Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese and Sloppy Joes: an Americana-inspired fireworks night feast
Bonfire Night food can all too often mean simply beef burgers and sausages – and while I’m a great fan of both, I thought I’d share some delicious alternatives for dinner while you wait for the fireworks to start.
Instead of a hot dog I’ve suggested my take on a Sloppy Joe – America’s sandwich of minced beef cooked with onions, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, here brimming with a spicy pulled-pork mix (an ideal way to use up leftovers). You can even dollop it over sausages or burgers if they are a must on the menu.
The hot wings are a favourite of mine and perfect for snacking on outdoors – the soup, too, poured into mugs and handed around to sip as you stoke the bonfire, is a real winter warmer. This no-frills, forget-the-cutlery approach to eating is exactly what has inspired the food in my new pub, The Butcher’s Tap, which opens soon in Marlow, so I’ll be getting in plenty of practice over the next few weeks – starting with this firework-night feast.
Slow roast onion soup with cheesy sourdough croutons
SERVES
4-6
INGREDIENTS
100g butter
6 large Spanish onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp onion powder
4 cloves garlic, grated, plus 1 left whole but peeled
1.2 litres chicken stock
1 sourdough loaf
Olive oil, for drizzling
Paprika, to taste
1 tsp herbs de provence
150ml malt vinegar
100g caster sugar
200g cheddar cheese, grated
A little Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp picked thyme leaves
METHOD
Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat on the hob. Add the sliced onion and onion powder and cook until dark, rich and browned. This will take up to one hour. Keep an eye on the onions and don’t let them burn. Keep giving them a stir.
When they are almost ready, add the grated garlic and cook for a further 10-15 minutes.
Cover the onions with the chicken stock and bring up to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, to let the chicken stock take on all the onion flavour.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
Cut the sourdough into large, “double bite-size” croutons and set them on a baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle on a little paprika and the herbs de provence and bake until crispy. This will take 5-10 minutes. When they are ready, rub them with the whole clove of garlic and leave to cool.
In a small saucepan, bring the malt vinegar and caster sugar up to the boil. Make sure the sugar dissolves, and reduce the vinegar by a quarter. Remove from the heat and set aside. This syrup will keep in the fridge for ages and can be used again and again.
Scatter the cheddar cheese over the croutons and drizzle with the Worcestershire sauce. Bake the cheesy croutons at 180C/Gas 4 until the cheese melts and is a little toasted around the edges.
Bring the onion soup up to the boil, check the seasoning then ladle into soup bowls. Drizzle over some of the malt-vinegar syrup and float the cheesy croutons on the top. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and serve immediately.
Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese
SERVES
4
INGREDIENTS
For the chicken
1kg chicken wings
300ml buttermilk
Oil, for greasing
Chopped green chillies, to serve
For the rub
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp soft dark brown sugar
½ tsp garlic powder
2 tsp table salt
2½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried thyme
For the glaze
75g honey
75g cider vinegar
75ml hot chilli sauce
For the blue cheese dressing
250g good strong blue cheese
200ml sour cream
100ml mayonnaise
Splash of milk to thin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
METHOD
Place the wings in a bowl and pour over the buttermilk. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 3. Lightly grease a couple of non-stick baking trays with a touch of oil.
To make the rub, mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl. Lift the chicken wings out of the buttermilk and add them to the rub, tossing each one thoroughly in the spices and making sure they are evenly coated.
Transfer the coated wings to the baking trays and cook for 40-45 minutes until the wings are cooked through.
Turn the oven up to 200C/Gas 6 and allow the chicken wings to cook for a further 10 minutes so they are golden brown and crispy.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by heating the honey, vinegar and chilli sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the glaze has thickened.
To make the dressing, crumble the cheese into a bowl. Add the sour cream and mayonnaise to the cheese and mix together. Loosen with a splash of milk until you reach the desired consistency, then stir in the cayenne pepper. Season to taste.
Remove the chicken wings from the oven and, while they are still warm, pour over the spicy glaze. Carefully mix using a spoon to coat and roll the wings in the glaze evenly. They should be nice and glossy.
Transfer the glazed wings to a serving board or platter and drizzle over some of the blue cheese dressing. Scatter with chopped green chillies and serve hot, with more of the dressing on the side.
Black pepper Sloppy Joe
SERVES
6
INGREDIENTS
Oil, for cooking
2 white onions, sliced thinly
1 tbsp garlic powder
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tbsp tomato purée
600ml chicken stock
1 tsp marjoram
1 tbsp smoked paprika
400g pulled pork
2 green peppers, deseeded and diced
1 green chilli, deseeded and sliced
1 tbsp American mustard
Zest of 1 lime
Pinch of cayenne pepper
6 glazed hot dog buns
To serve
3 tbsp sour cream
3 tbsp American mustard
1 tbsp pickled green chillies, sliced
2 banana shallots, cut into rings
1 tsp toasted yellow mustard seeds
METHOD
Heat a little oil in a heavy-based pan and fry the onions until golden, then add garlic powder, garlic and black pepper. Sweat for a few minutes.
Add the tomato purée, stock, marjoram and paprika and bring to the boil. Add the pulled pork and simmer for one hour.
Ten minutes from the end, add the green pepper and chilli just to soften them slightly.
Stir in the mustard, lime zest and cayenne pepper.
Spoon into the buns, drizzle over the cream and mustard, and scatter over the chillies, shallots and mustard seeds.
