belated #nonwingsunday = Blue Grilled Steak Doritos

#nonwingsunday = Blue Grilled Steak Doritos - wow these actually tasted like beef, like in a beef jerky kind of way. Not my favourite Dorito, but I give them credit for the acurate flavour. Plus Jurassic Park, I mean World. Love me some raptors. #lordofthewingsblog #doritos #bluesteakdoritos #bluegrilledsteakdoritos #bluegrilledsteak #steak #jurassicworld #jurassicworld2 #jurassicpark #raptor #blueraptor #veloceraptor #tortillachips #itsnotallaboutwings

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Jun 17, 2018 at 6:30pm PDT

I love Doritos, I love Jurassic Park World, so it seemed like a good pairing. Actually I was a little skeptical of this flavour and just had the snack bag, but it delivered what it promised - it's just not a flavour I was super keen on to begin with but worth a shot.

I do love the cross-over here. I was thinking about how I don't feel summer blockbusters have that same 'event' type feel like they used to. When Jurassic Park first came out, everything was Jurassic Park and you couldn't escape it. Now I see some promotional stuff, but it seems quick and over quick. I've seen some of the early blockbusters recently (Avengers, Solo, Deadpool) and they were great, but didn't feel like there was as much of a big event/zeitgeist feeling they used to. Oh well.

LOTW Meme Monday - Heidi From Hell Honey Garlic

 

Later Becky!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Special thanks to the man who inspired me to eat hotter and hotter wings.

To all the dad's out there, hope you are getting all the wings you can eat today (hint hint hint kids - every dad loves chicken wings, except Vegan dad's, so give them vegan wings).

#tbt = Lost wings of DOUGH BROTHERS

#tbt to March 2017 when I had these suicide wings from Dough Brothers Pizza (which has now closed). This was a lost review (found on a back-up of my phone), but I remember them being pretty good. RIP Dough Brothers. #lordofthewingsblog #lordofthewings #wings #chickenwings #takeoutwings #suicidewings #throwbackthursday #latergram #613wings #ottawawings #nowclosed

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Jun 14, 2018 at 10:08am PDT

Grilled Ketchup Dry Rubbed Wings

It was a beautiful day out so it was time to fire up the grill and make some wings. It was also time to do some experimenting in the Lord of the Wings Test Kitchen.

I thought I would try something completely different for this grilling experiment. Ketchup. Ketchup powder - popcorn seasoning to be specific, not the bottled kind. 

I took a bunch of wings and I rubbed them in salt and pepper, as well as roasted garlic and pepper seasoning. I was using my building's open charcoal grill pit, but I put the wings on a BBQ mat to try and replicate my grilled 'fried' wings. Spoiler alert, it didn't work as it's an open pit with no lid. Bah!

Even with the mat, these wings still imparted that delicious smokey charcoal taste. I put too many on the mat and the area didn't cook evenly, meaning I had to constantly check and adjust wings so that they didn't burn.

After both sides were cooked, I started pulling wings to the edge to get them off the heat. Half of the wings I reserved to sauce with homemade BBQ sauce that had been in the fridge forever that I wanted to use up. The other half was getting the Ketchup seasoning treatment.

There it was - unadulterated Ketchup popcorn seasoning. Bought at Bulk Barn. It smelled artificially like ketchup and had a glorious pink look to it. You might think I'm being sarcastic, but I was thinking 'yum'.

I put my test wings from the grill in a bowl and added the powder on top. Interesting.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I kinda thought it would just be powdery wings.

Then I tossed them up, and I noticed something; the powder began to melt! SCIENCE!!!

Now that looked like some dang good glaze! I couldn't believe it. They looked tasty to me.

The flavour was exactly what it was supposed to be: smokey chicken with that sweet, fake ketchup flavour. I know that sounds odd, but it doesn't taste like bottled ketchup. It's sweet and tangy and it worked really well with the grilled wings.

I'm going to add these to my wing repertoire. They just offer something different than a BBQ sauced wing. I think it would work with a fried wing, but it definitely goes with a grilled wing.

Anthony Bourdain 1956-2018

I took a social media break last week just before my provincial election (it was bad news enough) but when I came back, I had heard Anthony Bourdain had died.

At first I just kind of shrugged and thought yup, another celebrity suicide. Like the election, I didn't want to hear anything about it or to think about it at all. Generally I'm not affected by celebrity news or deaths, but I think like most foodies I know, Anthony Bourdain meant a lot to us, and I couldn't shake the news.

