Clifton Springs Chicken Wings - Oven-Fried with Sticky Ginger Garlic Glaze

My mom lives in a small town in western New York, called Clifton Springs. It was home to a popular spa around the turn of the century, thanks to a natural sulfur spring. People came from all over to soak in the therapeutic water, which was supposed to cure all kinds of things. Unfortunately for the town, medical science was unable to verify these claims, and eventually people realized they were just paying to sit in stinky water. Things have been a little slow ever since. So, I figured the least I could do is name a recipe after the place (and it rhymed).

Whenever I go home to visit, I usually indulge in some Buffalo chicken wings from a place called Emerson's. They have two flavors of wings; Buffalo-style, and sweet and sour. I've only had the later once and wasn't impressed. I'm just a traditionalist I guess. This week I got a craving for chicken wings, and since there isn’t a decent chicken wing place west of the Niagara River, I decided to make some myself.

I don't use a fryer, but have a great method for frying them in the oven. The surprising part was when I went to make the classic spicy sauce to glaze them, for some reason I remembered those sweet and sour wings, and decided to try something new. I came up with what turned out to be a deliciously sticky, ginger and garlic glaze. I really hope you give these a try. But, if garlic and ginger aren't your thing, at least use the oven method I demo, and glaze them with your favorite wing thing. Enjoy!



5 pounds chicken wings
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
3 tbsp Frank's hot sauce
2 tbsp veg oil flour
For the glaze:
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp Sambal chili sauce (or 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Wordless Wednesday

(c) Joy the Baker

The "Grilled Spring Chicken with Blood Orange and Rosemary" Polka - Perfect for Weddings!

I knew it was only a matter a time before I'd set a video recipe to the Chicken Dance. This spring and summer, millions of inebriated people will be joyously flapping their elbows, and bobbing their heads, to this tune at weddings all over the county. I have no problem with them, they're drunk, what do you expect? It's the sober ones that go out there to "get their Mick Jagger on," I wonder about. They really should know better! That's right, I'm talking to you Tom and Katie (see photo below).

Anyway, this video is a recipe for the game hen (aka Spring Chicken) I posted a picture of a few weeks ago. It was so delicious and beautiful I promised to film it the next time I made it, and I did. The key ingredient here is the erotic, exotic blood orange. They're Spanish in origin I believe, and add a wonderful sweet/tart flavor that's just perfect with the spicy chili sauce and aromatic rosemary.

I know what you're thinking, "this jerk just used another ingredient I can't buy where I live!" "So much for that $1,000 donation I was just about to send him…now I'm sending it to Ralph Nader instead." Hey, I don’t blame you. I'm sure it's frustrating trying to find some of the stuff I use. Sometimes I even make up fake ingredients to mess with you. But, when it comes to the blood orange, there is a solution.

Some dude named Jeff, suggested in a comment on the Game Recognize Game Hen post, that blood orange juice could be simulated with regular orange and a splash of pomegranate juice. Brilliant! In fact, it may be even better. Give this a try, and enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 game hens
2 tbsp olive oil
1 blood orange
1 tbsp Asian garlic chili sauce (hot)
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
6 sprigs rosemary leaves
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Happy Mother's Day!

I'd like to wish all you Moms out there a very happy Mother's day tomorrow. A special "I love you" to my mother Pauline (you may remember her from such videos as Key Lime Pie –see below), my mother-in-law, Peggy (who hasn't been captured in a video yet, but it's only a matter of time), and my sister Valerie (who owes me a chicken Kiev video recipe).

The clip below was posted last Mother's Day, and it cracks me up every time I see it. It isn't really a food video, although it does have some potato chips in it. I think anyone who has ever had a mother, which is many of you, will find it quite humorous. Now, sit up straight, and enjoy!

My Mom Makes Her Famous Key Lime Pie

Click here to read the original post.

Beurre Blanc 101 - How to Make Modern French Cuisine's Most Important Sauce

As far as white tablecloth restaurants go, this simple wine and butter sauce is probably made more often than any other sauce recipe. The wine can be red, white, or blush (we used to call it rosé back when no one liked it), and the technique has basically remained unchanged since it burst onto the culinary landscape during the “Nouvelle” cuisine movement of the1970s.

Nouvelle cuisine is French for "new cuisine." This style was a reaction to the classic “Haute” cuisine ("high cooking"). It focused on lighter, and more delicate dishes, without the traditional, heavy, flour-based sauces. One of the darlings of this new style was a butter sauce called “beurre blanc,” a simple reduction of wine and vinegar, finished with whole butter.

This sauce is incredibly versatile, and very simple to make. Below this beurre blanc video recipe is another version that uses red wine, called "beurre rouge." It's a pretty old clip that I posted last year, so it's a little rough around the technical edges. Here's the link in case you want to read the original recipe, and get the ingredient list. Enjoy!

Click here for ingredients and transcript

Seared Ribeye Steak with Beurre Rouge

Scallops and Arugula with Lentils and Butter Beans - Great Recipe, Horrible Soundtrack

One great thing about using Apple's iMovie editing software is the library of instrumental soundtracks that you can use as music in your video clips (Hey, Apple, you made billions last quarter, how about a donation for this plug?). There are a few dozen options, and if you've been watching my video recipes for a while, you've heard many of them.

This very delicious Scallops and Arugula with Lentils and Butter Bean recipe video features a soundtrack called "watercolor." At first listen, I thought it was a nice light tune to match with this savory spring dish. But, now that the clip is finished, and I've listened to it a few times, I realize that my scallops are accompanied by bad elevator music. So, please forgive me, and I'm sorry about all those dentist office waiting rooms this will remind you of.

In the clip I mention something called the "Maillard effect." It's the actual reaction that most cooks incorrectly call "caramelization." I could explain it to you in my own words, or simply copy and paste from Wikipedia…guess which one this is:

"The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. Like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning. In the process, hundreds of different flavor compounds are created. These compounds in turn break down to form yet more new flavor compounds, and so on. Each type of food has a very distinctive set of flavor compounds that are formed during the Maillard reaction."

I hope that clears things up. Enjoy!



1 pound scallops
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of cayenne
1 tsp paprika
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
1 lemon
12 oz jar butter bean (or any large cooked bean)
1 1/2 cup cooked lentils
1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs
2 large handfuls baby arugula

Roasted Golden Beet and Arugula Salad with Pecans and Goat Cheese – This One's for the Haters

No, I don't love beets. Who does? In fact, I used to hate them. For most of us, hearing the words, "beet salad" brings memories of canned, pickled beets sitting untouched on our school lunch trays. This roasted beet and arugula salad tastes as good as it looks, which is pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. Sorry there is no video (yet), but I wanted to share this recipe ASAP. I may film it the next time I make it, which will probably be very soon.

This is a just a great, healthy, spring salad. The real secret is roasting the beets, which intensifies the sweet, earthy flavors. Another trick is using these beautiful golden beets which will not remind you of those "other" beets from years past. This salad is hearty enough to serve as a main course, but also works perfectly as a side dish. Enjoy!

Click here to go to the written recipe on my American Foods site.