Elephant & Castle chicken wings? Read first post!

bootsy11

Brilliant to see Franks Hot Sauce in Tesco, Wicklow.

Wheres the best place to buy chicken wings for home cooking?

giftgrub

I'm sickened, i got 4 bottles sent from the US.

The original and the wing sauce is now on sale in my local Tesco (stillorgan), for 2.99 i think

Still it was worth it...now to find a blue cheese dip recipe...

Davexirl

Was out in Tesco's Maynooth today. I couldn't see Frank's Red Hot Sauce anywhere there.

Kurumba

I found this bottle of Franks Hot Sauce in tesco in Balbriggan if anyone is out that direction, haven't tried it yet but will be soon

Oirthir

Bought in Tesco Dundrum on Monday night for €3.99!

Let the good times roll!

coffee to go

€3.99? Those D14 chancers! Only €2.99 in Tesco Newbridge:



Don't worry, Fallon & Byrne ripped me off (to the tune of €5) in my excitement too...

Bandara

Sorry to burst the bubble gents but I can state 100% that E&C wings do not contain "Franks Hot Sauce" or any hot sauce for that matter.

I heard Sharwoods do some products that make lovely sauces.

Davey Devil

Wings made with Frank's are nicer than E & C wings anyway.

Davexirl

I got 3 bottles of Franks in Tesco Maynooth yesterday and 3 packets of wings:D

Kurumba

Davey Devil wrote: »

Wings made with Frank's are nicer than E & C wings anyway.

How do you make your wings? I have the sauce and the wings, just not sure whats the best way to cook them now!

darraghw

Picked up a bottle of franks wing sauce in tesco clearwater yesterday.

I followed the recipe from a previous page,

Deepfry wings,

Heat sauce with butter to taste.

I then dipped the wings in the sauce and kept themin the over for about 5 mins while my chips cooked!

Delicious!

The Mighty Ken

After much procrastination, I finally made it to E&C last night to test their famous chicken wings. They were pretty good but I have to say, the ones wings in The Harbour Master, IFSC are much better. The sauce is much the same but the wings in the HM are much meatier and the coating seems to be a lot crisper. Controversial, I know. But that's just how I feel.

Minder

jessie1 wrote: »

How do you make your wings? I have the sauce and the wings, just not sure whats the best way to cook them now!

Deep fry the wings until crispy. Add sauce and a knob of butter to a pan and heat. I always add a tablespoon of white wine vinegar for an extra kick. Tip the cooked wings into the pan, lid on and give it a good shake.

Eat with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.

hcnyla

The Mighty Ken wrote: »

After much procrastination, I finally made it to E&C last night to test their famous chicken wings. They were pretty good but I have to say, the ones wings in The Harbour Master, IFSC are much better. The sauce is much the same but the wings in the HM are much meatier and the coating seems to be a lot crisper. Controversial, I know. But that's just how I feel.

If you look at my previous posts on the matter you will see that you HAVE TO coat them in flour and stick them in the fridge for at least 30 mins before cooking. They will be crispy then. Trust me on this. I've tried every method that I can think of to get them to taste right.

I was shot down for saying this already but its up to yourselves.

Kurumba

hcnyla wrote: »

If you look at my previous posts on the matter you will see that you HAVE TO coat them in flour and stick them in the fridge for at least 30 mins before cooking. They will be crispy then. Trust me on this. I've tried every method that I can think of to get them to taste right.

I was shot down for saying this already but its up to yourselves.

I tried it this way the other day at a bbq i had(except for leaving them in the fridge) and they came out lovely and crispy, the Franks sauce went down a treat.
I couldn't eat them myself because the wings ain't pretty when raw so i couldn't stomach to eat them

Minder

hcnyla wrote: »

If you look at my previous posts on the matter you will see that you HAVE TO coat them in flour and stick them in the fridge for at least 30 mins before cooking. They will be crispy then. Trust me on this. I've tried every method that I can think of to get them to taste right.

I was shot down for saying this already but its up to yourselves.

Can't find your previous post, so I don't know how you are cooking them. Deep fried, oven or bbq?

