Cook Up Some Super Bowl Eats, Richard Blais Style
Exclusive: The 'Top Chef' champ shares his twists on wings and a monster burger.
Face it -- aside from the actual football and commercials, the best part of Super Bowl Sunday is the snacks. And sure, you could just phone it in and order pizza and wings -- or you could dazzle your guests with a little Top Chef-worthy spread, courtesy of Richard Blais.
The spiky-haired innovator shared a recipe adapted from his cookbook Try This at Home, and it definitely puts a twist on your average buffalo wings. Here, Richard encourages a bit of branching out with his Duck Wings with Harissa and Lemon Curd recipe, and as he tells us: "Listen, you can use chicken wings of course, but the Niners are in the big game, so at least honor the Bay Area and find some pastured stuff, or not."
Richard Blais' Duck Wings with Harissa & Lemon Curd
Serves Ray Lewis or 3-4 normal sized humans.
Ingredients
24 duck wings
Harissa paste
Caraway 1 tablespoon
Cumin 2 teaspoons
Cilantro , a bunch, chopped
Salt
Lemon curd, as needed, a few tablespoons
Fresh black pepper
Lemon, fresh
Method
1. Take your wings and liberally sprinkle with salt & let rest for30 minutes , then rinse them off in cold water really good & lather with the Harissa paste. Harissa is spicy,
so do your lathering accordingly.
2. In a few sheets of aluminum foil, lay out the wings and wrap in a few sheets of foil. You don't want any steam or juices to escape. This step is crucial, and you are making CONFIT ! You are now officially fancy.
3. Cook in a low oven, say, 275-300 degrees for 3 or so hours.
4. Remove from oven & chill. This can be done the night before, because you have football to watch.
5. When it's close to getting your eat on, you can fry the wings, grill them, or pop them in a super hot oven so they crisp. This is your call. I'd grill them if I had a choice! But often I don't :/
6. Remove them and toss with some warm lemon curd, the remaining spices & lots of fresh ground black pepper. A squeeze of lemon and you are good to go!
And of course you can make your own lemon curd & Harissa, but if you are just looking to have fun & not try and get a Michelin star, it's ok & these things are available in most every market nowadays!
And now that the wings are out of the way, you might want to get a bit, um, meatier. Look no further than this mighty messy Pigskin burger Richard whipped up on his Tasted Channel show Burger Lab, and if you need a little football among all this food, do journey through our dreamiest football stars gallery:
