A little late posting, but this was Mother's Day dinner. Grilled lamb chops, Mediterranean salad, and sweet potatoe fries. Also made tiramisu for dessert. But no pics of that one, I know, so it didn't happen.
This was a bit of an experiment, but I think a successful one. Chicken wings are relatively expensive for the meat you get. At my local store, whole wings will run you $3.61/lb and if you get the cut-up ones, they run $4.46/lb. Choice brisket can be cheaper.
By comparison, chicken drumsticks run you $1.13/lb.
A few weeks ago, Sam the Cooking Guy did a video in which he approached this problem by taking chicken drumsticks and butterflying them; that is, using a paring knife on the "underside" of the drumstick, make a slit, then slice down the meat around the bone on both sides, being careful not to cut through the meat. The idea is that more of the meat will be exposed to rub, sauce, or smoke.
I gave this a try. Here are ten drumsticks after they've dry-brined overnight in Meat Church's Holy Voodoo rub.
Onto the Kettle + Vortex, because I will not cook "wings" any other way. I did my usual with a pecan chunk and rotated the dome every ten minutes 45 degrees. The entire cook took 30 minutes, just a bit longer than traditional wings as these are bigger pieces of chicken. (The butterfly shape is more obvious in this photo.)
Here they are after they have just been pulled off. Perfectly crispy skin and that lovely bronze color that pecan wood gives them.
I sauced my wife's in Bachan's (seems to be a theme lately around here).....
... and mine in Nando's Peri-Peri sauce.
Here's a better look at the butterfly.
This was quite successful and I think very much worth doing. More of the meat gets smoke and rub, which is wonderful.
There are some drawbacks. First, of course, if you prefer flats like I do, we'll this may be slightly lacking, but for the price I'll do this from time to time. Also, don't toss these; you'll get sauce all over your kitchen. It worked out better if I just dredged the drumsticks in the sauces. Additionally, the tendons are bigger on drumsticks so you have to eat around them. Furthermore, as there is so much more meat here, serve with some of the sauce reserved for dipping.
Finally, if you've never tried Nando's Peri-Peri sauce or any peri-peri (sometimes spelled piri-piri) you should if you can find it. I'm lucky to be able to get it locally, but it is available on Amazon (at twice the price). It tastes like a cilantro-lime-infused buffalo sauce and is distinctly more complex than just straight Frank's. (Like Frank's, I mix the peri-peri sauce in a 2:1 ratio with butter.)
My favorite, Thai-Style Beef with Basil and Fish Sauce. My wife said this was the best one yet. I credit the wok/burner she gave me. It was sunny with no clouds when I prepped this after work and an hour later it was thunder, and lightning, with big drops of rain. Fortunately, I was not struck by lightning while flipping my wok out there.
Spinaker I just happened to have already snapped a pic.
This is from The Wok by Kenji Lopez-Alt. I'm cooking through this book now. Tonight I'll be doing the ground pork version to use up the rest of the basil.
fzxdoc I have cooked the Woks of Life recipe many, many times. Both versions are great. There is no mushroom in there I think you're seeing slices of garlic (the lighting was bad since I had to rush inside to eat). What I like about this book is that its emphasis is on technique over recipes. So I followed the cutting beef for stir fry section to cut the flank steak, wash the beef and tenderize it, and I used a mortar and pestle to make the sauce and so on. This recipe is extremely beef-forward!
Oh I love using The Wok , Attjack . I didn't realize a recipe for Thai Basil Beef was in there. I'm definitely going to use that one. Thanks for adding the extra info and photo to your post.
Zman23 Tell us more. Did you trim the fat? Cooked to Med Rare? How did you keep them from flipping around on the skewer? I have two in my freezer and trying to decide how to get โโem done.
Last edited by Johnny Booth; May 16, 2023, 08:41 AM.
Johnny Booth I did not trim any fat. It was a 2 pack from Costco. Each piece probably had a 1/4" of fat on the one side. I just cut them into ~2" strips, salt and pepper each side, and put them onto the rotisserie rod in the C shape (hardest part of the cook). They were tight enough that they did not spin on the rod. They ended up more on the medium side but were absolutely delicious! Hope yours turn out well!
Crunchy, Spicy, Zucchini chips! Sliced and spiced yesterday then dehydrated them overnight. I eat these with whatever potato chips go with, which is just about anything coming off the grill. It also makes a great snack. Eight zucchini yielded 6 trays. If you grow zucchini and you donโt know what to do with all of it, this is your answer.
Motherโs Day weekend BBQ. I fired up both of my Jambo pits and we had a BBQ for about 50 family, lifelong friends, and colleagues. Visitors included my two grandsons! It was a great weekend!
My son and I rented a cabin on the river in Blue Ridge GA last weekend. I cooked a rack of ribs on a gas grill with no thermometer. I did not take any pics because I didn't think the ribs would be good. They were great, but no smoke ring or real smoke flavor. Used Lane's Signature rub and Sticky Fingers Sweet and Smokey sauce. Dinner was on the back deck.
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