OK, you guys are getting me interested in regional foods of western New York. I did a Google search for “beef on weck,” and here’s a good website:
http://table.mpr.org/whereweeat/stern_beef.html
This sandwich sounds right up my alley, as I am a horseradish addict. Although I’ve never eaten one, I’m willing to go out on a limb and vote for beef on weck as another killer beer accompaniment.
Another Chicago winger here. Omni, Don’t settle for breaded wings! Go to Evanston and try Buffalo Joes on Clark st. (not that Clark St.)
OMG are they good!! I’ve been eating there since high school. There are three flavors- mild regular and suicide. Thesuicide is not as painful since Rafael left in the early 90’s. He made his own habanero/chilipiquin mix that he would add to the mix if you asked nice mmmmmmmmm.
The Cheddar Fries and the large RC cola make it a meal to shut down your arteries!
Omni, you’re killing me. I’m stuck 2000 miles from Buffalo and you’re talking about breaded wings? And Ranch dressing. I mean Ranch fucking dressing?!? Auugghh!!
You sir, are an infidel.
My little San Francisco wings story - first month I was here, I wander down to my local watering hole (Harvey’s at 18th and Castro) and order my self some “buffalo wings”. For 5 bucks I get 8 of these little things that I swear must have been squab wings, under cooked, with barbecue sauce on them. I damn near cried. And don’t get me started with Domino’s wings. Good God, I’d eat my own liver before ever ingesting those things again.
Must … get to … Buffalo.
Need … real wings …
Light fading … everything dark … mom? Is that you?
What a world … what a world …
I’m a big fan of wings, Buffalo or otherwise. I don’t know when they started cranking these out, but I’ve tried every variety I can get my hands on. Mild, hot, lemmon pepper, cajun, jamacan jerk, honey mustard, honey barbecue, mandarain, garlic pepper, breaded or unbreaded, with ranch or blue cheese, they’re all so delicious. The worst I’ve ever tried were the ones at Denny’s, which appear to be flavored with ketchup.
ARRRRRRRRRRGH.
(sorry - is that swearing within the meaning of the “don’t be a jerk” act?).
It’s like talking about better methods of home brewing in front of an alcoholic. I crave Buffalo Wings. Crave. Want. Need. Blue dressing. Little celery sticks. Wings. Now.
We just don’t, repeat, don’t, get them here. At least, not something you’d actually eat if you’ve tased the good stuff.
I asked a couple of weeks ago if anyone out there had a good recipe 'cos of my withdrawal symptoms (the ‘search’ function has locked up, or I’d try and post a link). Yes, my addiction is shameless.
So what the heck is “Frank’s sauce”? Are there similar products?
Think I need to go prowl the kitchen and find something to eat before the keyboard gets it.
Frank’s = Frank’s Red Hot. You’ll find it in your grocery store, next to the tabasco. Settle for nothing else–get it online if you have to.
There’s a decent recipe for wings on the label. Just cook them 1-2 minutes longer, and you should be fine.
I don’t know why I keep coming to this thread. It makes me hungry. And nostalgic.
From the front page of the Buffalo Foods site:
I think I’m in love.
So, how many of you folks have Flutie Flakes? Mine have been in my pantry for damn near two years now.
The best wings I ever had were in a small bar/restaurant in downtown Buffalo NY.
I think they had bleu cheese dressing.
I, at home, prefer Marzetti’s ranch dressing with my chicken.
I love buffalo wings!
Bad ones though can really spoil it for anyone. You know, the ones that are slimy & leave that tangy aftertaste… I like 'em fried up so they have those nice crispy, slightly blackened spots…mmmmmm
Just thinking about them makes my mouth water…
The product is called Frank’s Original Red Hot (it’s a cayanne pepper sauce), and a google search turned up quite a few online stores that sell it. There is also a product called Frank’s Buffalo Wing sauce, so you don’t have to bother mixing up the butter and vinegar, but I wouldn’t trust this. Stick with the Red Hot.
When you’re making them at home, I forgot to mention to put the drums in the fryer about a minute before the wings, they take just a little longer to cook.
Elmwood’s post made me almost faint from hunger. Two slightly different opinions – for my money, the best fish fry is in South Buffalo, and the best hot dogs are south of the city, at Connor’s in Angola.
Now I only need to think about Chiavetta and Weber’s mustard to make this self-imposed Western New York food torture complete.
I’m down to one box in my pantry. We opened one box to see what they would taste like, and a third box was destroyed when it was brought to the Meadowlands for a Bills/Jets game.
The Flutie Flakes chocolate bars are ** darn good **.
Nothing real new to add, but Jack, bother, you need Ranch dressing on those breaded suckers, they soak up three times the hot sauce as those sissy naked wings! You are missing out, who ever said the original is always better? Those naked ones are the beta release, and my breaded ones are the properly functioning version.
Mike, I don’t ever make it up to Evenston, but if I do I’ll be on the lookout. Do you like Brother Jimmies over on Sheffield? 10¢ wings and $5 pitchers every Wednesday!
