WK Buffalo-Butter v3.0 & Dry Dill Wings v2.0 ~ Recipe

What is better than having a deep fryer?

How about having TWO!?!?

For my B-day, LJ got me a deep fryer. Yes she knew I had one already, but my original one is in a storage trailer in Scotland Ontario, (did you know there was even a Scotland Ontario???) and as she said, now you can deep fry twice the wings! What a wise and wonderful woman.

This Rival is the 'civilian' model of my Wing-It fryer. There are only 2 real differences between the two: this model has more precise control of temperature, but it has a round basket thus limiting the amount of food going in. I knew as soon as I opened it up I was having some fresh wings soon!

WK BUFFALO-BUTTER & DRY DILL WINGS v2.0

INGREDIENTS:

• chicken wings, split
• cayenne pepper
• s&p
• garlic powder
• flour
• oil
• Frank's Red Hot Sauce
• butter
• Dill popcorn seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. wash wings, pat dry.
2. toss wings in flour/cayenne/s&p, shake well to remove excess flour.
3. heat deep fryer to maximum - place wings in when heat ready.
4. When wings are golden and crispy, remove from fryer and pat excess oil with paper towel.
   
   FOR BUFFALO-BUTTER:
   
5. in a bowl, melt butter (1/3 part to 2/3's hot sauce); when melted add hot sauce.
6. Toss wings in hot sauce and enjoy!
   
   FOR DRY DILL:
   
7. Immediately after deep frying, shake on dill, generously.
   
   FOR LJ's SPICY DILL:
   
8. Toss wings in hot sauce, then generously shake on dill seasoning.
   

2 packages of wings ready for a cold shower. Got to keep clean.

Pink wings? Yes, the cayenne and flour dusting turned my wings pink. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Time for a hot bath. I'm so excited.

Ooooh, can you smell what the Rock is cooking? The Rock is me by the way. No one calls me The Rock. And deep fry isn't really a good smell. Can you hear what I'm cooking? No, cuz this is the Internet. Bummer. Can you SEE what I'm cooking? YES!

Crispy, almost perfect sitting in that little basket.


Let's towel them off now.


The Final Product: two great wing styles in all their glory.

Now some people are asking, 'WK, why do you call it Buffalo-Butter wings? Aren't they just Buffalo wings?'. My answer is NO. They are Buffalo wing inspired, but I dusted the wings before deep frying. People from Buffalo are very serious about their 'wings' and the authentic recipe is wings simply deep fried with a Frank's/butter combo. I am honouring and defending that tradition. So while the sauce is a 'Buffalo' sauce, I can't in good conscious call them Buffalo Wings.

The difference from V.2, is that I didn't have chili peppers, but I did add cayenne.

The Buffalo-Butter sauce - so good!

Club House Dill Pickle Pop Corn Seasoning. Shake liberally.


Oh man, white gold!!! Crunchy, dilly - DILL-ICIOUS!!!
Way better than my first attempt HERE

Having traditional wings? Gotta have veggies and dip!!!


The dip sucked. A dill packet from the salad dressing section with sour cream. Junk.


Also did up a few pita wedges in the ol' fryer. First batch was over done - no more than 1 minute. Lesson learned. Great for dipping in the hot sauce.


Just a glorious wing. Spicy (but could have been much hotter). I would rate these hot. The cayenne dusting was tasty but not hot enough.


The dill was a very exciting addition to the wing repertoire. Highly recommended, especially to those who don't like hot spiced wings.

A few weeks ago LJ, who loves dill wings, had the idea for spicy dill. I followed through with the last remaining wings:


Sauced up hot, and then sprinkled with dill - OMG- so goood!!!


Spicy, tangy, dilly - crazy dillicious. Yes I used that joke again.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY? Um, not much. I didn't make the sauce too spicy so that LJ could enjoy it. But if it was just me eating, I would have bumped up the sauce with either cayenne directly into the sauce, or some sirachi (talk about polluting a pure Buffalo sauce!). The dusting was great. The deep frying went well. Hot was good, dill was good, and hot-dill was excellent.

Thanks LJ for the deep fryer and for the wings!!!

