Tuesday, June 17, 2008

What I Had For LINNER: Wings 3 ways

So, this started out as a wing purchase to go with the NBA finals on Sunday. Then, I made such a big lunch, that by the time dinner rolled around, the wings were put off for another day ... which was yesterday. Different day, same dish plan. I just got back from Hawaii and while I was there I did two neat things, harvest cacao pods and pull bee hives for processing. This is all in connection with the new prime time show for Food Network I have on the way called "How'd That Get On My Plate?". I follow ingredients from the rawest form to the finished product. More on that later ... 
One of the finished products I went to Hawaii for was honey.


I packed up 4 jars of the honey we packaged at the plant and brought them home ... 1 for me and 3 for friends. The one I kept was a more honey spread consistency. That is unique to the type of nectar the flower gave off for the bees to extract. Anyway, I just wanted a honey that looked different and the Macadamia Nut Honey I harvested looked like the regular typical honey. I like to play with food and new undiscovered food is even more fun! For honey that came straight from the hive just last week, I guess you'd think I should use it in an intelligent dish teeheehee, and I'm sure I will in the next coupla days, but for now let's dumb it down with some wangs! :-) Gooooooo (your nba fave here)!! I don't care much who wins, I just like game-time eats! Ok ...

For the wings, I prepped them like I usually prep, but I finished them off different. The first set were like I did on Emeril a few years back, my standby recipe. I used fresh oregano this time cuz it was in the fridge, but dry oregano is good too. The second set of wings was a mix of lemon and lime zest, plus salt and pepper ... I sprinkled it on right after pulling the wings from the oil and they were pretty yummy. And the 3rd set of wings were coated with a new recipe I put together for Honey BBQ sauce courtesy of my Hawaiian honey harvest!!! Some ketchup, lots of garlic, dark brown sugar, some ill spices (i'll give up the recipe/blend soon, but turmeric ... it's in there) and the very honey I brought back from Hawaii. It turned out yummy and really, they were just wings, but breaking up the 24 wings into 3rds made it seeeeem fancy ... neat home cookin' trick lol. I also made a gorgonzola dipping sauce, with just lemon, sour cream, buttermilk, lots of gorgonzola and salt n pep. That was some yummy stuff too ... so much so, this is all I have left from the meal ... I present ...
The Honey BBQ Plate ....

19 comments:

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

I bet your wings were good. That lemon zest and honey BBQ sound the best!

I'm allergic to nuts, but I can't wait to see how the macadamia nut honey was made, on your show. Is it merely honey with the nuts or a byproduct of the nuts?

Sunny Anderson said...

nikki miller-ka, they were very yummy and my dude took four home for a snack and had to fight for them with his brother lol ... and the macadamia nut honey is actually harvested by bees that eat the nectar from the flower on the macadamia nut tree ... so there's no nut in it, but i wonder if you will still be allergic hmmmmm....

Darius T. Williams said...

The wings sound too good. Black folks and chicken wings go hand in hand. There's a chicken wing spot on every corner here in Chicago.

Um, that gorgonzola wouldn't work for me though. I can't STAND bleu cheeses...none of them. I love some of the stinky ones though but the thought of eating that mold from the vein of a cow - nope, won't do it. I bet if you put that on "How'd That Get On My Plate" sales would decrease like bottled water is now-a-days.

Hey, I made this fantastic seared salmon last night. I did a light spice marinade of salt, pepper, crushed garlic, and lime zest. I seared it on both sides until a nice crusy goldenness. I put it in the oven to finish, before doing so, I topped it with this honey and wooster-shire (thanks Paula Deen) diddy. Once it was done I deglazed the pan with the fresh lime juice and let that reduce slightly for a delicious sauce on top. I had that with some steamed broccoli (tossed in garlic butter) and a rice pilaf (the boxed stuff - hey, it works for a Tueday night). Needless to say, it was a great meal.

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

That is *so* interesting. My mom said that she'll get me a jar of that honey, sit me outside of the emergency room with a plastic spoon, and if I don't blister up or stop breathing, we'll know it's OK. LOL

Anonymous said...

Would you like some chicken wings with your honey bbq sauce?

You have enough sauce leftover for about 6 lbs of wings. I am sure it was good, but isn't sauce used to augment flavors ?

Hawaii is quite the agricultural wonder uh ? The climate lends itself well to many things.

Did you know that much of Hawaii's choice products are scooped quickly by Japanese consumers intent on only acquiring the best.

I'm sure that honey commands top buck in Tokyo as would the Hawaiin chocolate and coffee.

How much do you pay for lb of wings in NYC ?

Sunny Anderson said...

nikki, omg pls don't puff up! do a quick online search, i'm sure there's some clarity on the issue out there teeheehee, your mom is cool though and i love your dedication to food. i'd eat just about anything

darius, gorgonzola is so goooood. i gotta tell ya, so far i think doing the plate show has strengthened my trust in the food products we get, so much testing and regulation involved. like really, a lil 2 week old chicken is worried about getting sick from me to the point where i need to swab down and suit up? i think so far it's been great and i really love the cleanliness stuff i'm encountering on the road. so you'll see plenty of hair nets and get-ups. now, if you can do stinky all you gotta do is get over the visual mold, cuz all cheeses have bacteria. c'mon darius my new "foodie" teeheehee (yup, i'm reading your blog) ... embrace all the cheeses!!!

