly well to the sauce soak it was subjected to. The flavour of the wing was spot on for hot wing sauce, and actually was hot. It did lack a buttery element to make it Buffalo wing, but all things considered, it worked.

Domino's Hot wing was a travesty. Baked, then drowned in sauce, it was just a mess in terms of structure and texture. I don't want mushy wings. Who does? The sauce was equally terrible. It's sweet (why is it sweet?) and almost sour. It has no positive definitions. It isn't even on the level of a frozen wing from the grocery store, but comes close to the slop wings that said grocery stores sell in the hot and ready section.

So if you are looking for a chain take-out wing, whether you live in Canada or the US, I would definitely go with WingStreet. It holds up to the take-out/delivery process, and gives a product that while isn't equal to a dine-in experience, it is one of the best wings that I bet will come to your door.

Thank you Jennifer and Jazmine at Zeno for this opportunity, I appreciate free wings and giving my opinion on them. I'm just glad you were right about the product!

WingStreet Canada & USA
Dominos Canada & USA

PS: right now WingStreet wings are on sale! $0.60 in Canada when ordering online.

The 20 Something Budget linking to me - thanks!

I've been getting a lot of traffic recently to one of my pages, and it turns out "The 20 Something Budget" blog was talking about the high cost of chicken wings, and they linked my article about chicken wing styles. This past week a lot of people are checking it out, so, cool. You can too.

DIABLOS BBQ ~ Montreal QC

JUNE 2013

Stacked on high in the Latin Quarter of Montreal is a BBQ joint named Diablos. During my time in Montreal I went here twice; once with LJ and once again with friends from the conference, and I have combined my review here together.

LJ and I went here first, and boy were we confused about the location. I mean we found the address and 2 big signs out front, but there is a patio restaurant, a basement bar, and 2 on the second level. We figured it wasn't the patio based on the non-bbq they were serving. So we tried the lower tavern. It was empty, and nobody (not even a bartender was in sight). Finally a waitress came by, and we asked if it was Diablos, and she said no upstairs. Then we saw the red railing that matched the red sign, so we missed that visual cue.

Diablo's was also empty. We were taken by the waitress through the main restaurant/bar to the back patio, which only had one group sitting at it. When I returned a few nights later for my second visit, there were a few more people, but it was still pretty empty.

The back patio was awesome for a summer day: shady, with a breeze, but sun and a nice atmosphere. The place has that BBQ/barn aesthetic, and the waitstaff all have that alternative, tattoos piercing look. On both visits out waitresses were un-rushed, but friendly. It's a very chill vibe around here.

LJ and I went on a BBQ buffet extravaganza where we shared lots.

LJ's combo was pork and beef ribs, fries and sweet potato fries and cornbread.

The beef ribs were a lot of fat and grisel and not a lot to eat. The pork ribs fared better being more tender and a bit of pull on the meat. Both sauces were pretty sweet and the meat was generously applied. The cornbread was ok - nothing special as were the shoestring fries.

I went with an appetizer platter, which had wings, but they were out, so they upped the rest of it.

The deep fried pickles were pretty good - cut as coins and battered with a crispy and what looked like it was seasoned but was actually quite plain. The Pulled Pork Sliders on cornbread were also pretty mild in flavour.

I was not a fan of the Emental Cheese Sticks; they were executed well, but I just didn't like the emental; it would not be my cheese of choice in a stick.

The Cajun shrimp was in the same batter as the pickles, and was quite plain, the shrimp a little tough, and a bit fishy for my liking.

Now the good news is that I came back a few days later with my buddies Dave and Scott and they had wings available.

Both Dave and I ordered a pound of wings each.

Now these were a large, meaty wing. Dave did not believe the waitress though when he asked if this was a pound, mainly because there were only about 5 or 6 wings in the basket - but I think it had to do with the size of these  wings.

