Biscuits #5 and Wings #6

Before I start, had a funny experience with Pandora tonight as I was cooking. I'm listening to one of my stations that has a few random bands I like as seeds. As I'm listening, I think, "You know what I'd really love to heard right now, 'Stairway to Heaven.' That would go really well with this mix, I'd almost like to seed it, except I'm not sure what else it would bring up." And then, like 2 songs later, it starts playing 'Stairway to Heaven.' Life just works out sometimes. And it's amazing how even a good song by Modest Mouse sounds pretty crummy when it has to follow that. Anyways, on to fooding...

Last night I attempted to make Buttermilk Biscuits using half whole grain flour, and half all purpose flour. Otherwise, the recipe was exactly the same as before. The results were pretty bad. The whole wheat just gave the biscuits a raw grain flavor to it. So, that settles it, recipe #3 (the one that they put on the bag of flour) is the best. This would feel really anti-climactic, except for the fact that biscuits are as much about technique as they are ingredients, and I feel like I have that down now.

Tonight, I made another attempt at Buffalo Wings. I had run out of the frozen wings, however, last time I bought a chicken I cut it into bits and froze the wings separately. They actually were much better that way than before, I think I'm going to need to try avoiding the frozen bag of wings in the future.

The wings were cooked the same as previous recipes (except I accidentally cooked them at 400 for about the first 15 minutes, then 450 for the last 10 or so). This time, as I was steaming the wings, I put about 2 tablespoons of dried red chili flakes into boiling water, and essentially cooked it until the water turned really red (I accidentally cooked it dry, then added more water). I then added salt, pepper, vinegar, paprika, garlic powder, and a small dab of honey. I let it soak for a while, then strained out the skins. The liquid I was left with was a deep, dark red. I added just a pinch of cornstarch, and stirred that in. I then melted in what felt like just under equal parts butter, and cooked it on the stove, until it started to boil and look slightly syrupy. I let it cook (although, I ended up adding more vinegar and Thai hot pepper powder, because I thought it needed more of a kick).

Tasting the wings, they were amazing. They aren't quite your classic Buffalo Wings, but they're good enough that I don't care. These taste better, and they don't overpower the chicken flavor. I did have two big problems though, which are probably related. First, I added too much butter, and you could really taste it in the sauce. It added a good, slightly sweet and fatty flavor, but I think I'd rather have had more of the red sauce. Second, the butter managed to create a bit of an oil-slick on the sauce, which made it not always stick super well. I'm thinking next time, I'll use less butter (maybe 50%), and add a shake of dry mustard powder into the mix as an emulsifier. Still, I'm getting close, this is really exciting!