Tag Archives: Spicy

Jan8

Bruce and Mark’s Sichuan Chicken Wings

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Wings saucaed

This recipe is adapted from my friends Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbourough’s podcast, Cooking With Bruce and Mark. They are a fabulously talented couple, married for many years. They are endowed with both humor and cooking talent among many other things. Bruce is the chef and Mark is the writer. Together they are a team that has produced many best selling cookbooks and a great podcast. I suggest you subscribe to it. Bruce and Mark adapted the recipe from the book All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.

These wings are perfect for your Superbowl party, or just for a fun diner with a kick. You can adjust the heat by adding more chiles or leaving the seeds in some of the chiles. A wok or large skillet will work for this.

Ingredients: 

  • 24 chicken wings, divided by cutting the drumette from the winglets and discarding the “flipper”
  • 1/2 cup of cornstarch
  • 4 cups of peanut oil
  • 8 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 scallions finely sliced (green and  white parts)
  • 2″ of ginger, peeled and finely chopped.
  • 20 (or more) Japones dried chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 3/4 cup plain rice vinegar
  • 7 TBS sugar (I used Indian Jaggery, grated)
  • 3 TBS “regular” soy sauce. If you are buying it in an Asian grocery this is called “light” soy as opposed to the darker, thicker soy.
  • 2 tsp crushed Szechuan peppercorns, lightly toasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle

Method:

Wings drying

  • In a zip lock bag, toss the chicken wings in the corn starch and place on a rack to go into the refrigerator over night or for 12 hours. This sufficiently dries out the chicken and makes it crisp up perfectly.
  • When ready to assemble, heat the oil in a wok to 375  and fry the wings in small batches so that you are not over crowding. You can use a fat thermometer to assure even heat.
    wings frying
  • Remove the wings to a rack to drain.
    Wings fried
  • Pour and strain the oil into another container.
  • In the wok, add aromatics: ginger, garlic and chiles. Stir fry briefly.
    Wings sauce
  • Add the soy, rice vinegar and sugar, stirring while cooking
  • When fully incorporated add the wings and stir to coat
    Wings saucaed

I think he liked them!

Wings finished

 

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Mar25

The BEST New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp

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BBQ Shrimp close up

This is one of the best dishes I have made or tasted in a long time! I have been curious about this dish for a while. When I managed The Spice and Tea Exchange I had a lot of requests for a seasoning blend for making New Orleans BBQ Shrimp. I did some research, found some recipes (which varied greatly), asked some friends who had lived there and came up with this recipe. I have to say, it is one of the best things I have ever made! It takes a LOT of butter (one recipe called for TWO pounds of butter) and in fact I ended up using half butter, half Olive Oil, but you can save the sauce and use it a few more times as it is really only a poaching liquid, you don’t eat much of it, just the bit in the bowl that you dunk your bread into. It just gets better and better. I have butter poached lobster before and this recipe is a spicier form of that. This recipe can be tweaked to meet your more or less spicy palate, but it is meant to be spicy in a Cajun kind of way, full flavored. I also used wonderful Low Country Shrimp which have excellent texture and a sweet flavor. Not everyone has access to these, so of course, find the best quality shrimp you can find.

New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp

Ingredients: 

  • 3/4 pound of unsalted butter (yes, that is a lot)
  • 3/4 cup Olive Oil
  • 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • zest and juice of 2 lemons (I used Meyer because that is what I have and love)
  • 1 lemon sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon of Ghost Pepper Salt (or sea salt)
  • 1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
  • LOTS of freshly rough ground black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons smoked paprika(I used hot, but you can do half sweet and half hot)
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon  dried thyme
  • 1 Tablespoon dried marjoram
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (pull stick out after cooking)
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (more for serving
  • 2# of high quality shrimp, heads on if available. De-vein  if you want to, but leave the shells on (yes, it will be messy but have much better texture and flavor if you cook it in the shells)

Method:

DSC_0019

  • In a large oven proof saute pan, melt the butter, whisk in the oil and add everything but the shrimp and parsley. Simmer on very low flame for 20 minutes to incorporate. While this is cooking, preheat oven to 225.
  • Add shrimp and parsley and bake for 20 minutes (this can be done on a low burner too, but you will have to stir it), you just want to poach the shrimp, not over cook them. This is the reason for the low temperature.

BBQ Shrimp in bpwl

Serve with crusty French Bread and a salad.

BBQ Shrimp plated with tomato pie

Reserve any leftover cooking liquid and you can re-use it again.