From the Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook

Serves 2 to 4

 

At Blue Ribbon, one of our main culinary goals is to take all the dishes that we loved from childhood and elevate them. Chicken wings are no exception. Broiled or grilled instead of deep-fried, and seasoned with homemade hot sauce spiked with plum sauce and brown sugar, these crispy, tangy, spicy wings are like the best Buffalo chicken wings you've ever tasted, maybe even better.

 

8 chicken wings (about 1 3/4 pounds)

Perfect Roast Seasoning (page 250) or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons Blue Ribbon Hot Sauce (page 242) or your favorite bottled hot sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon Chinese plum sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

 

1 Sprinkle the chicken wings with the seasoning. Let rest for 20 minutes.

 

2 In the meantime, preheat the broiler or grill.

 

3 In a small bowl, mix together the hot sauce, butter, plum sauce, and brown sugar. Set aside half of the hot sauce.

 

4 Broil or grill the wings, turning once, for 20 minutes. Slather the wings with the remaining half of the hot sauce mixture, making sure to coat both sides of the wings. Broil or grill until glazed and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes longer, turning once. Using a clean utensil, brush the wings with the reserved hot sauce mixture before serving.

 

5 To make the dressing: Mix together the sour cream and blue cheese. Serve with

the wings.

 

 

Blue Ribbon Hot Sauce

Makes 4 cups

 

When we opened Blue Ribbon Brooklyn with a much larger kitchen than we have in SoHo, we decided that we wanted to make everything we could from scratch-including all the ice creams and many of the condiments, like ketchup, pickles, even our own hot sauce and steak sauce. Well, after a lot of playing around, we realized that A1 was still better than any steak sauce we could make, Ciao Bella made superior vanilla ice cream, and Heinz had us beat on ketchup. But our partner and chef Mike Paritsky did manage to come up with excellent recipes for pickles (see page 228) and this killer hot sauce, which we think is better than anything you can buy. Our secret is the carrots, which make the bright-orange sauce just glow in its bottle. Carrots also add body and sweetness to temper the heat of the habanero chiles. Store the sauce in your refrigerator. It will last for years.

 

3 cups distilled white vinegar

3 to 4 red, orange, or yellow habanero chiles, to taste, trimmed and sliced

2 tablespoons salt

1 pound carrots, trimmed, peeled, and roughly chopped

 

1 Combine the vinegar, chiles, and salt in a large nonreactive pot over mediumhigh

heat. Bring to a boil. Let the mixture cool, then puree in a blender and strain.

 

2 While the peppers are cooking, in a separate pot combine the carrots with water to cover. Simmer until very tender but not overcooked, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Puree the carrots in the blender until smooth (you do not need to strain them), then stir into the strained vinegar mixture. If it's too spicy-hot, thin it down with a little water.

 

3 Use immediately, or transfer the hot sauce to airtight, sterile jars or bottles and refrigerate.

 

 

Perfect Roast Seasoning

Makes about 2⁄3 cup

 

As its name might indicate, this mix is the perfect seasoning for roasted meats. The long cooking time of roasts ensures that the coarse kosher salt is absorbed into the dish, and this mix has just the right proportion of pepper and herb.

 

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons dried thyme

 

Combine the salt, pepper, and thyme and store in a covered container.