Bourdain was doing what many of us dream of; travelling the world, eating and talking about it. What set him apart from others, aside from the exotic locales, was his honesty (at least, what seemed like honesty, TV is always about manipulation). He didn't sugar coat his experiences. He went and ate everywhere. Fine hotels and fancy restaurants or back alleys and night markets. Bourdain went where the locales went. My earliest memory of experiencing Anthony was watching him on his show No Reservations on a small motor boat in what I remember being what I think was Vietnam and as they traveled on a river, saw a family eating on their home/boat and joined the family for their meal unexpectedly. The family showed him what an typical meal was like, and he ate what most Westerners would be squeamish to eat, especially when we saw them wash the dishes between meals in the dirty river water. But he didn't balk. He always showed great respect to the people, his hosts, the countries and the food.

What I loved about watching Bourdain, whether it was No Reservations or The Layover or No Limits, was that he was there to learn. He's a trained chef, but he wanted to learn what life (and thus food) was like every location he went to. He listened to the people, then told us the story with his voice and his perspective. He didn't seem to shy from giving his opinion, he didn't avoid complaining about something, but it never came across as whining or trivial. He wasn't a shining optimist, but he seemed to embrace adventure, food and life. And I think that what makes his suicide so hard. I thought he was a fighter, and I don't doubt he did fight, it's just that much sadder that whatever got to him, got him.

Suicide is never easy. In my former career, I dealt on a semi-regular basis with folks who thought about suicide, who attempted suicide, and that were overcoming attempted suicide. I've had friends think or attempt suicide. I've gone through several levels of suicide prevention training. I've had some very hard conversations, and seen people going through very difficult things. I don't know what Anthony Bourdain was going through, but I know whatever it was, it couldn't have been easy. Some people dismiss suicide as the easy way out, but there is nothing easy about it. If you are having trouble, if you are thinking about suicide, please reach out for help. If you are in Canada go to https://suicideprevention.ca/need-help/ for a crisis centre or call 911.

I feel sad at the loss of Anthony Bourdain. I can't shake the thought that we won't get to see more of him, of his travels, of his experiences. He did a great service for those of us who love travel and food, and he will be missed. So before I sign off here, I present this clip of Bourdain eating spicy wings with Anderson Cooper - I love it because a) they are eating wings b) how he seems to thirst for the spicy wings and the endorphin rush c) Anderson Cooper's reaction to the heat.

Rest In Peace Tony

LOTW Meme Monday: Chaplin Distracted Wings

 

Chaplin started it all ...

LORENZO's PIZZA CARLING - Ottawa ON

So in a parking garage downtown (ironically, the courthouse) someone smashed a passenger window in my wife's vehicle and stole her co-workers laptop. They left everything else, but how they knew there was a laptop there is a mystery (the windows are a dark tint, and it was in a dark parking garage). So she took my car to work the next day and I took hers in to get the window replaced. I had an hour and a half to kill, and my appointment was around noon so I decided to grab some grub. 

The area is the Bayshore zone, and there are a smattering of mostly ethnic restaurants. You've got your Indian, African, there's Lebanese shawarma, your Chinese - I didn't even clue into this fact until writing this right now. The area also is home to a Cineplex and the Bayshore mall isn't far either. With my taste for wings, I headed to Lorenzo's, which is also called Lorenzo's Restaurant, Lorenzo's Pizza, Lorenzo's Pizzeria, or just Lorenzo's Carling depending on the sign, menu, website etc.

This is a pretty divey pizza joint with people lined up pretty early to get a drink. But it's clean inside, has sports on the tv's, and when I walked in I saw a sign for a wing night (Wednesday, and I was there on a Tuesday, oh well #firstwingproblems) so that seemed good. There was a lady in there that seemed pretty intoxicated despite the place just opening up (several people who she called on her cell seemed to ask that question), and the story of her getting a tattoo that day is long and interesting, but not for this blog today. Another guy came in for a beer. It wasn't until I was leaving that customers came in for food.

I knew they had wings and I was excited to see them featured in a big picture on the menu. Their menu has the various pizzas and snack food but they also do shawarma food, subs, burgers and poutines.

The wings on the menu are pretty simple with their standard sauces. I went with the platter so I could have some fries and coleslaw.

The fries were pretty good for frozen. They are breaded which gives them some texture and extra crunch. They came out hot and crispy. The coleslaw is vinegar based and was just ok - I didn't eat it all because I just didn't want to bother.

Wings come in an orders of 1lb, which in this case was about 8 wings in an order.