PeadarH

I don't know if anyone follows Alton Brown's show Good Eats. He's kind of like an American version of Heston Blumenthal. He did a show on Buffalo Wings the other week and had a good technique for getting crispy wings without frying.

He took the wings, steamed them, patted them dry, put them in the fridge for an hour and then baked. I've tried this twice now, and it really does work!

It's a little more hassle, but less mess than frying - and healthier!

The recipe is here if you want to try:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_115036,00.html

abelard

Is there any way to replicate the deep fryer with just a regular frying pan (I may be showing my culinary naivety here!)?

Don't have a deep fryer (or a steamer for the other method) so I'd like to be able to improvise. If not, I might have to splash out I guess.

Minder

abelard wrote: »

Is there any way to replicate the deep fryer with just a regular frying pan (I may be showing my culinary naivety here!)?

Don't have a deep fryer (or a steamer for the other method) so I'd like to be able to improvise. If not, I might have to splash out I guess.

Fill a deep pot about 1/3 with oil. Heat it for a few minutes and drop a piece of bread into the oil, if it floats and colours then the oil is ready to use. Make sure the chicken wing pieces are dry to avoid splashes. Cook the wings for about ten minutes or until they are golden brown and crispy. A slotted spoon or strainer is useful to get them out.

vibe666

jebus, I leave the thread for a few months and now all of a sudden everyone has franks sauce .:D

here I was rushing back to say I'd spotted it in Tesco's in Navan (even us culchies have it now!) and it looks like I'm the last to know.

Anyway, for anyone looking for the crispiest wings in town, follow jessie1's method, but substitute the flour for cornflour and you can't go wrong in any type of cooking, cornflour gives a much finer crispy coating than regular flour, guaranteed.

just had a big feed of wings for me dinner using a bottle of franks finest and have to say, it's just the best shop bought sauce going although it might be a little spicy for a lot of people.

oh, and for anyone who likes a nice blue cheese sauce to go with their wings (and who doesn't) Tesco's also sell Brianna's True Blue Cheese dressing which goes quite nicely with them.

I know technically it's a salad dressing, but it does the job of 'wing dip' admirably. too.

+

rh555

I am wondering what I can substitute Blue Cheese dressing with. My local Tesco used to sell Tesco - Blue cheese but its discontinued now. I just figured I'd go to Dunnes and get it there but they never sold it I believe. Some other smaller places I went to never heard of Blue cheese at all before. So after running around for 2hours in Sligo trying to find Blue Cheese I had enough.

Anything I can use to replace Blue cheese with that will still taste good?

I always thought the Irish like to eat chicken wings with blue cheese and figured it would be widely available but I guess I am totally wrong with that assumption based on the availability of this stuff.

Thanks

vibe666

have you looked for Brianna's?

here's a recipe for a blue cheese dip from a US website if you want to give it a go:

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups sour cream (FYI: 2 cups = 16fl.oz = 1 pint)
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
Preparation:
Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, salt and white pepper; stir well. Add blue cheese; stir gently. Chill blue cheese dip for at least 1 hour. Serve with assorted vegetables, crackers, or as a topping for baked potatoes.
Makes about 3 1/2 cups of blue cheese dip.

vibe666

on a related note, has anyone else considered the idea of mega buffalo wings made using turkey wings or is it just me being crazy?

Blisterman

Ballyman wrote: »

Here you go then, this is as EXACT as I have come across to the E&C wings.


Put a dash of paprika, salt and pepper into a bowl of flour. I dunno how much, a handful ish and mix it all together.

In with the 12 wings and swish around to coat them. Into the fridge then with the bowl of wings for 30 mins. You can carry on without doing this but they don't turn out as crispy. Your call. They should be a little gooey coming out of the fridge.

Into the deep fat fryer at 190 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

While they are frying, put a few glugs of Franks Hot Sauce (see thread for availability) along with 1 slice (say up to 5mm thick) of stork margarine into a pot and heat until all mixed together. You can use the microwave also if you prefer. Keep stirring the mixture while heating.

When the wings are fried crispy then throw them into the bowl with the sauce and stir around to coat them evenly. Eat immediately with cold beer.

