Sticky chicken wings

Woooowww!
This was just THE BEST chicken wings I have ever eaten in my life!
I ate home made by me and others, store bought, American BBQ and Asian style, I even made some Hungarian style, but none ever compared to this one.

There are two magazines I truly enjoyed reading, one was Food and Wine, and this recipe is my treasured finding. As I am baking it during the night and my phone is broken, I decided to borrow their image until I can snap a picture of my own.

I always make some changes to the recipes and this is not an exception, sometimes due to lack of ingredients, or just because me or the family doesn't like them. One for sure I won't add cilantro :), but I added the link to try the original version for yourself. I might try a version with ginger and fish sauce.
Next, I wonder if this can be made on an grill, outdoors, but it is to be seen only when I finally get a grill..

Ingredients
12 wing cut in half, end discarded, 
I actually used 20 pieces of organic chicken drumettes from two trays
2 tbsp of sunflower or grape seed (call me mad but I NEVER by canola oil)
1 tsp salt
black pepper
4 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup light yellow miso (shiro miso)
a large pinch of smoked chilly pepper powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 - 2 flat tbsp light brown sugar (3 for me is VERY sweet, edible, but less enjoyable..)
(I added a flat tsp of organic mustard, not because it is asked in te recipe, but because I don't like to throw away things, and my youngest had a tsp mustard left from his dinner on a plate :) )

Preheat the oven to 400F, 200C. Prepare a rack set over a baking sheet., you'll need a large one you can buy.
In a bowl toss the wings in the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and arrange them on the rack.
Bake the wing for 40 minutes, turning them half way.
Meanwhile in a small pan mix 3 tbsp of water, heat it slowly, add the sugar and mix until dissolved. Mix in the other ingredients: miso, lemon juice, soy sauce, chilly pepper until makes a smooth, tooth-paste like glaze. (I also added the mustard when I took it off the heat).

After 40 minutes brush both sides of the wings and bake it for 10 more minutes. I actually chose to turn the wings after 10 minutes and bake them 10 more minutes, it gave the glaze a nice caramel color on both sides.

Serve with lime wedges and cilantro if you wish.
Bo appetite!


 

Csirkepaprikás - chicken stew

A very typical Hungarian meal, and after preparing the basic version one can turn it into a variety of meals. Though it looks soupy on the pic in reality it wasn't. It looked so full of sauce because it was still boiling. When it cooled down the sauce settled, and was just enough to have a nice sauce.

Well, this is the BEST if has all parts of the chicken, not only meat but also bony parts like the wings, breast, etc. So, if you want THE best csirkepaprikás, take the effort and purchase a whole chicken, cut it into peaces, and use all the parts that have some reasonable amount of meat. We usually use the wings, tights, drumsticks, breast for the paprikás and leave out the most bony parts (neck, legs) to be used in a light vegetable soup, like kohlrabi, or the typical Hungarian meat soup.
I was a lazy bastard, so I chose the boneless organic chicken tights this time.

Ingredients
600 g boneless chicken tights, about 1 / person
200 g onion (2 smaller ones, or one huge - the only type that can be found :) here)
2 small, 1 larger yellow pepper, or 1 large tsp of minced paprika (use less salt!!)
1 large tomato
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
paprika powder, 1.5 - 2 flat tsp
2-3 bay leaves, depend on the size
1 bunch of fresh Italian flat parsley
4 tsp sunflower oil
Suggestions: you can leave out the bay leaves and add other spices. Just some to consider - caraway seeds, or few basil leaves (works perfect with chicken) or 1-1 whole cloves, or replace the parsley with celery leaves.. You can also add a tsp or two of Ajvar. 
Play with the tastes, cooking is a game of fantasy and not pharmacy :). 

Chop the onions and yellow peppers. In a 3 quart pot heat the oil, when hot add the onions and yellow paprika, let them fry until "glassy". I work with high heat at the beginning as it is faster, but don't go away from the pot, stir continuously.
Remove from heat, add the powder paprika, about 1 tsp / 250-300 g meet. (See below at OBS.)
Mix well, add some water, about 50ml, and put it back to boil until the the water evaporates and the sauce is reduced back to basically oil only (almost).
Add the meat, lower the heat immediately to about half. Stir until the pieces of meat will whiten, and it releases some juice.
Let it saute for about 30 minutes. In theory (and practice, too) the meat should release just enough juice not to need any water added, but keep an eye on it.
Peal the tomato, cut into small 1 cm (0.5 inch) cubes, and add to the chicken.
Saute for additional 15 min. Add half of the bunch of parsley leaves, preferably tied together with a thin, clean thread. Add 0.5-1 small glass of water if needed. You most probably won't, but who knows.
Saute for additional 15 min. Check the amount of sauce. Don't me mislead, even if it looks much, or enough, when it stops boiling it will be much less. If you like it saucy, add the half a glass of water.
Boil it together for 5 min.
Remove from heat and it is ready to serve.
Bon appetite!

The recipe above is for the basic paprikás version and I'm going to post some variations of it later..

OBS
Depends how you like it, or where you live, you might add a flat tsp or a humpy tsp. In Transylvania we used less parpika powder, in Hungary it is typical to add generously. I became used to the Hungarian "generous" version, as you can see in the picture :), but it doesn't mean this is any better then the other. In contrary. I had friends complaining about my generosity when it comes to paprika, so try first, and then decide. This is not a spice though which can be added easily later if found insufficient, and reason is that it needs to be soaked up in the oil to make the best combination.  The only way to add, if needed, is to remove some spoons of oil from the stew, mix it with the paprika, and add it back.