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Ultimate chicken legs, thighs, wings


jackal10

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I need to prepare some chicken pieces for a picnic to be eaten cold, as finger food.

They should not be sticky, oily or messy to eat.

My current plan is to brine them overnight, then roast off long time low temperature (65C) with soy, garlic and maybe a little honey and chilli.

Suggestions and comments please.

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Brine, season, grill for 20 minutes (turn every 5 minutes) and then chill. Also, on the chicken legs, use some kitchen shears to cut the "knuckle" off. The meat will contract into a ball on the remaining bone.

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Also, on the chicken legs, use some kitchen shears to cut the "knuckle" off. The meat will contract into a ball on the remaining bone.

The tendons will not be held tight any longer and can melt.

Your current plan sounds fine.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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I need to prepare some chicken pieces for a picnic to be eaten cold, as finger food.

They should not be sticky, oily or messy to eat.

My current plan is to brine them overnight, then roast off long time low temperature (65C) with soy, garlic and maybe a little honey and chilli.

Suggestions and comments please.

I think an overnight brine for chicken pieces might be too long. I generally only brine pieces for a couple of hours, tops. The wings don't really even need a brine -- they have so much fat they're almost impossible to dry out.

If you do brine them overnight, you might want to omit the soy when you roast them. Also, the honey will make them sticky (good, but messy).

I've done chicken thighs with a jerk style paste on a stovetop grill -- I don't usually have any left over, but when I do, they're good cold.

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Ah, I'll say it anyway. Rub with chipotle/adobo, garlic, and cumin, s&p, flour, egg, panko, deep-fry.

They come out like this

i4811.jpg

and are great cold.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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I'm in favor of buying kosher chicken, or brining... but that goes for ALL chicken. As for PICNIC chicken, this is a great recipe. Of course, I think most old-fashioned fried chicken is great on a picnic.

This recipe can be made a day ahead and does not suffer from it.

2 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 chickens, (3 1/2 pounds each), cut into 8 pieces each

In a small bowl, mash the garlic and salt to a paste. Add the black pepper, cayenne, rosemary, lemon juice and cornmeal and mash until fairly smooth. Stir in the oil until blended.

Place the chicken in a large shallow dish and spoon the seasoned cornmeal over the pieces, spreading to coat evenly. Let stand uncovered at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat the broiler. Place the chicken, skin-side up, on a rack and broil, about 5 inches from the heat, until the juices run clear when pricked with a fork, about 20 minutes per side.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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I like to add a lot of lemon juice to the brine (short time only; too long and the meat goes all mushy). Sprinkle with crushed garlic and dried oregano and a bit more lemon juice before baking. Somewhat Greekish, very tender, quite delicious.

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I like to cook them with some white wine, garlic and lemons, slowly and foil covered till tender, then remove the foil to brown them...

or without the wine etc and lay them on a lot of thinly sliced onions instead.

Spam in my pantry at home.

Think of expiration, better read the label now.

Spam breakfast, dinner or lunch.

Think about how it's been pre-cooked, wonder if I'll just eat it cold.

wierd al ~ spam

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Have you ever tried the Cornell Chicken Marinade? It was invented decades ago by the Life Sciences Dept. at Cornell, and the aroma of this grilled chicken permeates every neighborhood in upstate NY during the summer. Jim's, in Candor, NY, is an entire business derived from this marinade, and the Stern's loved it when they reviewed it in Gourmet. It can also be roasted in the oven, though it will not taste smokey, so something is lost, but it will still be divine. This should be enough for about 3 cut up chickens:

1 egg

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups cider vinegar

3 Tbsp salt (can use less)

1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp ground black pepper

Whisk egg, then whisk in the oil, then the remaining ingredients. Marinate chicken overnight if possible, but a couple of hours will do. Baste with the marinade while cooking.

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Thanks for all the suggestions...especially the one abpout trimming off the knuckle end. I wonder if I should have done the same with the end of the wings?

In the end I brined overnight, then marinated in soy/garlic/chilli, browned some and then slow roast (5 hrs at 65/150F). I know they are yummy because people could not stop eating them. Still a little greasy, so napkins needed.

i7934.jpg

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Thanks for all the suggestions...especially the one abpout trimming off the knuckle end. I wonder if I should have done the same with the end of the wings?

Isn't that knuckle thing a neat trick. I use the tree trimming shrears to handle the job. It would be a simple matter to see if it works on wings the next time around. By the way, the knuckle trick is something I picked up on eGullet. I did not invent it. I think I saw it on the thread about best things learned on eGullet.

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Thanks for all the suggestions...especially the one abpout trimming off the knuckle end. I wonder if I should have done the same with the end of the wings?

In the end I brined overnight, then marinated in soy/garlic/chilli, browned some and then slow roast (5 hrs at 65/150F). I know they are yummy because people could not stop eating them. Still a little greasy, so napkins needed.

i7934.jpg

They sure look good. Did the slow cooking make any difference? Like falling off the bone and moist like pulled pork?

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Yes, they were fallling apart juicy.

The key is the low temperature so that they don't overcook and go mushy.

Brown first, then reduce the temperature to 50C, until the mat is ast 140C, and hold it there or so. Must be at 60C for 15 mins or more to kill the bugs. The longer at that temperature the more the collagen dissolves to tenderness.

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Obviously you don't need any more advice at this point, since the picnic is scrumptiously over (yummy picture), but you might want to keep in mind chicken sateh if you need another idea. Sateh makes an excellent finger food, and since it's usually on the spicy side, it could be served cold.

The difference between theory and practice is much smaller in theory than it is in practice.

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Thanks for all the suggestions...especially the one abpout trimming off the knuckle end. I wonder if I should have done the same with the end of the wings?

Isn't that knuckle thing a neat trick. I use the tree trimming shrears to handle the job. It would be a simple matter to see if it works on wings the next time around. By the way, the knuckle trick is something I picked up on eGullet. I did not invent it. I think I saw it on the thread about best things learned on eGullet.

I believe the original poster of the knuckle chopping technique was slkinsey. I thought it was in the "Spatchcock" thread but it's not there. Hmmm...must have been in one of either the "Roast Chicken" threads or "Turkey" threads.

Thanks for taking the time to post the results. The chicken looks great!

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I believe the original poster of the knuckle chopping technique was slkinsey. I thought it was in the "Spatchcock" thread but it's not there. Hmmm...must have been in one of either the "Roast Chicken" threads or "Turkey" threads.

I first saw the knuckle thing here. Page 3, about 2/3 of the way down.

In that thread, slkinsey claims credit for it.

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In that thread, slkinsey claims credit for it.

Indeed, I believe Sam was the first one to point it out prominently.

But of course it's a standard truc.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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i4811.jpg

jinmyo...you're killing me those look so good, I want them I would eat like 20 of those

Cold fried chicken is a food of the gods.

But if you don't want to fry.

Thai chili garlic paste with fresh thai basil is pretty good not too sticky,

I made 5 spice fried wings (tossed some toasted 5 spice in with flour) with a peanut dipping sauce,

dipping sauces are a good way to get the sticky back in there with out needing 5000 napkins

"sometimes I comb my hair with a fork" Eloise

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