Everything else is nonsense and a variation rather than the exact replica.

Note: if you prefer extra heat then a few drops of tobasco into the sauce will help.

Tried this last friday substituting butter for the margerine, and cayanne pepper for paprika, and I must say, they were the tastiest wings I'd ever had. Even better than elephant and castle. Superb.

Minder

Here is a blue cheese dressing recipe from Dean & DeLuca

Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions:
Mix ingredients together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I have made this many times and it is delicious, you may want to temper the raw garlic a bit, one tsp is a lot - I have a bottle of Brianna's in the fridge that is slowly expiring - nobody wants to eat it, no substitute for the real thing.

What's with the flour coating? are these wings oven cooked? for health reasons? Deep fried will give a crispy coating everytime and the meat will remain moist and juicy.

Possum66

Discovered this thread a couple of days ago. Went to local Tesco today, bought the hot sauce, and chicken wings (not enough of them, says hubby). The meal was fantastic! Husband is eternally grateful to yous. Me, too. But the chicken wings definitely have to be covered with flour before roasting, to give the sauce that "special" look and taste we like on the E+C chicken wings.

Thank you all for the infos!

broin

Oh, well done, posters. Great thread.

I saw Frank's sauce in Fallon & Byrne (but have since seen it in Tescos) and made pretty decent E&C wings last week. 1kg of wings from FX Buckleys cost maybe 3 euro? But 1kg isn't enough, so I'm about to cook 1.5kg. Two full head of celery. Oh yes.

My blue cheese dip uses creme fraiche or sour cream instead of mayo (and a really good blue cheese from the Temple Bar Sheridan's), but is otherwise as listed.

(I've also managed to replicate the Porterhouse's steak sandwich, yay!)

vibe666

Minder wrote: »

What's with the flour coating? are these wings oven cooked? for health reasons? Deep fried will give a crispy coating everytime and the meat will remain moist and juicy.

the coating (i still maintain cornflour gives a much better coating than regular flour) will give the wings a bit more crispiness and also allow more of the sauce to stick to the wings after frying (always a good thing).

vibe666

just a quick update to the thread.

decided that last night would be a franks wings night but shock, horror :eek: there were no wings in at the local supermarket aside from those manky pre-prepared ones which you wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

what they did have however was the chicken thighs (usually lablled as oyster thighs) with the bone in so I decided as it was now planted in my brain that it was a franks night that I would just have to make do wit what was available to me.

anyway, €2.59 in supervalu and probably the same in tesco's and dunnes etc. for a tray the same size as a wings tray.

I figured they'd take too long to cook with the bone in so what I did was butterfly the meat open along the line of the bone and then just worked my fingers in underneath to work the bone out at both ends and then trim off any excess fat or sinew etc. and then sliced each thigh length ways into 3 strips, giving a piece about the same size as a goujon or wing.

it took about 20 minutes to get the two boxes de-boned and trimmed up and I then just treated them the same as wings with a dusting of (corn)flour and 30 minutes in the fridge before deep frying and then tossing them in some heated up franks and butter in a wok.

BUT....they were freaking gorgeous!

it's a bit of extra work getting them prepped, but the effort was soooo worth it and there was so much more meat we were both stuffed long before we were finished with them (they'd have easily served 4 people as a main) even though we'd normally polish off 2 packs of wings between us, you just get a lot more meat for your money with the thighs and there is so much more flavour in it too.

I've always known that thighs had the best tasting meat on a chicken and I've used it in stir fries before, but this was still a shock for me and me and herself both agree that wings are out the window from now on and buffalo thighs are in for good!

Possum66

Very good idea! Will try soon, although I only use oyster thighs for roasting or chicken paprika, as I hate de-boning them. Did you have them with the customary cheese sauce or something else?

It really pisses me off when I see these wings in the supermarkets, especially the prepared ones - with the _tips_ still on. Yuck. Of course, you pay by the weight... And the little feathers... Why can't they clean them properly??? My mother-in-law gave me a little special tweezer which is only used to pluck these little buggers off the chicken - she inherited it from her granny! Must use it regularly, whenever chicken is on the menu, unfortunately.