THE LIEUTENANT's PUMP ~ Ottawa

It was a grey, rainy day down on Elgin street in Ottawa. I had to go to straighten out my election situation down at Elections Canada so I could vote in the 40th general election on October 14th. It's complicated, but I did find out that on my birthday (the whole day, month, year dealie), there were 2 other births of people with my family name. Huh. As exciting as that was and feeling like a good citizen, I decided it was time for some wings.

But where to go. I walked up and down the street in the misty rain, trying to choose from the many pubs and restaurants that exist in this usually busy late night strip. They all seemed interesting; a few too expensive, some danky, some too small, others uptight. In the end, I decided on the very first place I saw, The Lieutenant's Pump.




First, its The Lieutenant's Pump, pronounced LEFT-tennant. Not the LEW-tennant of American speak. Good old Queen's English Left-tennant. Second, I don't know where the pump is. I don't know who the Lt. is, and I really regret asking. There was no lack of staff, and my waitress Amanda was quite helpful in answering my questions. I don't know why I didn't ask. Actually until I left I thought it was Lieutenant Pump's, and I was thinking there was some guy named Pump that helped build the canal with Colonel By, but I read things wrong all the time.

When I've passed by this establishment in the summer, the patio was always packed. Today in the rain it was empty. Outside. Inside, there was a lot of staff on hand, and even for an early lunch there were a few patrons I could see. I couldn't see a whole lot because there are several little rooms making up the whole pub.

The manager (I assume he was the manager as he was instructing the staff) said I could sit anywhere. Not sure where to go, I stayed in the main room (empty except all the staff and a guy at the bar). I was nervous at first due to the proximity of the staff and me taking pictures, but watching and listening to everything go down at the bar was worth me staying. Not that I have any really exciting stories, but just people-watching (and listening) was entertainment enough.

Not only did I have a great view of the bar, but I sat by the window, where I loved the greenery in what is really a pub in the bottom of a concrete apartment building. The atmosphere wasn't really rocking at 11:30 am when I came in, but it seemed to attract a lot of regulars. There was also something else attracting the regulars that I didn't expect when I chose the Lt's:

I happen to go to this place and they just happen to have $0.35 wings the day I come in. What luck. "Is this all day?" I ask Amanda, "yes it is". Sweet. "I'll start with 10 suicide please". What a great place matt!

2008 THE SCORE 3.0: Lieutenant’s Pump ~ Ottawa

STYLE:	Deep fried, dusted
PRICE:	$7.95 for 10 $12.95 for 20
SAUCES:	Hot Suicide BBQ Honey Garlic Teriyaki Cajun Spiced Lemon Pepper Spiced	1/1
HEAT:	Suicide had a strong bite – due to Ghost Pepper
SIZE:	Small-medium	1.5/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	Very saucy	2/3
CRISPINESS:	Chewy meat – not really crisp wing	1/3
FLAVOUR:	Not bad	1.5/3
SIDES:	None (but it was wing day, so that might have affected order)	0/3
CLEAN UP:	Wet naps, napkins, and wing plate	3/3
WING NIGHT:	Wednesday all day $0.35 wings	1/1
OTHER:	Patio, lots of rooms, free refills on coke (but a coke was $3.30!)
TOTAL:	Suicide nice effort, chicken not so great	11/20

The wings came out on a huge basket, but 10 wings looked like a lot. They were small to medium in size, and they were simply deep fried. The sauces aside, the chicken was chewy. Slightly tough, chewy. The skin was crisp, but the chicken meat really ruined the wing for me. Frozen chicken was very likely, not fresh.



SUICIDE:


I could smell the sauce as soon as it came down. Very wet, almost watery, but there was definetly some heat going to be involved. There were lots of flakes involved, and the smell made me think of carribean hot sauces. I tasted it, and I got the hiccups from my first bite. This had some heat! My mouth was stinging and wasting no time attacking the lips, tongue and throat.

I was really impressed with the sauce. The flavour was not my favourite (almost fruity) but I like the burning that was going on. When Amanda came to clear my empty plate, I asked if the suicide was homemade. She told me it was and asked how it was. I said I could tell that it was homemade with all the flavours and I appretiated that, and that it was hot, although I could eat hotter. She told me that the chef was experimenting with a 'Ghost Chili', supposedly the hottest in the world and was looking for feedback. I said it had a good bite for sure. At the time I didn't remember Ghost Peppers, but I faintly remember hearing something about it a few months back. When I got home, off to wikipedia and google for some help:

"The pepper is used as a spice in food or eaten alone. One seed from a Naga Jolokia can produce sustained intense pain sensations in the mouth for up to 30 minutes before subsiding. Extreme care should be taken when ingesting the pepper and its seeds, so as to not get it in the eyes. It is used as a cure for stomach ailments. It is also used as a remedy to summer heat, presumably by inducing perspiration. In northeastern India the peppers are smeared on fences or used in smoke bombs as a safety precaution to keep wild elephants at a distance."

