SUPER BOWL BASICS FOR SB LVI
A Tried and True Game Day Game Plan
EK: Hello, and happy Thursday everyone! Thanks for subscribing, and I guess it’s time for us to give you some Game Day Grub recipes!
AU: I think so! What my rudimentary googling has told me is that the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams will be facing off on Super Bowl Sunday 2/13. What IS crazy to me, though, is that even though the Rams are playing on their home field at the newly-finished SoFi Stadium here in LA… they’re NOT the “home team”?!? Make it make sense. Anyways, here’s Wonderwall…
WHAT’S 4 DINNER: SECRET INGREDIENT SMOKED CHICKEN WINGS
EK: Well, Anthony, I know you agree with me that when we sit down to watch the Super Bowl or any other game for that matter, we are on Team Snacks—our first string is whatever finger food is being served! And, I know that I am in good company with everyone looking for down-and-dirty, tried-and-true game food. A reminder that as a subscriber, you can access last week’s Texas Trash recipe, and this week’s Smoked Chicken Wings, Blue Cheese Dip and Josh’s deliciously dangerous Pomegranate Margarita recipes whenever you want! I know from experience just how delicious AND dangerous that drink is!
AU: Josh’s margaritas really do sneak up on you—they’re SO easy to drink! I think it’s because they’re not cloyingly sweet, like other fruit-based drinks. But you’ve got a killer recipe for a new spin on classic Buffalo Wings this week…
EK: YES! Here’s a dirty little secret: I have never liked those fried chicken wings that you get in bars… the crispy-texture-turned-soggy with hot butter-flavored oil and hot sauce drenching the whole basket. It’s just not for me. So, I started grilling hot wings as soon as I got my grill feet wet. I’ve made them all sorts of ways, and about a year ago, I discovered my favorite way yet! I call them my Secret Ingredient Smoked Chicken Wings because the “secret” ingredient that makes all the difference in the world, is good ol’ mayonnaise. You know if it isn’t butter, cream cheese, or sour cream, it’s mayonnaise that makes the best food—at least in the South!
EK: The addition of mayonnaise binds the hot sauce to the wings and the layer of flavorful, vinegary tangy sauce is baked into the skin. I am partial to Frank’s RedHot original and not the Buffalo sauce. The flavor is brighter and sharper and I am not tossing them in a sauce after cooking, I am marinating them in the hot sauce and mayo combo, then cooking them. The marinade that bakes on is what flavors the chicken wings. Buffalo sauce is intended to be used as a sauce after cooking so it is a watered-down version of hot sauce. Also, it is usually made with butter flavorings (read: “fake butter”). If I want butter flavor, it’s gotta be REAL butter! And, you really don’t need butter for great wings, the fat in the chicken skin renders out and that’s the fat you want and need in wings!
You can grill them over indirect heat, smoke them in a pellet smoker, charcoal grill, or even roast them in an oven by putting them on a rack set into a sheet pan. So, everyone should be able to make these exceptional wings!
These wings are great by themselves, but I love a pungent, rich, homemade blue cheese dip for the wings, celery, and carrots. Let’s be real, this dip would make cardboard crave-able! Yes, there is more mayonnaise—just buy the jumbo jar—you’ll use it!
I have a few variations of blue cheese dip but the one thing that doesn’t change is Hellmann’s mayonnaise (Best Foods for those of you in the West!). I love the lemony richness of Hellmann’s/Best Foods. I also always add more fresh lemon juice to keep it bright.
When I am making the dip for wings, I use milder granulated garlic and fresh raw scallions. I love getting a chunk of blue cheese and a chuck of scallion in my dip!
Secret Ingredient Smoked Chicken Wing
These simple wings will fool even the most sophisticated wing connoisseur! They are grilled—and to my way of thinking, way better than fried! The trick is to allow the hot air to rotate around each wing so that they are crisp all over. If you make them on a grill or a smoker this occurs naturally, if you make them in an oven, you must use a rack fitted into a sheet pan. The secret ingredient is mayonnaise which keeps the wings moist and juicy and helps the marinade stick to the chicken. The hot-sauce in the marinade gives them the requisite vinegar-y heat and the indirect heat cooks them to perfection.
Grilling Method: Indirect/Medium Heat
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
1 [12 ounce] bottle Frank’s Original RedHot Sauce
½ cup Hellmann’s (original) mayonnaise
2 pounds chicken wings and drummettes
Fine-grain sea salt
METHOD:
Empty hot sauce into a non-reactive bowl. Add mayonnaise and whisk until well combined. Place in a bowl or large re-closeable plastic bag. Add chicken to the bowl or bag. Seal or cover tightly. Turn chicken occasionally to make sure all surface areas are wet and covered with marinade. Marinate for at least 5 hours covered in the refrigerator or as long as overnight.
When ready to smoke or grill, preheat smoker to 220°F. I used the Super Smoke setting on my Traeger grill for 30 minutes and then raised the heat to 350°F and let them cook for another 30 minutes. If you want to cook them at the higher temperature the whole time, they will be done a little sooner.
Remove from bag or bowl from refrigerator and place wings in the center of the cooking grate over indirect heat. Make sure that each wing or drumette is coated with the marinade. Discard excess marinade.
Close the lid to the grill and let smoke/grill for 50-60 minutes or until the marinade is set and the wings are crispy on the ends, and completely cooked through. Note: You do not need to turn the wings. You will know that they are done when you see crispy bits and the skin has receded from the ends of some of the bones. This won’t happen on all the pieces because of the way they are butchered.
Remove from grill, place on a clean platter and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired, but they shouldn’t need much as they will already be seasoned from the hot sauce and the mayonnaise.
Wing Lovers Homemade Blue Cheese Dip
This dish can be used as a dressing as well as a dip, and it is the quintessential dip for wing lovers. Make this dip the day before you want to use it and let it sit overnight so the onions and blue cheese mellow and marry.
Makes 2 cups
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3-4 ounces best-quality blue cheese, I prefer Société® Roquefort
1 tablespoon grated red onion
3 scallions, sliced in rounds
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
Fine-grain sea salt, optional
Freshly ground pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl except the salt and pepper and mix well. You can crumbled the blue cheese, or if you use Société® Roquefort cut into large chunks as it mixes easily. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 3 hours to let the flavors develop. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. You probably won’t need any salt as all of the ingredients are naturally salty.
Refrigerate and serve chilled with carrots and celery sticks and wings.
JOSH’S SIGNATURE POMEGRANATE MARGARITAS
AU: If you come to my house for a visit and request a drink, chances are it’s going to be one of my husband Josh’s (in)famous pomegranate margaritas. They couldn’t be simpler to make, and they always, always, ALWAYS hit the spot!
We began our journey to margarita nirvana in our old neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There was the best Mexican restaurant nearby named Cafe Frida, and their Hibiscus Margaritas were to die for! We went at least once a week for dinner. It was one of those places where you got to know the people who worked there, and they got to know us. Unfortunately, Cafe Frida has since closed (probably because we moved to LA!), but the company that owned it has created a new concept in its space called Covacha. New Yorkers: please give me the lowdown on the joint, if you’ve been!
Because we loved the margs at Cafe Frida so much, we began tinkering with recipes to get the perfect balance of sweet, tart, and boozy. While I did purchase hibiscus flowers to make REAL hibiscus margaritas, we found that our version made with pomegranate juice was just as good, if not better. And pouring from a bottle of juice we can buy at any supermarket is a helluva lot easier!
Pomegranate juices vary widely in both taste and color. Over the years, we’ve learned that most of the organic pomegranate juices make a kind of muddy-looking cocktail—more brown than they are magenta. Conversely, the ubiquitous Pom Wonderful brand imbued a stunning shade of fuchsia to the cocktail, but also made it absurdly sweet. The brand that we keep going back to is the R.W. Knudsen ‘Just Pomegranate’ Juice (NOT the organic one—gasp!). The R.W. Knudsen is the perfect combo of tart and sweet, with a generally pinkish color.
The tequila and orange liqueur choices are completely up to you. Listen, we’ve made these with tippity-top shelf tequila, and with plastic bottle gasolina. Both were still good. My take: don’t use your ABSOLUTE BEST stuff for these, but use something good enough to sip on its own. We tend to go back to Herradura Blanco, El Tesoro, and even the Kirkland Brand Añejo Tequila. In terms of the orange liqueur, our favorites tend to lean towards the dryer side, like Cointreau, Dry Curacao, and Mathilde XO. If you’re using a (in my opinion) sweeter orange liqueur like Grand Marnier or other type of Triple Sec, you may want to reduce the amount for each marg a smidge.
Josh’s Signature Pomegranate Margaritas
1 cocktail
INGREDIENTS:
2 ounces Tequila
2 ounces Pomegranate Juice
½ ounce Orange Liqueur (preferably Cointreau)
Juice of half a lime
METHOD:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add tequila, pomegranate juice, orange liqueur, and lime juice. Shake. Pour (with ice) into a glass. Garnish with lime wheel.
That’s #Whats4Dinner! If you try these recipes, be sure to tag us on social media and use the hashtag #whats4dinner! Happy cooking and have a great week!! xo