1. I'd read the warnings that North Idaho would be under an extreme heat warning this week through, I think, this Thursday.
Well.
I had about 60+ chicken party wings thawed and I'd decided on Sunday how many wings I would prepare of each style I'd decided to fix for family dinner.
Normally, when I cook chicken wings, I fry the chicken (in lots of butter), prepare whatever sauce I'm going to coat the chicken pieces with, and, when I'm done frying, immediately coat the wings and serve them.
This morning, I decided to do much of the cooking before the extreme heat settled in, so I got out the cast iron skillet and the cast iron Dutch oven and fried up four batches of wings. I had one more batch to go, but this batch was marinating in a ziplock bag and I would be baking this batch later.
Hoping this all worked out, I refrigerated the pieces I fried, planning to warm them late in the afternoon in the oven, setting it to the lowest possible temperature, after I had finished preparing the oven baked wings.
2. When I planned this dinner, I thought we'd be eating on the patio. About midafternoon, I texted Molly, Christy, Carol, and, by accident, Paul Richter, instead of Paul Roberts (!). Paul Richter texted me back, wish our family a successful dinner, and made sure I knew that I had erroneously included him in my message.
But, I digress.
I texted everyone to suggest that rather than eat on the patio in 90+ degree heat, that we eat in our air conditioned living room.
Everyone liked that idea.
When I thought we'd be on the patio, I planned for a meal where the wings would be served a room temperature and we'd have cold Mediterranean food to compliment the wings.
So, I just moved the patio into our living room. I put a cooler stocked with Heidelberg and Polar seltzer water on the living room floor along with a waste receptacle to throw chicken bones into.
I made three kinds of wings. About half of them were hot wings made with Frank's Original Hot Sauce. I think Franks' sauce is perfect for hot wings because it's a moderately hot pepper sauce. I like how Frank's gives me the pleasure of heat without burning off my lips or sending me screaming to the kitchen for ice water.
Christy, however, like many people I know, cannot eat food that has heat.
No problem.
I decided to complement the hot wings with a batch of Mediterranean wings. These wings had marinated overnight in olive oil, cumin, oregano, paprika, lemon juice, and garlic. I baked them and served them garnished with cilantro and feta cheese.
I love lemon chicken, so I made a lemon, butter, garlic sauce and coated another batch of wings with it.
I saved out a small batch of wings to be naked, unseasoned, uncoated, just in case anyone wanted to take a break from the other wings.
So, in my mind, Mediterranean sides would work well with the Mediterranean and the lemon garlic chicken and, I hoped, compliment the hot wings as well.
So, I assigned Carol the task of making Cold Chickpea Tahini soup.
I had been in the mood for cold soup for the past week and Carol did a superb job making this soup, an explosion of Middle East flavors and textures. It was our appetizer.
I also decided that I wanted a NOT green salad to accompany our wings and I turned to my very trustworthy America's Test Kitchen book of Mediterranean recipes and found a tomato salad that was just what I wanted -- cool, flavorful, a contrast to the hot wings and a compliment to the other wings.
Carol gave me tomatoes from her garden. The salad was dressed with a combination of oil, cumin, garlic, fresh oregano, juice drained from the tomatoes with salt, green onion, and plain Greek yogurt. I topped the salad with feta cheese and made chopped cilantro available for those who wanted it. It tasted about 400 times better than it looked. (I would have been chopped thanks to lousy presentation.) (I also know now that all of us like cilantro -- so, I won't be cautious with it again.)
I also set out celery sticks with little dipping bowls and the choice of Blue Cheese and Tzatziki Ranch Dressing, thinking the Tzatziki dressing might go well with the Mediterranean and lemon wings, knowing both would work with the hot wings.
Molly brought Butter Flake Rolls that went really well with the chicken and the soup and salad.
3. Now let me rewind to our cocktail for tonight.
I assigned Christy to make a pitcher cocktail.
As I looked at a range of possibilities of pitcher cocktails, the phrase "cool as a cucumber" popped to mind when I discovered a recipe for Cucumber Moscow Mule Pitcher. I suddenly remembered a session of craft ale enjoyment at 16 Tons about ten years ago and Colin was pouring beer and started raving about a gin and tonic with muddled cucumber he'd recently enjoyed at a Japanese tavern in town, Izakaya Meiji Company.
I thought -- hmmm -- it's going to be hot outside, everyone at dinner enjoys Moscow Mules -- why not have Moscow Mules with the added refreshment and excellent flavor of cucumber?
Christy's Cucumber Moscow Mule Pitcher was the perfect cocktail to kick off this evening's chicken wing extravaganza.
I hope we'll return to it again.
I haven't seen Colin for nearly ten years, but I sure thought of him tonight and if I were in Eugene and if he were still working at 16 Tons and if I saw him, I would thank him for putting the beauty of muddled cucumbers in a vodka or gin drink in my consciousness. And, just as he did after drinking the aforementioned gin and tonic, I'd do my best imitation of Colin flipping out over the joy and pleasure of a great cocktail!
I went to Beach Bum Bakery this morning and bought a half a dozen cookies: three Ginger Molasses and three Chocolate Chip.
Awesome dessert.
This was the perfect time for me to host Family Dinner.
Having the house and the kitchen to myself, it didn't matter if this chicken wing dinner took me two days to prepare, didn't matter that I was working on something in the kitchen for about eight hours today.
I'm slow in the kitchen.
I like to take my time.
I really enjoy cooking chicken wings and trying out new styles. Before today, I'd never made lemon garlic or Mediterranean wings.
Today I prepared just over sixty pieces of chicken.
I'd say, at the end of the night, about ten pieces remained.
Just as I had hoped!
Everyone dug in seemed to enjoy this chicken wing and cold Mediterranean soup and salad blowout!
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