The Quay Gang Cookbook Cocktail Recipe: The Hot Margarita

The Hot Margarita

    I ran across a version of this cocktail that I though could be improved.  It called for tabasco Sauce.  While I love Tabasco on my hash browns, eggs, home fries, etc, it does not seem like it would go well with lime, Cointreau, and tequila.  With all due haste, I concocted a version using a hot sauce that would compliment the lime: Yuzu.  

    Yuzu is an asian fruit, of which the peel is usually used in cahoots with a chile pepper of some sort.  Two notable versions are the Trader Joe's, and From Japan.  If you use the From Japan version, add an equal amount of simple syrup.

    The recipe:

• 1 oz lime juice (always fresh)
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1 1/2 oz Tequila (substitute Mezcal for a smoky flavor)
• 1/2 tsp From Japan Hot Yuzu Sauce
• 1/2 tsp simple syrup (omit if you are using the Trader Joe's version).

Shake with ice.
Serve in a salted rim cocktail glass.

The Quay Gang Cookbook Recipe: Buffalo Hot Wings

Because everyone has to have a hot wing recipe.  

Equipment: 

Deep frier or cast iron dutch oven.

Instant Read thermometer.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• 4 ounces unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tbsp cornstarch
• Bleu cheese dressing
• Carrots and celery.  

Directions:

1. Preheat the frier or dutch oven to 360ºF.
2. Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel.
3. In a large bowl, add the cornstarch, and 1 tsp of salt.  Toss the wings in the bowl until uniformly coated.
   
   
   
4. Start the first batch of wings in the frier. The oil is hot, so do it carefully. If you are using a dutch oven, be sure to use a thermometer, and make sure that the temperature gets back to  360º.  

   

   
   
5. In a small sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Once melted, add the garlic.  Sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Add in the hot sauce, and remove from heat.  Whisk until uniform in color.  Add it to a large bowl with the remaining tsp of salt.
   
   
     
6. Remove the wings from the frier when they reach 165ºF internally.  Let the oil drip off, and then add the wings immediately to the sauce.  
   
   
   
7. Repeat with the second batch.  
8. When all of the wings are in the bowl with the sauce, toss them until coated.  
9. Serve with Carrots, celery and bleu cheese dressing. 
   

This is my first post with the new name.  I really liked writing as the Impatient Chef.  It was fun, but I wanted to begin to move in a more serious direction.  The new name "The Quay Gang Cookbook", is the name of the cookbook I have been writing informally for a number of years.  It started with recipes that I  collected over 40 years of cooking, and I have been slowly making them my own, and adding a few new inventions along the way.  Who knows, maybe I will eventually be able to publish it.  I need to get my food photography studio set up first.  That way I can get better pictures.  

Thanks for looking!

--Gary L. Quay