Well, if the Naga Jolokia 'ghost chili' is good enough curing stomach ailments, remedying for summer heat and for keeping wild elephants away, its good enough for my wings!

BBQ:

I was enjoying my endorphin rush, but I wanted to balance my wing eating with a sweetish bbq sauce. Well, it was sweet, but no boldness to it. No tang or zing. Think Kraft bbq sauce. I'm not saying it is, but it was just a really weak bbq for me.


FINAL SCORE:

So this suicide actually lives up to its name. Ghost chili definetly gives it a big kick. BBQ was mild. Very mild. I wanted to try the cajun and the simple hot, but the chicken meat was just so chewy and tough, I gave up. It was sad. Everyone around me was ordering wings and I felt like saying no to their poultry. I'm hoping this was due to wing day and not their normal fare. But I liked the pub as a watering hole and the service was great. 11/20

The Lieutenant's Pump
361 Elgin Street, Ottawa

"Perverted Roasted Chicken Wings" ???

Dude from China just sent me this news from, well, China:







Racy Chicken Wings Driving Food Chain

A dish is raising a stir at a restaurant in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, because of its spicy taste and racy name - "perverted roasted chicken wings".

The extremely hot roast wings have been available in the city for just a few months, but already the restaurant chain is dining out of them, having opened a number of outlets.

People in Chengdu like to eat hot food but can't bear the temperature of these wings. But the challenge of withstanding their spice keeps customers coming back for more.

"Anyone who can eat 10 bunches of the roast wings will eat free of charge and receive 100 yuan ($15) as prize from our shop," a notice in the restaurant reads.


(West China Metropolis Daily)




My questions include:

• What is the name of the restaurant?
• What makes the wings so spicy?
• How many is 10 bunches?
• When is the next flight to Chengdu?

Pita Pit's SPICY BUFFALO CHICKEN FLING ~ NWR

In my first year of undergrad in Toronto, there were not that many late night eateries around campus. Surprisingly, considering its down town Toronto. One of the places that was close by and was cheap, was Pita Pit. Grilled meat in a wrapped pita. Simple and yet so good. Then, for many many years, I never went back. Not because there was anything wrong with it, but it just never came up.



Flash foward to present day, and Ottawa has a Pita Pit. It returned as a late-night food grab. On a trip this past week, I saw a new promotion I had to try, their Spicy Buffalo Chicken Fling (SBCF).



First, I gotta say our server was pretty awesome. As we came in, a staff member was leaving. Turns out he was sick, and now the sandwich maker girl was left all by her self, with 7 customers in line. She did all the cash first, then like a pro hammered out all the pitas (11 in total). I felt bad afterwards because I didn't give her a tip - see when you order/pay, Interac gives you the option to tip. Normally I detest sandwich shops or any counter businesses with tip cups because they are doing the same service as say a worker at McD's, but they don't get tips. But with this server, she had to go above and beyond to get the job done, and stay friendly. I didn't get her name, but she was good.

The SBCF. Lets break that down.

Spicy: presumably the seasoning in the chicken is going to be hot. Maybe its a hot sauce?
Buffalo Chicken: The picture makes it look like its deep fried chicken tossed in sauce.
Fling: Not a wing, but a nickname for a chicken strip. I like this. It's like wing dings. Although
I've heard someone refer to 'dings' as the drumstick part of the wing, but that's just wrong.

So the name and the advertisement got me excited, but things were not as they seemed. First, the chicken was pre-everything already. Breaded, deep fried (I think). The chicken is then placed on the grill and chopped into little bits. I asked the girl while she was constructing the veggie side of the pita if the fling was sauces. She said no, that the picture was misleading, that the flavouring was all in the breaded seasoning, but that was the advantage of the marketing department. I had their hot sauce on the pita, but the guy after me got the same thing and had it sauced while on the grill, that's what I should have done.

