May 09, 2007

Wonderful Wingless Hot Wings

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The FoodTV blog is hosting its first Cooking Club blogging event where one recipe is chosen for anyone who wants to participate to make. To kick things off, a Chef at a Home recipe for Buffalo Chicken Salad has been selected. I’m a fan of Michael Smith. Some people object to the fact that it’s not actually his home that he cooks in, but I don’t care, I like his food. Some people complain that he’s way too big for the kitchen, but that’s not his fault! Leave us tall people alone, kitchens are usually built for midgets! Counter tops are always too low unless they’ve been custom built and this results in daily back aches from having to lean forward so much. I think Michael Smith is charmingly goofy and as far as kids go, his son Gabe is pretty darn cute, (the fact that he’s not a picky eater gains him massive points in my book). I also like his philosophy of cooking without a recipe, (although I do find the repetition of that line annoying, not nearly as much as some other peoples’ catch lines… you know who I mean). Some people also object to the structure of his recipes, which don’t always have precise quantities. I’m ok with that because, as you may have noticed with me, I’m the same way, (a handful, a dash, a scoop, they’re all valid measurements). So quit picking on Michael Smith and go pick on someone your own size!


Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’m really happy with the way this recipe turned out, it’s just like eating hot wings, but not as messy. It has all of the flavours you love from neighbourhood pub chicken wings, complete with blue cheese and celery sticks and it’s really quick and easy to make too. I’m giving this recipe a gold star and will definitely be making it again.


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Buffalo Chicken Salad (Adapted from Chef at Home)



4 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1/4 cup flour

Salt and pepper

3 African devil chilies

1/4 cup oil

1 batch Spicy Chicken Sauce (recipe follows)

1 head of romaine lettuce, washed and sliced

2 ribs celery, washed and chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup Franks hot sauce

1/4 cup ketchup


Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Toss chicken with flour, salt, pepper and chilies until well coated.

Pour oil into pan and add the chicken.

Cook on one side until it's golden brown and then flip and cook the other side until the chicken is cooked through. Drain on a paper towel and pat dry.

Make Spicy Chicken Sauce by combing butter, Franks and ketchup, heating it in the microwave or on the stove top and whisking to combine.

Pour Spicy Chicken Sauce over hot chicken, toss well to coat.

Plate the lettuce and celery and top with chicken, blue cheese, a squeeze of lemon and some dressing if you’d like, ideally Blue Cheese dressing or Ranch.

I’d also suggest serving it with some garlic bread.



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23 comments:

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Spicy hot and just the way they should be. Bril, these are fantastic!

K and S said...

I'm grabbing a beer to go with this!

ilingc said...

I love buffalo wings and could never find a recipe that I really truly enjoy. I'm definitely bookmarking this to try. :)

Anonymous said...

I can't cook to save my life therefore I might not know how much trouble for you to go through in order to prepare those wings .. but I am definitely convinced it's good !

Jenny said...

Two tidbits I hadn't known - the FoodTv thing and that he didn't cook in his own kitchen (so who's kitchen is it?)
The recipe, however, looks fun!

Anonymous said...

Cooking without a recipe....

Hmmmm, seems right up my alley!

I like his show, but hate his voice, which makes it hard for me to watch.

Bryll, those wings look Good!

Lis said...

I am a HUGE fan of buffalo wing salads.. YUM! This one looks fantastic.. am drooling over the sauciness and the crumbled bleu cheese.. *swoon*

Rachel said...

That looks yummy! I like the wingless part.

Lisa Fain (Homesick Texan) said...

What's Frank's hot sauce? I'm not familiar with it.

Cheryl said...

Oh Bril I love you. Hot sauce and blue cheese on the computer screen by 9 am in the morning.

I am drooling.

Deborah said...

Oh wow, this looks fantastic!! I have had a few Buffalo Chicken Salads before, but have never made one at home. This looks like a keeper!!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Bri, I have the opposite problem here in Brazil - I'm too short for the sinks and all. :S

What a delicious salad! I'm gonna pay more attention to Michael Smith from now on.

Elle said...

This looks like a gret salad & I like the no wings part. I'd go with the blue cheese dressing and some garlic bread and beer. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmm! That looks fantastic. A salad even my husband would love!

Anonymous said...

Spicy hot I love, very good recipe

Kelly-Jane said...

How good does that look? Yoour site makes me so hungry!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

You'd love my kitchen then, Brilynn. It was built in the 40's and the cabinets are so high that I have to get on a stool to reach most everything. And I'm pretty tall.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, yummo! But I'm unfamiliar with this hot sauce...what is it?

Brilynn said...

Quellia- they just rent the house for the show. I don't know whose house it is, but I wish it was mine.

Homesick Texan and Ellie: here's a link for Frank's, it's great!

Elizabeth said...

I didn't know that wasn't his house either! (I sure would love to have that pantry though)

In re: Franks hot sauce
I'm not at all familiar with that so googled. I see there are 4 different ones "original, Buffalo Wing, Xtra Hot, Chile'N Lime". Which one do you use and/or is it basically Tabasco sauce?

-Elizabeth

P.S. When we have wing night, we like them with honey garlic sauce (an ancient blog entry about it)

Anonymous said...

I could eat a whole plate of that right now. Seriously.

I thought that was Michael Smith's house!

Anonymous said...

I am not familiar with the African devil chilies. I looked them up on the internet and they look yummy! Do you use them dried or fresh for this recipe? Do you grind them??

Thanks!!

Brilynn said...

I used them dry and crushed them up finely before adding them. I've never seen them fresh.