Thursday, November 5, 2009

Pastrami Chicken Wings – A Delicious Failure

Have you ever been enjoying a nice pastrami sandwich and thought to yourself, "This is good, but I really wish it had some bones in it." Well, this recipe was an attempt to solve that age-old desire.

I've taken a spice rub traditionally used on a beef brisket to make pastrami, and applied it to America's favorite appetizer, chicken wings. This resulted in a pretty nice chicken wing recipe, which tasted nothing like pastrami.

I guess I'm asking for trouble calling it "Pastrami Wings." If your palette is set for some rich, fatty, smoky pastrami, you will be disappointed. As I joke in the video, a chicken ain't a cow, and no chicken wing will ever taste like real pastrami.

Having said that, so what? They're just chicken wings. Perfect for this time of year, since for sports fans this is the ultimate sweet spot on the calendar. You can watch baseball, football, basketball (I wish the Bay Area had a team), hockey (Go Sharks!), golf, and several other minor sports (like college football).

What better way to veg on the couch for 14 hours, than with a plate of chicken wings that don't taste like pastrami? Honey, can you grab me another beer? My fingers are all greasy. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 pounds chicken wing sections
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp smoked paprika
pinch of cayenne, optional
2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
2 tsp flour
*serve with Russian dressing as a dip

Note: I thought these were fairly mild, and would actually increase the spice amounts next time. If you experiment, please let me know the results!

74 comments:

Mikey said...

Hey John, Love your posts. Just a tiny correction on your latest post. The Bay Area does have several basketball teams - Golden State Warriors (pro), University of California (college pre-season #10 in the country), Stanford, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, USF (college). The pastrami chicken wings'll come in handy pre- and post-game!

Chef John said...

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I wish the Bay Area had a pro basketball team that was relevant, not embarrassing, and had even a slim chance of making the playoffs!

nossi said...

so wait - your saying a chicken is NOT a cow??? what?!?!

either way - u posted at the end you would increase the spice amounts, everything? and by how much?

bc this looks mighty fine, and i plan on trying this

Chef John said...

not sure, would have to experiment. let me know

Oliver James Spicer said...

Awesome recipe Chef John :)

I think this is part of a conspiracy though! Having just seen this photo through the wonders of google (http://www.bloganything.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cows-eat-chicken.jpg). I believe you're trying to get us to eat more "chikin"! To which I say fair enough but please, please make a Nando's Peri-Peri sauce recipe to go with it! :D

Iankbailey said...

That shot of the sandwich wouldn't happen to be from Katz's Deli would it?

Chef John said...

Yes it is!!

rosemary said...

Good for me. My babies will enjoy deboned mild chicken wings!! What more can a mother ask for? Thanks! You are the best!

Bill Medifast said...

Chicken wings that taste like pastrami... hmm. I think this would be the perfect addition to our Sunday/Monday night football parties. Yes I do both. They sound delicious. Glad I found this now so I can give it a trial run with my wife first.

Thanks a lot,

Bill M.

poophead said...

I made these last night for the game. They were great! Thanks Chef John!

Flour said...

Aha! Flip & then, an extra 20 minutes...,No wonder my wings always come out sort of wet/soggy:( Thanks King Wing!

Chanelle said...

Chef John you made TYT!!!!

Chef John said...

Awesome... what's the TYT?

Chanelle said...

The Young Turks a liberal news show on YouTube. They played some of your wings video for the main anchor Cenk.

Anonymous said...

How about Boneless?

Chef John said...

Boneless?

pamcakes said...

Thanks for the recipe!! I'm definitely going to try this! I am so LOVING the video - total genius!

Anonymous said...

I like Beer!!

Nate @ House of Annie said...

forget the chicken wings. I want that sandwich!

Chef John said...

Hey! How are u guys doing??

Anonymous said...

Looks like you use a convection oven?
If and only if someone didn't have a convection oven, what if anything would you do different besides maybe moving the rake to the bottom???

Susanne said...

I read in the paper yesterday that in America the chicken breast fillet is much cheaper than the wing. It's the other way in Sweden. I think it's probably because the breast is so much easier to cock. But I will try your recipe and if it's any good I will spread the word.
Winterly Greetings from a cold Sweden

Minh "Sa" Chau said...

Mmm, Chicken.

Matthew said...

This sounds great, I in fact like herb spiced chicken wings more since they're not messy like those that are coated in sauce.

Unknown said...

You should try Chorizo wings, I use the El Guapo Chorizo mix along with other spices. I think you will like them.

hank said...

That's the way to eat a wing...shucks i thought you were going to say something worth while. That's the reason why id dont eat boneless wings eating the meat from the bones make it taste better taking them out make it taste doughy and nasty...no thanks i'm going to eat the way i love others will eat the way they love...that's the right way

Andrew said...

They look good! Who cares if they don't taste like pastrami? As long as it tastes good.

Also, I am not sure if you noticed, but your video on "How to eat a chicken wing" is on the front page of Yahoo today! That is pretty darn amazing!

Unknown said...