These things can be a messy messy meal. The first bite can be a bit daunting, for fear of sauce and juices bursting out.

Here it is. It looks like a bloody mess doesn't it? We got Buffalo Chicken fling in there (see it?), tomato, cheese, onion, Ranch, and a little tzatziki dressing. What a tasty combo. No really it is.



Here is a shot of the fling on its own. Breaded, and deep fried. There wasn't a strong or spicy flavour to it, but it was a nice chuck of chicken.

Alternatively, above is a shot of my Pita Pit regular choice: the club. Ham, chicken, bacon with grilled onion/peppers/jalapeno (I like that they will put whatever veggies you want to be grilled). Add some mayo and hot sauce and some cheese and bam - great pita.

So the SBCF - my verdict on this wrap was damn good. Granted, not the best piece of 'buffalo chicken' I've had, but this was a tasty pita. I like the spicy mixed with the fresh tomato and cheese and ranch. Oh, and the tzatziki made a soothing counter balance to the hot sauce. (I should point out that this condiment was put on by accident, but I didn't mind at all). So if you live near a college or university, there is a good chance you can try this too. For $6.99 its not the cheapest food out there, but its not bad.

Pita Pit
pitapit.com
pitapitottawa.ca

WK Spicy Vegetable Soup

"mmm mmmm mmmmmm good"

What do you do when its fall, the air is crisp, the leaves are changing colour, and you have a ton of vegetables on hand and no wings? You make soup of course! And when the WK is involved, its gonna be spicy. This was my first attempt, ever at making homemade soup. For me, it has always been from a can . . . but things have changed.

WK SPICY VEGETABLE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

• oil
• onion (diced)
• garlic (minced)
• carrots, (chopped)
• celery, (chopped)
• potato, (chopped)
• jalapeno, (chopped)
• corn
• diced tomato, 1 can
• beef broth
• water
• Worcestershire sauce
• ground coriander
• red chili pepper
• S & P

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Chop all vegetables
2. In a large pot at medium/high heat, add enough oil to coat bottom (I used EVOO), add onion & garlic and let sweat for about 5 minutes until onion is clear. Add salt & pepper.
3. Add carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add spices, Worcestershire, broth. If liquid does not come to near top, add water.
6. Stir and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours on medium/low. How simple was this?
   
   
   

Onions and garlic sweating. I don't know what sweating is, I've just heard Alton Brown say that before. I'm just cooking them as far as I'm concerned.

All the vegetables into the pool! Oh wait, I should have let the harder vegetables (carrots, celery, potato,) cook longer first! Oh well. As for the number, I have no idea. 10 little potatoes I think? 2 giant carrots? 1 long jalapeno? I don't know, just gage yourselves for what you want.

Let's add some instant soup maker. Most people would probably use chicken broth, but I thought beef would give a fuller taste. And it did.

Wow, this pot filled up fast. But it needs more liquid. I feel kinda weird just putting in water.

But water works.

Now here is where I make a small confession. So about 1.5 hours go by of cooking. Things are going along swimmingly. Sure, the potato was still hard, but the cooking process was going good, samples tasted great etc. Then I had the car and had to go pick up LJ from work. So I put the heat down to minimum. And I left. Note - DON'T EVER DO THIS. You know, keep cooking while your not there. This is dangerous. Now, not only did we not return right away, I forgot about the soup and we ended up going out for dinner. 2 hours later we rush home after remember the soup, and . . . the liquid was gone. Boiled right out. Now don't get me wrong, nothing was burnt - the vegetables were very cooked. It was almost a STOUP, as Rachel Ray calls them - too thick for soup, too thin for stew. I debated keeping it in its current condition or adding water. I decided I wanted soup dammit and I boiled some water in a kettle and added it - boom. Soup again, and nothing was lost.

The final product. See, forgetting this on the stove and adding water didn't hurt this soup at all. Look at those hearty vegetables. Corn, carrots, potato so good. The jalapeno and spices really gave this a kick, but it was the corn that add that certain something this soup needed.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY? Umm, I don't know. Add more vegetables? Try chicken broth? The jalapenos were definitely hot. Every bite I needed to take a drink of milk, but it was a flavourful mouthful of heat. Even me letting it cook forever seemed to work out in the end. I was very happy how this soup turned out.