These were breaded, fried chicken. The seasoning had a nice Southern herb and spice taste, but it wasn't strong. The breading was nice and crisp, but the wings came out very greasy. While the wings were large, the meat was tough and difficult to rip apart and eat.

There are only three sauces to choose from: Hot, BBQ, and House Ranch. I had already had the BBQ on the ribs, so I went with their Hot. Sauce came on the side which preserves the crunchiness of the skin.

Just straight up Frank's out of a bottle. And it was cold. It did nothing for the wings. It was really disappointing.

FINAL SCORE:  This seemed like a cool place to go. Unfortunately the food was not so cool. Things were either ok or not that great. The highlight was probably the deep fried pickles. The wings, like the rest of the offereings, all had such potential. The locals had reviewed this place pretty high online, but I think its because there is no other options for American style BBQ in the city that this is what seems good. 6.5/10

Diablos BBQ
1693A St-Denis, Montreal QC
diablosbbq.com (website still not finished over 8 months later)

Chestnut Tree Wing Pr0n

THIS is what my lunch was.

My work dinning hall sauces them, but I got them plain, then added some Cajun seasoning.

Then I added some 3rd Degree to kick it up.

Crispy, slightly breaded wings, lots of flavour and just a bit saucy. This is heaven.

11 Best Buffalo Wings chosen by The Great Chicken Wing Hunt movie maker

I have yet to see the movie "The Great Chicken Wing Hunt" but Dan Gentile at Thrillest sent me his article on the 11 best Buffalo Wings in the USA according to the docs director Matt Reynolds.

Check it out here:

http://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/the-11-best-buffalo-wings-in-the-country-as-chosen-by-a-moviemaking-wing-expert

LA CAGE AUX SPORT ~ Montreal QC

JUNE 2013

On the night before my conference started, I had been sight seeing in Old Montreal, a collection of hundreds of years old buildings, cobblestone walk ways and a vibrant restaurant scene with a vibrant history to boot.

So I went to a pub.

A sports pub. A big chain in fact. I had heard about La Cage aux Sports before as a provincial chain that was known for their wings. So I wanted to see what they could do, in a historical setting. Seems legit, right?

This place was huge inside, with an patio, an indoor patio, main room, side rooms and a 2nd floor. And it was EMPTY the night I was there. I was sat were there is a giant screen with sports of some sort and what made it weird was how quiet it was. I mean the volume was next to nothing, and nobody was talking or socializing, just staring up at the screen. It was a bit unsettling.

I was hungry so I got 2 smaller orders of wings, with a side potato skins, because I hadn't had potato skins in forever.

The potato skins ($4,99 for 3) were, ok. I'm pretty sure they are a frozen product. The skins were soft and not very crispy. Cheese and bacon were ok too, but nothing special here. At least it was chopped up bacon and not faux bits. But too much potato and not enough skin.

The wings were ... underwhelming visually when they arrived. They come in orders of 4, 8 or 16. Since I was in a sampling mood, I just went with 4.

These were tiny wings. Tiny. I think the one in the photo above was the biggest. The wings are deep fried, so at least the skin was kind of crispy, in a way that they can get crispy when baked. There was some charring on the wings which made for something to define this wing.

There are 7 different sauces, and I didn't go for unique but 911 and Uppercut.

OK that photos says buffalo, but really that is 911. 911 sounds like it should be crazy hot, but it's not.

I think it's a buffalo style sauce made with Tabasco, which is unusual and does not make for a definitive flavour. Actually, there was barely any sauce so you really couldn't get a good sense of what was going on.

Uppercut is their supposedly spicy hot wing. It too was not hot.

These wings were at least saucy, and you got more of a traditional hot sauce flavour from them. But barely.

FINAL SCORE: There is no love in these wings. These are a product sold by a corporation. The potato skins were not well done either. Overall, thumbs down for La Cage aux Sports for me. 4.5/10

La Cage aux Sports
114 Rue Saint Paul Est, Montreal, QC
cage.ca