Sunny Anderson said...

alec, lol yeah lots of sauce huh? well, i tossed them in a metal bowl and then slid them on the plate, so all the extra sauce fell too teeheehee, then i used a few lemon/lime wings to scrape up what i could on the plate teeheehee, but yeah looks like plenty of sauce! and yeah hawaii is pretty neat man, i think we'll go back for vanilla, so many other crops over there as well. my wings, 28 for $8.50

The CDM said...

Soon as I saw the title, first thing that popped into my head was something I had at Emeril's in Orlando. His was called, "Study of Chicken Prepared Three Ways." By any chance, did you inspire this or was it the other way around? Just curious.

By the Way, I'm looking forward to the new show, I love background info filled shows.

Sunny Anderson said...

cdm, ha, i guess one great mind and one good mind think alike ... i'm the good mind lol ... emeril's the great one. Never heard of his study in chicken, but he's a smart dude for it! lol ... and hope you like the new show, i too really enjoy info tv!

Jazzy said...

Give up that recipe girl!

I can't believe I'm drooling at a plate of bbq sauce...I'm not normal! lol

I might have been one of the VERY few New Yorkers rooting for Boston, but I was so glad the Flakers LOST!!!! tee hee!

Sunny Anderson said...

opinionated diva, it was really a simple recipe, ketchup, plenty of garlic, dk. brown sugar, salt, pepper, mustard, onion powder, turmeric and spices. then add honey ... really the amounts are the key, gonna print em soon for general consumption on food network site. i was goin for boston too, only cuz i'm against one laker player ... so shallow right? teeheehee

Anonymous said...

Sunny-
I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your blog. You are so cute, honest, and VERBOSE (it's a good thing)! I've been a FN watcher from practically day one. In fact, it's all my 8 year old daughter watches (she's an Alton Brown fan) and pretty much the only channel my husband and I watch as well. That sounds crazy, right? To be honest, I haven't seen but one of your shows, and I plan to change that very soon, but I've been reading your blog for awhile and you are so just adorable. I cook almost every dinner from scratch, and do something called "egg Wednesday". It's eggs, any way I can think to make them. I really like hash (sweet potato, chipotle in adobo, chicken sausage) with a poached egg (now I know how to make them for 30 people)... if you think of it, try a hash sometime and post your results. Thanks for taking the time to keep up with your blog. It truly shows the type of "star" you chose to be. Take care!
-Marcella - Ventura, CA

Sunny Anderson said...

marcella, thanks so much for the words! i have something in common with an 8 year old!! i love alton as well, good eats is up there on my list! what work he puts into every show!! and i luv hash! i too, do it many diff ways, now eggs???!!! i have a good recipe on the way in the new 13 eps, so keep your eyes open for that. i also plan to keep the blog this way, a few entries a week and just some behind the scenes stuff. there's so much i wanted to know as a viewer, so now maybe i can provide some of that info from a newbie's perspective. i'm havin fun so far and it's plenty of work, but rewarding as well. keeo in touch!

Lys said...

Ok - now I'm hungry and wondering where in the heck I can get good wings in Orlando.

I need to experiment more. I was playing with a recipe the other day for a "Cajun corn" and went "Hmmm... have to tell Sunny" and then when I finally signed up to create a receipe box on the FN site, I saw a variation of what recipe I was playing with that was already done by one Ms. Sunny ala the Mexican corn. Too much.

Can't wait for the new show! What are your thoughts on the show from Anne Burrell (sp?)

Sunny Anderson said...

lys, teeheehee, yeah ... i actually have an fn.com recipe box lol ... had one for about 2 yrs now i think. glad you found the corn recipe, i have a wing recipe on there too, find it by searching for "Sunny's Hot Wings" on the home page. saw ya on jacob's about the heels, girrrrrrl be safe :-) lol ... and heck yeah i'm ready for anne's new show!!! i actually met her before i started my show, we were doing our on-camera test on the same day! all i do when i eat out is try to figure out how to match it at home, so this'll be a nice trip into the kitchen of a chef. hope to get some tricks n stuff, plus pat myself on the back if i know any of them, me bein a home cook n all :-) ... already got the dvr set!!

Anonymous said...

Girl, anything with honey is just fine. the more, the better. on a recent culinary trip to Trinidad, I visited this estate where the owner produces his own honey! Imagine that! Bees every freakin where! I learned soo much about the process. Hec, I was ready to put on my own suit to try the process.UGH. Anyway, I bought a huge bottle of his locally produced miel and brought i back. I can't wait to use it. I did however just make a great spicy scallop dish that i seared in olive oil and HONEY. To. fight. over.

Now on to wings, my sis and I have this great taco recipe! Atlanta has some great wing spots, especially one RIGHT NEXT DOOR (i could walk there) where celebs like Da Brat and fine as hell Hines Ward frequent all the time. It's so funny to see all these ppl go in there at 2 (imagine where they're coming from)...hmm i need to make my way there soon.

keep it comin'! Take care. B-

Sunny Anderson said...

flanboyant eats, i luvvv me some wings!!! if da brat is eating there, it must be good ... i did an interview with her after she did the celeb fit club show and we talked food most of the time, i can tell she knows a good meal!!! and next time, put on the bee suit, it wasn't too bad at all! i never got stung, the bees are just so busy working! pretty neat. and i'm feelin scallops with a touch of honey, they are a bit sweet to me anyway, yummy!!!

Anonymous said...

i was watching your show with rice pilaf with blck beans and brown rice, but the recipe isn't on the website, care to share it?

Sunny Anderson said...

anonymous, i haven't done a rice pilaf with black beans and brown rice, but you just made me hungry!!! maybe someone else did and you got us mixed up, hopy you find the recipe! sounds yummy!