Dateline, 6/11/2020:
The folly of the ancients
I hate to admit that I’ve been around so long. So long, in fact, that when I worked in the French restaurant in the 70’s, we boned out whole chickens for Coq au Vin and threw away the wings. It was I who dreamed up the idea of at least serving them to the help. Wings had not hit the bar scene yet. They were served in Chinese restaurants, Frenched to look like baby drumsticks.
Everything has changed, that is for sure. Right now they have wings in the store, but they will only let you buy one package at a time.
Actual prep time:1 hour
Serves 6-8
Level of difficulty 3
Preheat the sous vide bath to 135 F/57 C.
Basic Ingredients:
Chicken wings, “as needed.”
Powdered egg white, enough to lightly coat.
S+P, your favorite rub or one of ours listed HERE
Celery sticks.
Carrot sticks.
Pickles.
Purple potatoes optional.
Ranch dressing.
BBQ sauce, all that kinds of stuff.
Cherry tomatoes, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 orange, 1 green.
Olive oil to toss the tomatoes in, a few drops.
Kosher salt, as needed.
Vacuum seal the chicken wings in a heat rated bag and process at
135 F/57 C for 5 hours.
Sous vide intervals are very forgiving once the desired amount of tenderization is achieved, especially in the lower range of temperatures.
Once the processing is done, cold shock the packages of wings in iced water until they achieve 70 F/21 C, and refrigerate at 40 F/4 C. Sealed packages will keep in this state at least two weeks.
Remove the wings from the package.
Gently break them apart. Sprinkle with powdered egg white, and a few drops of water to create a sticky surface. Toss with the seasonings.
Arrange the wings so that they are not touching each other, d’oh.
That’s the way I like it.
Set the smoker on 180 F/81 C or thereabouts. I like a cold start so I’m not inhaling all those toxic gasses.
Got some dinner brats there in the back.
At least two hours, up to four or however long you want.
The racks are dishwasher proof, all that smoky stuff comes off.
These I dunked
Yeah, that purple thing is a potato.
The scallion mum is hiding behind the pickle, Mum.
Okay, I’ll say it, YUM.