Your "How to eat a chicken wing breakthrough" is not actually a breakthrough at all. My friends and I have been favoring the "flats" as you called them for years. Your method is slow and as you yourself stated leaves a little cartilage in the more narrow end. My proposal to you to improve your method (yes, I said improve): use the narrower end to ply the meat from. Similarly to your method, pinch between the bones at the narrow end and pull the cartilage free. If you get some chicken with it, eat it while holding the cartilage. Then work the meat away from the ends of the two exposed bones by simply going around each end with two fingers. Once you have separated the meat from the ends of the bones, place the exposed narrow end bones on a dish/napkin/whatever clean surface you have and pinch between the wider bones and push down, pinching the whole way. As with your method, if the wing is cooked properly there will be no fuss or muss when you are done. If meat lingers for some reasons on the bones, well, it is a quick cleanup, but what you will have in your hand will be all meat no bone. If you would like a video of this method, I would be glad to oblige. But I know it has been in use by many people for over 20 yrs.

Anonymous said...

Boneless chicken wings? :p

Chef John said...

actually, it's a regular old oven. not convection.

Hey, Sasquatchahatchie, I wish you would have left a little longer, more detailed comment. ;-)

Anonymous said...

We tried this at supper tonight but we had no wings in house so we tried it with legs. Wow! No leftovers! The taste was intense. Recommend this highly! We ended up cooking the legs about 25 minutes per side and they were perfect.

Rob said...

Chef John - these are AWESOME. We've had them two nights in row now!!

We increased the cayenne to 1/2 Tsp, and that works really well for us.

Thanks again for the great idea.
-Rob.

squeeky said...

I have deboned chicken before, but I never thought of doing that on chicken wings! thanks for the tip! By the way do you have any more cooking videos? I would LOVE to take a gander at them. Maybe they can help my cooking!

Chef John said...

yes, a few more, like 300! check the side bar or search box

Anonymous said...

What is the silicon mat for and what can I use in place of it if I don't have one?

Chef John said...

nothing sticks to it. use some oiled foil instead.

KS said...

Chef John:

I've been looking for a good recipe for wings in the oven, but they always seem to be too greasy. These were great and not greasy. If I hadn't forgotten the salt, I'd be even happier. Still, though, great technique, the flour makes the difference.

Kerri

KS said...

Oh, and I didn't have a silpat, so I used parchment instead and it worked like a charm.

Unknown said...

You should prep the wings by steaming them for 10 minutes first, then pat them dry and let them cool before the spice rub. Alton Brown does this and it renders some of the schmaltz (chicken fat) out of the wings, leaving you with a crispier, less greasy wing. And because they were steamed, the finished product doesn't have that boiled chicken taste.

I tend to also bake them on a nonstick cooling rack with a foil drip tray for an added crisp factor.

Flour said...

Made these tonight, and they were delicious!!!
Mind if I post your recipe on my blog? I would be sure to give you credit and a link. Thank you in advance.

Chef John said...

Of course! Post away! Thanks!

Ben S said...

Chef John,
Thanks for this recipe, you have converted my wife to loving chicken wings. I have made these 3 times now, and i think this time I hit on the perfect combination. I used Hot Paprika instead of smoked, and a lot of pepper, and instead of mixing in the oil, i brushed it on after the wings were in the pan, it made the wings super crispy, and the hot paprika + a little cayenne pepper made them just right, in the heat department. I hesitate to call them pastrami wings anymore, but they are probably the most delicious wings i've ever had. Thank you VERY much for this!

Unknown said...

So good. Just made these today and they were a huge hit. Wish I had some left over. BTW I added some garlic powder. Excellent. And made a Russian dressing for a dip, but also made a simple mustard dip (mustard and mayo) and that was even better. YUM!! Thank you Chef John. Love these wings.

Anonymous said...

The video calls for white pepper, but the recipe doesn't, what gives?

ladycher said...

Hi Chef, I would like to know how to keep the chicken from sticking to foil paper or should i use wax paper, because my skin always rips off, and i want to make this recipe without this happening, I have not found the silicone mat yet.

Chef John said...

just oiled foil works ok, but find a sil mat! very easy to find... Every store that sells kitchen stuff has them.

The Fauré Family said...

What us a Russian dressing? Searched the site and can't find a recipe for such. Could post post one...
Thanks!

Bebs said...

The video calls for white pepper but the recipe doesn't... so how much white pepper should we add?

Chef John said...

1/4 tsp white pepper

Bebs said...

Cool, thanks Chef John! I stumbled on your website through youtube while I looked for old videos of Julia Childs... Happy New Year from Alaska!

Eliza said...

I so just made these! since you said to add more spices, i went with what you said + herbs de provence, powdered galic, powdered chilli, sweet curry and hot curry, and some sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
still wasn't hot enough, so i made a sweet and sour chilli dip.
anyways, your recipe got me a standing ovation, as did the deboning technique, so much love from Romania, chef John!

Unknown said...

Dear Chef John,

Ive never cooked before and i need a bit of help. Parents left me alone for a week and theres a bunch of raw chicken drumsticks i have thawing. Theyre the big kind. i dont know how to describe them.

Anyways, I've been eyeing this recipe for a while, and now is my chance to make it. Problem is, im not sure how long i should put it in the oven for, or what temperature. Any tips?

