Quaker Steak & Lube – Sharon, PA

This is definitely one of the best "wing pilgrimages" you can make if you’re a buffalo wing fan, outside of going to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY, home of the buffalo wing itself.  Quaker Steak & Lube place has the tag line "Best Wings USA" and they do have some damn good wings.  I won’t even try to explain the name – just look at the web site and read the section on "The Story."

I went to Quaker last August on a business trip, long before this blog was started, and wound up there on "All You Can Eat Wing Night" which gave me a chance to try a variety of wings.  They were so good, I ordered some of their sauces online when I got home.

This trip put us at the restaurant a day later, so we were there on "bike night" which was an experience in itself, with hundreds and hundreds of bikes surrounding us.  Without the the buffet set-up I had to actually choose a style of wing to try, which is tougher than you would think with 16 sauces ranked in order of Scoville Heat Units (SHU) from a very mild sauce all the way up to an "Atomic" sauce which is ranked at 150,000 Scoville units and requires a release form to be signed before they serve you.  Being a relatively intelligent person, I didn’t go that far, but I did get their "Arizona Ranch" style wings, which were among my favorites last time.

The Arizona Ranch is a spicy ranch sauce, kind of a combination of buffalo wing sauce and ranch dressing, slightly creamy and lots of flavor.  I also got a side of their "Suicide" sauce, rated at 30,000 SHU and described as "for real wing nuts."  Since I have a blog and a domain name for wings, I figured I qualified!

The Arizona Ranch wings I got for dinner were quite good – they know how to cook their wings here.  Crispy, tender, cooked all the way through.  The flavor was good, but I would have liked a bit more sauce on them – the sauce is so good, I simply wish there was more.

The Suicide sauce was very hot as anticipated, but still with a lot of flavor. It was great to dip the wings in, but an entire serving of wings drenched in that sauce might be too much – the sauce is fairly thick and sticks heavily to the meat, so it would definitely be a BIG hit of heat.

My dining companion for the evening (my boss, just for the record) got a few wings, trying their new wasabi ginger spice dust and got a side of the Golden Garlic wing sauce, which may be my second favorite after the Arizona Ranch.  The spice-dusted wings were good – crispy with no sauce and a nice pleasant flavor.  I think that it would be great on some grilled chicken.

The wings here are as good as you can get, and you can’t beat the selection.  I wish that there was more sauce on the wings I got, but the last time at the buffet there was plenty of sauce.  I haven’t been to one of their chain stores – only to the original in Sharon, PA.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars, based both on quality and principle!!

Persimmon Chicken Wings

There used to be an Asian supermarket in Providence called Persimmon’s that had a great take-out counter.  Among the selections were these phenomenal wings that were like eating candy – coated with a sweet, salty, garlicky soy-based glaze that made you want to lick the take-out container, they were some of the best Asian-style wings I’ve ever had.  Unfortunately, they closed a few years ago and they were gone forever.

Until a few years ago, when I discovered a recipe cut out from the newspaper that my mom had saved.  They were just for a "Chinese Chicken Wings" but the recipe looked so perfectly simple that I figured it was worth trying.  To my pleasant surprise, it was almost an exact replica of the Persimmon wings.  Here’s the recipe:

PERSIMMON CHICKEN WING SAUCE

  • 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons good quality dark soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.  While that is heating, measure out the sugar and soy sauce into a bowl and add enough water to dissolve the sugar.

Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic (I often used the pre-chopped stuff that comes in jars, especially if I’m doing a large batch of this).  CAREFULLY cook this until the garlic turns a dark brown.  YOU MUST WATCH THIS CAREFULLY.  Not only does the garlic start popping and splattering all over the place, but the garlic can quickly go from brown to BURNT in a matter of seconds.

Once the garlic has turned a nice golden to dark brown (you get a good feel for this after a few tries – the more you can roast the garlic, the better!), quickly add the soy sauce/sugar/water mixture and whisk together.  Add the Chinese five spice (adjust to your liking), then let the combination come to boil and boil for about 5 minutes.  It should begin to thicken.   

If you are making the sauce ahead of time, you can let it cool at this point, and then reheat when you fry the wings.  If you are using right away, let it simmer or boil while you cook the wings.

WINGS

I use a turkey fryer for doing large quantities of wings.  You can do about 2 lbs of wings at a time.  Most recently, I used peanut oil for frying, and it made for very crispy and flavorful wings.  Regardless of what you’re using, heat the oil to 400 degrees, and cook the wings for about 10-12 minutes, until they are cooked through, golden brown and crispy.  This is important – though it is possible, it is tough to over cook the wings.

Remove the wings and drain well.  Make sure the soy glaze sauce is at a rapid boil (this is IMPORTANT!) then toss the wings into the pan with the sauce and toss to coat.  The sauce should start to thicken and caramelize, making a nice glaze.

If you let the wings sit in the sauce for a while (in a chafing dish perhaps), they will lose their crispiness, but the sauce will penetrate the meat more.  As long as you have thoroughly cooked the wings, they will not get too soggy and fatty.  In fact, I might like the wings better after they have soaked in some of this sauce, since they turn into little chicken and soy lollipops so that you can basically just suck the sauce and meat right off the bone.  YUM!!

NOTE: If you don’t want to fry the wings, this recipe works very well with baked wings.  Again, just make sure you bake the wings thoroughly – perhaps put a little salt and pepper or other general seasoning on them – and then toss in the sauce.  If you do it this way, it may be best to let them sit in the sauce longer, since the wings won’t be that crispy to begin with.

The BEST Buffalo Wings EVER – Recipe

I haven’t made my Buffalo wings in nearly two years.  I usually make them for an annual cook-out, but I didn’t have one last year due to various circumstances related to time and money.  So finally being able to taste my delicious wings again was a real treat.  For the benefit of all, here is my "recipe" (its all kind of touchy-feely):

BUFFALO SAUCE INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons olive or peanut oil
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic
  • Half of a jar of sliced pepperocini peppers rings
  • Half of a jar of roasted red peppers in oil, sliced into thin strips
  • 1/2 cup of chopped scallions
  • 1 bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a large fry pan over medium heat.  Add the scallions, garlic and the half-jars of peppers to the oil.  Cook for about 10 minutes, allowing the peppers, garlic and scallions to pick up some color and start to cook through.

Add the balsamic vinegar and toss with the peppers.

Add an entire bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce and the stick of butter.  Lower heat to low and allow to simmer until butter melts and sauce is combined.

WINGS

I use a turkey fryer for doing large quantities of wings.  You can do about 2 lbs of wings at a time.  Most recently, I used peanut oil for frying, and it made for very crispy and flavorful wings.  Regardless of what you’re using, heat the oil to 400 degrees, and cook the wings for about 10-12 minutes, until they are cooked through, golden brown and crispy.  This is important – though it is possible, it is tough to over cook the wings.

Remove the wings and drain well, then toss with the sauce and serve immediately.

If you let the wings sit in the sauce for a while (in a chafing dish perhaps), they will lose their crispiness, but the sauce will penetrate the meat more.  As long as you have thoroughly cooked the wings, they will not get too soggy and fatty.

NOTE: For hotter (spicier) wings, you can do a variety of things, including adding different hotter hot sauces or some red pepper flakes or some cayenne pepper.  However, an easy way to add heat is to simply make the sauce the night before you serve the wings.  Letting the peppers steep in the sauce overnight releases more of their potent oil and the whole sauce comes out considerably spicier than when fresh.  Just reheat the sauce thoroughly and toss the wings as stated before.