Omni–if you cook the wings enough, they soak up any amount of sauce, and you don’t have the greasy slimy breading falling off of them.
delphica–out of curiosity alone, what DID they taste like? I only have one box, and frankly I would be afraid to eat it. It weighs a ton–it’s like they filled the box with iron filings instead of cornflakes.
A diffucult process that results in fairly ok beef for beef on weck:
Find a butcher who will sell you prime rib with additional au jus, and will let you bring back the cooked meat so he can slice it.
Rub the meat with salt, pepper, and garlic, and put it in a pan with the bone on the bottom. Roast at 425 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes, and then cook an additional 16 minutes per pound at 325 degrees.
This cut of meat will not produce a lot of juice in the pan, which is why you need the additional au jus from the butcher. I would start with one cup of jus, and add one half cup for every serving.
Bring the cooked beef back to the butcher, and have him slice it as thin as possible. You can slice it yourself if you feel up to the challenge. I really do think it’s easier to drive all the back to the butcher rather than get frustrated that I can’t cut uniformly paper thin pieces of beef.
Add any drippings from the pan to the jus, and heat in a crock pot. Place the beef next to the crock pot on a buffet, and have your guests “flash” their serving of beef in the jus by putting it in the crock pot for 3 or 4 minutes. If you think everyone will serve themselves very quickly, you can put the meat right in the pot, but if you leave it in there more than ten minutes it will get overcooked and tough.
This is not very helpul if you are looking to make only one or two sandwiches. It is best if you serve it the same day that you roast the meat, or at the very most, one day after.
I shouldn’t have said this was difficult, it’s actually quite easy, the real problem is that it is annoying because (a) prime rib is expensive, (b) you have to make two trips to the butcher, © it’s hard to make a small portion, and (d) you have to find the kimmelweck rolls. When I’m in NYC, I serve them on regular kaiser rolls.
Aside to Elmwood … I noticed in another thread that you live in Colorado now … by any chance, are you the guy who used to have the website about lawn ornaments in Cheektowaga and other Buffalo customs?
(Vanilla said)
: The best wings I ever had were in a small bar/restaurant
: in downtown Buffalo NY.
Lemme’ guess – either Buffalo House or Hemingway’s. They’re both owned by the same party that owns Gabriel’s Gate, which has the best wings in Buffalo, IMHO.
Omni, I’d be willing to try Jimmy’s tonight! You up for that?
Mike
(Delphica said)
: Aside to Elmwood … I noticed in another thread that you
: live in Colorado now … by any chance, are you the guy
: who used to have the website about lawn ornaments in
: Cheektowaga and other Buffalo customs?
Used to have? http://www.cyburbia.org/cheektowaga
(re: Beef on Weck/Wick)
It doesn’t get much more Buffalonian than dis der.
http://cyburbia.ap.buffalo.edu/images/dan_temp/i_charlie.gif
(Delphica also said)
: Elmwood’s post made me almost faint from hunger. Two
: slightly different opinions – for my money, the best
: fish fry is in South Buffalo, and the best hot dogs are
: south of the city, at Connor’s in Angola.
Charcoal broiled hot dogs south of the city? You gotta’ be kidding! The best Ted’s is on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda. North Tonawanda and Wheatfield probably have a greater concentration of red hot stands than any other town in Western New York.
As for fish fry in South Buffalo – well, it’s a matter of who’s devoutly old school Catholic, the South Buffalo Irish or the Cheektowaga Polish? I’d say it’s a draw.
: Now I only need to think about Chiavetta and Weber’s
: mustard to make this self-imposed Western New York food
: torture complete.
You can get Chiavetta sauce at any Restoration Hardware. Weber’s Mustard … http://www.webersmustard.com, of course, where you can order some of the more obscure varieties.
Distinctive local food is perhaps the most important element of Buffalo’s “sense of place.” In fact, in every city I’ve visited, I’ve noticed that the residents always seemed so much thinner than those in Buffalo.
Many large national restaurant chains are what I call “EBB” – Everywhere But Buffalo, where locally owned mom & pop restaurannts still reign. Unfortunately, the variety of food found in Buffalo restaurants leaves a bit to be desired. The majority of restaurants are Italian “red sauce joints,” corner bars, or Greek “family restaurants” (although Amherst has a lot of Indian restaurants, and Buffalo’s West Side has some trendy “New American” places). Menus at more upscale restaurants more often than not tend to resemble something that you’d see in the 1950s, with the words "roast and “fried” preceding almost every item.
What dining in Buffalo lacks in variety, it more than makes up for in quantity and cost – 18" pizzas, loaded, around seven or eight bucks at most neighborhood pizzerias, for instance. (Pizza Hut or Domino’s in Buffalo? HA!)
I’ll probably have my official “Buffalonian in Good Standing” plaque taken away for the following statement, but …
I hate beef on weck. It’s not the beef, but the weck. Those pesky little caroway seeds drive me loopy. I hate the way they taste and I hate getting them stuck in my teeth.