Chef John said...

baked at 400 for about 40-45 minutes or until the meat can be pulled off the bone with a fork. enjoy!

Unknown said...

a bit on the black peppery side, but it was awesome nonetheless.

i prepared another batch of seasoning, as im having a party tomorrow. This time i'm using the smaller wings. I'll tell you how that goes!

Anonymous said...

Alas another great Chef John wing recipe! And yes, Go Sharks! 2-0 against Detroit so far!

Anonymous said...

Can I do this with a whole chicken cut up?

Chef John said...

sure! enjoy!

Susan Chin said...

Thank you Chef John for posting another chicken recipe. I really like your chicken recipes especially the "Super Bowl Garlic & Ginger Chicken Wings" & Black Lemon Chicken. Now I am so excited and I can't wait to make this dish for my family. Honestly I prefer baking than deep frying the chicken. So I hope in future Chef may post more recipe videos on baking the chicken.

You are my favourite chef and I've voted you in all ways.

Susan Chin said...

Hi Chef John! Today I make this dish and I would like to say that this recipe is fantastic. My family and I lovin it. Thank you once again. Hope to see more recipes from you soon. Take care Chef!

Jen said...

I just prepared these wings (A half batch) and upon adding the ingredients I realized that there is a TON of pepper in this recipe. I mean I know you said in the video that black pepper and coriander are the main pastrami spices but honestly, did you mean to put TSP instead of TBSP when writing out the ingredient amounts on here? Because I just prepared the chicken as if you made that mistake in the recipe and it looked exactly like the video when everything was finished being mixed in (but not baked yet). I made these to refrigerate overnight so I can have a quick lunch tomorrow with them so I guess I'll find out tomorrow afternoon when I taste them if the black pepper , coriander, and paprika amounts were mistakes or not (I'm sure it'll have less flavor than needed if they weren't). By the way, just made your onion rings as a side item for dinner and they were FABULOUS! Needed a lot of salting but you were right about them being the crispiest ever! My first time making home-made onion rings and I think I will probably find even Burger King's rings soggy-like after trying those! LOL The onion ring recipe and the chicken fingers recipe on this site have made me a lover of panko crumbs, I've used about 3-4 boxes since i've discovered your site and my regular container of breadcrumbs aren't even opened yet. Think Progresso owes you a big Thankyou!

Chef John said...

oops!! I think it's 1 tbsp! :-) I hope they are OK. I know many have made them and liked them, so should be OK!

Sy said...

I love that you baked these! Please tell me how I could do a garlic parmesian sauce for these.
Thank you.

Rick3581 said...

How about thighs?

Joseph said...

About to do these :)

Anonymous said...

Chef John,
Do you think brining the wings with the spice mix before baking might help add some pastrami flavor?
-Ben

Chef John said...

Yes, it probably would!

Geal said...

I added a bit of garlic powder since I thought that would help the flavor and smell of the wings and I loved it

Anonymous said...

I am relatively new to your sight, and have to say I love it. As for the wings I’m kind of a red neck and I have been smoking hot and BBQ wings for about three years now and they are always a huge hit. So I think I might try this seasoning mix on a few next time. I have made 5 or 6 of your recipes and really appreciate all of your hard work.

Thanks David

1Bigg_ER said...
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1Bigg_ER said...
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Corinne said...

These wings were excellent! And so very easy! For your next trick, can you come up with Salt & Vinegar Wings - to resemble Salt & Vinegar Chips? Thank you!

That Damn Libertarian said...

I texted my wife "We are having pastrami chicken wings for dinner". She was a bit confused at first but we both enjoyed them, perhaps especially because Mrs. L grows cilantro to harvest her own coriander. Thank You.

Unknown said...

Dear sir
thank you for your amazing method and delicious food, I'm not an English native speaker and while watching your post on Youtube (Super Bowl Tips: How to Eat a Chicken Wing!)faced difficulty understanding the context. "that's kind of skinnieran??, there is a biggeren???"
would you please help me and make it understandable to me.
thank you so much


"Here is how I do it.
Pick up your flat part of chicken wing and find in the end there is a bigger protrusion of a bone, see. See it better there is kind of a little piece of cartilage there I pulled it off I eat it and then find a little bone. There is two bones one skinny one a little fatter, alright find the skinny bone you do a little wiggle and twist and that would pull right out clean. This only works by the way if the chicken wing cocked properly and cocked enough.
Alright let’s pull small wing bone out pull the skinny end tight then grab the bigger bone there and just twist that until it releases. And pull that off slowly if any meat comes out, you know socket off the bone. There we go eat perfectly boned chicken wing flat. Hundred percent meat. There is a tiny bit of cartilage in the end there is a very delicious and eatable so I eat it, you can put it off, you dip it you eat it, it’s fantastic!"

Stephen Peter Kovach said...

Chef John,

I simply cannot resist quoting your above comment:

"Sorry, I should have been more specific. I wish the Bay Area had a pro basketball team that was relevant, not embarrassing, and had even a slim chance of making the playoffs!"

It seems your wish has been granted!