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Post by nana on Jan 22, 2017 20:26:18 GMT -5
I made these tonight for watching football, but my daughter's mother in law, Michelle, (who died way too young, by the way--those of you who smoke, please quit!!) used to make these for the Rupert Old Home Days parade watching party she hosted every year. Their front yard was prime viewing territory, so it was quite a gathering. Everyone would bring something, and she would make a couple big pans of these wings, and I don't know but what maybe people came more for the wings than the parade. I asked her once what was her secret recipe for the sauce. With her flair for drama and timing she made a show of pulling me aside, put her lips to my ear and whispered.... "It's ketchup and maple syrup."
And so it is. They lend themselves particularly well to CWTGTO. In fairly equal parts, mix ketchup and real maple syrup together, enough to saucily coat however many wings you have. Toss the wings with a little oil or butter in a roasting pan and if you like, brown them in the 500* oven for about 15 min and then add the sauce, give it another 5 minutes, then turn the gas off. Or just pour the sauce on from the start and give them about 20 minutes or so. Follow the rough guidelines of the Idle Hour cookbook for the times for the amount of wings. It was just us, so I had about two pounds and after an hour and a half they were perfect. The only thing I do is I add a spoonful of Sriracha, not enough to make it really spicy, just a little jene se quois. You can put as much or as little hot sauce as you like, of course. Sometimes Michelle added some heat, sometimes she didn't.
If you make these, all I ask in Michelle's memory is that you tell whoever you eat them with: "Love ya!" She never hung up the phone or parted from you without that being the absolute last thing she said. Even if she had to run after the car as you were pulling put of the driveway, or shout it from the bathroom. And if you eat them by yourself, say it to yourself. Because she loved ya!
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Post by pooka on Jan 23, 2017 16:28:34 GMT -5
Michelle must have been a delight to know. That story of her pulling you aside to tell the simple secret make me giggle in amusement. There will never be enough special people like her to go around. Her illusion of an exotic secret to the masses, but not to you proves she was a real card.
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Post by nana on Jan 23, 2017 17:18:03 GMT -5
She really was something. Years and years ago, she and her husband had had some big fight over whatever, and afterward he went out to pour a new concrete floor in the barn, and she snuck out while it was still wet and wrote in it in big beautiful perfect penmanship: "Michelle really, really loves Doug". How could he stay mad? And now that she's gone that floor is even more precious to him.
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Post by pooka on Jan 24, 2017 2:21:16 GMT -5
She was certainly a fiery saint akin to the Queen mother. She had a sharp wit & tongue, but you couldn't help but love her. She & King George VI chose to live in London throughout WWII even though they could have moved to the safety of one of their country estates. I read a story recently that came to light now that she's gone. She was known to have an afternoon gin & tonic, & she notoriously had a staff of gay men. One day they were late bringing her daily refreshment, because they were having a hen fest bellow the stairs. The Queen mum stormed down stairs to say to the effect, when you queens are done, I'd like my G&T. I've also heard she liked a pint of stout on occasion rather that the Champagne most royals favor. I recently saw a pic of her in a pub to prove it. She pulled it herself.
It sounds as if Michelle created her own loving memorial without realizing it. Your family certainly is a house of cards.
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Post by mach12 on Jan 24, 2017 13:20:43 GMT -5
I didn't have any wings but often use my Buffalo Wings recipe with boneless chicken breast strips (we buy chicken breasts by the case and freeze them in packages of one or two per package) so decided to try this with some chicken breast strips and it was great. I cooked the strips in the steamer, rolled them in melted butter and then cooled them in the fridge. After an hour or so I coated them with the sauce (I mixed up 1/4 cup and it was more than enough for the two large breasts I had cut into strips) and chilled them for another hour and then baked them until I liked how they looked. Probably about 30 minutes but I was multi-tasking and not paying very close attention to the time. I did put a splash of Franks hot sauce in it too but just enough to give it a bit of a tingle. I'm thinking that next time I'll try just a very slight pinch of cayenne instead and then letting it rest an hour or so after mixing it up. The Franks uses vinegar and I think that took away from the flavors of the ketchup and maple syrup a bit. My wife says maybe zesting some orange peel into it instead might also be a good variation. When we do wings we like to do several different coatings so figured we play with this recipe a bit so that we could maybe do the original, a lightly spiced, and kind of a sweet & sour version.
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Post by nana on Jan 24, 2017 16:56:09 GMT -5
I'm so glad you liked it. I'll tell my son in law his mom's recipe has made another fan!
Sriracha is a little sweet, that's why I used it. The orange peel sounds like it would be good, though.
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Post by mach12 on Jan 24, 2017 18:35:03 GMT -5
I have a big bottle of Sriracha that I use in place of the Egyptian recipe for the chili sauce that comes with koshary when you get it over there so should try that too. It really is good stuff and is near identical to the sauce the vendors use. Heck, they probably have some kid emptying bottles of Sriracha into bowls to serve with the koshary.
I think one of the coolest things about your recipe is that not only is the basic recipe great but it lends itself so well to alterations. We just like to serve a bit of variety for those with different tastes and that makes this a really nice one. I really appreciate that you posted it!
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Post by nana on Jan 25, 2017 19:47:09 GMT -5
Two simple ingredients, yet so delicious. My son in law is Vermont born and bred, and it's not even a joke with him; if what you're cooking needs a little something and you don't know what, add a little maple syrup. It can't hurt!
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Post by pooka on Jan 26, 2017 11:34:20 GMT -5
Oh mach12, I had to look up koshary to know what you were talking about. As an avid carnivore, this vegetarian street dish would more than satiate me.
nana, maple syrup is a flavor that would be a welcome addition to many things. From the mild touch of light syrup, to the richer, bolder punch of dark syrup. The only drawback is it's pricey.
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Post by mach12 on Jan 27, 2017 11:47:53 GMT -5
Oh mach12, I had to look up koshary to know what you were talking about. As an avid carnivore, this vegetarian street dish would more than satiate me. There are a bunch of different recipes and when you search you can use different spellings, such as how I spelled it, or kosharie, kusharee, etc. They don't get hung up on Websters spelling rules over in that neck of the woods. It made for interesting driving when trying to use highway signs. The city of Salem, Egypt would be written as Salem on one sign, the a mile later it would be Sahlem, then later Suhlem and so on. And all were considered to be just fine. I lived over there for 5 years and loved how laid back it was, even in bustling cities like Cairo. Even as crazy as the driving seems it's not. There's an attitude of "Mafeesh Mushkella" ("No Problem"), even if someone is driving the wrong way on your side of the freeway. They know to watch for it and they let him do it because someday the might need to do it too. And traffic lights are just a light on a pole. Everyone goes and they let the other guy in. I kind of miss it sometimes.
I posted a really good version of the koshary recipe over in the vegetarian folder about a year ago.
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Post by nana on Jan 27, 2017 17:01:09 GMT -5
I hear Boston is like that, only the people are crabbier!
Maple syrup is one of those things that the real deal is great and the substitutes are hardly worth it. Like garden vs supermarket tomatoes. I say, if you don't have real syrup, use honey or molasses, but the Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworths, (besides being corn syrup which is very unhealthy) just don't have what it takes.
I have to try that koshary recipe. I remember seeing it when you posted it, but never got around to it. Thanks for the reminder!
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