These wings were pretty small (were 8 really a pound even pre-cooking?) but I have to admit they were meaty for their size. The wings are simple - deep fried and served sauced and crispy and they stayed pretty crispy too.

HOT

Well I wrote hot, but Lorenzo's doesn't hide the face that they use Frank's Red Hot. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing special either.

BBQ

This is another commercial sauce that comes out of a big bottle. It's corn syrup sweet, with a little darkness and maybe a little smoke. It was ok but I'm glad I didn't order the whole batch of wings as BBQ. Might be good as a hot/BBQ mix though ...

FINAL SCORE:

Well, Lorenzo's is very simple. Simple wings that aren't anything special, but they ain't bad either. The staff were very friendly, the atmosphere is simple sports bar, and if you listen in to the people around you you will be entertained. I'd go back for lunch on a wing Wednesday, you know, if I was in the area again. There are a bunch of Lorenzo's in Ottawa but I'm not sure if they are connected or not. 8/15

Lorenzo's Pizza Carling
3007 Carling Ave, Ottawa ON (& other locations?)
lorenzoscarling.com

is Casa Luna no more?

Casa Luna Pizza had great take-out suicide wings, but they are all boarded up. I called & they said they were renovating but not much else. There's a poster inside the window for, well I can't make it out; gruti? Gruvti? Gruvii? Does anyone know the inside scoop on what is going on or what that poster is for? #lotwwants2know #ottawa #ottawafood #ottawawings #613wings #613eats #ottawaeats #casalunapizza

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Jun 5, 2018 at 8:20am PDT

LOTW Meme Monday: Evil Jim Halpert Wing Roulette & Spiderman Twin Wingstagrammers

I felt like doing two meme's today:

It's called hot wing roulette. Do it the next time you are out with the heat-challenged wing eaters.

Follow these folks:

@goddamn_hot_wings
@thewingadors
@thewingsexpert
@lil.wingy
@wingsource
@willys.wingdom
@winghunterz
@misswonderwings
@wingjamldn
@wingluver6969
@allthingschickenwings
@wingsnobs
@buffalowingcoalition
@allidoiswings
@chickenwingsoftheworld
@wingsnyc
@imjustwingingit
@thewingstagram
@lets_wing_itt
@thewingsman
@wingsofdesirephl
@wingsplease
@iflwings
@thewingwhisperers
@wingmanofmelbourne
@wingwednesday2017
@manseekingwing
@chickenwingsgalore
@wingmeabeer
@wingsthatstingz
@the_buffalo_girl
@wingmansreview
@thechickenfreakz
@mkewings
@the.wings.woman
@the.wing.king
@chickenwingreviews
@districtofwings
@wingopedia
@transandwings
@wingitwithmenow
@thewingmandc
@americaswingwoman
@wingfluencers
@wingingitwithemma
@wing_wing_man
@thechickenwingsociety
@hotwings_aus
@firstclasswings
@_wing_ire
@buffalokingsuk
@716_wingqueen
@thehotwingking
@wingdings
@mr.wingmanuk
@wingfatheruk
@chickenwingdiaries
@ottawangs
@wing_kingz
@teamwingers
@chickwingman
@hotwingsnchill
@girlswhoeatwings
@wing_crusher
@wingzworld
@buffalo_aficionado
@wingsandbeer
@thewingwoman
@wingsoverdc

#nonwingsunday = Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready

Kids Birthday Party Chicken Wings

They had chicken wings so you know I was down for a kids birthday party. #lordofthewings #lordofthewingsblog #wings #chickenwings #anythingforwings #birthdaypartywings #happybirthdaymalu

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Jun 3, 2018 at 6:25am PDT

Happiness Happened Here: Bone Wall

"Bone Wall"

Happy Pride from LOTW!

Happy Pride everyone!!! #pride #pride2018 #lgtbq+ #lgtbq #lgtb #june1st #happypride #prideally #loveislove #equality #pridewings

#fryday = Wings from St Louis for Wingsanity

#fryday = Sweet Sriracha Hot &; Smoked BBQ Heatdusted wings from @stlouisclyde for #wingsanity These were crispy, saucy, spicy, sweet. They were very very good. I'm dissapointed that I could only go a few rounds of AYCE. I can't eat the way I used to... More photos to come. #lordofthewingsblog #lordofthewings #wings #chickenwings #dustedwings #saucywings #friedwings #sweetsrirachawings #smokedbbqheatwings #aycewings #ayce #stlouiswings #stlouiswingsclyde #ottawawings #613wings #latergram #lotwsatisfied @stlouiswings

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Jun 1, 2018 at 6:52pm PDT