Nana's Soy Garlic Wings

Nana Tormey ♥

My husband has told me that he always used to say, when he was younger, that he wanted to marry someone who cooked like his nana. Nana's recipes are stuff of legend, dishes that are cooked up now by his Auntie Jean, that the cousins and aunts and uncles remember her preparing fondly now that's she's passed. They bring up memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings, of birthdays and Sunday afternoons spent crowded into their small Weymouth home. The large Irish brood spills out onto the back deck and driveway, unable to be contained as each year more and more grandchildren get married, more and more great-grandchildren are born.

I have a printed out booklet of some of her favorites, recipes she'd collected over the years from the various cooking magazines and programs she used to love. Pup, my husband's grandfather, put them together at some point, and she passed them to me. They're typed out, done on a word processor, and stapled together. On the back page, in true Pup fashion, there is an index, alphabetical, detailing on what numbered page each recipe can be found. There are some great ones in there, but they aren't the Nana recipes, the recipes the family loves and prepares at every gathering. Those aren't written down in any neat little booklet. They lived in Nana's head, prepared by muscle memory, and have been shared and duplicated by her daughter and sons and grandchildren.

My father in law (blue tie) and his brothers and sister, at our wedding

My husband (the redhead) and his brothers and sister, also at our wedding

I remember very clearly the first time I had Nana's wings, at some gathering over the summer. One of the birthdays, years ago when everyone still got together for them all. I remember that I thought they were delicious, garlicy with just the right amount of salt. I asked Johnny about them, and he said to ask his aunt for the recipe, or her son, his cousin Tommy. I never got around to it that day, and it became something that I'd mean to do and always forget until we had them again. The lore of them built up, this secret recipe, and I was nervous about eventually finding it out and being unable to duplicate them properly. One day, I finally remembered to ask his aunt.

The ingredients? Soy sauce, garlic powder, light oil. End of list.

I thought, this can't be true. They're so good! It must be more complicated than that! But really, sometimes the best things are the simplest. And even though the list is short, the technique matters. I've found that it's actually taken me a while to duplicate these wings, to prepare them and have them come out as good as when Nana or Jeanie or Tommy make them. I may never be as good of a cook as Nana, but I'm grateful that I've learned to make her wings, that our kids will hear about her over the foods she used to make.

One important step to making the best tasting wings is giving them enough time to marinate. Now, they'll still be good if you throw them in in the morning and cook them that night, but I've found through trial and error that to get them to perfection, they need at least three days. The marinade is so easy to prepare that I like to whip it together and put them in as soon as I get home from the grocery store. That way, when we want them later in the week, they're good to go.

I take them out, give them a rinse and pat dry, and into a gallon storage bag (freezer ones work best for a few-day marinade, they don't tend to leak like regular ones do).

Then, I mix the marinade. I like low-sodium soy sauce, it's still got the salt but waaaaaay less than the regular version.

Once combined, I just pour over the wings, squeeze out the air, and mix them around with my hands really well for a few minutes to make sure they are all coated. I put the bag inside a bowl or tupperware container in the fridge, in case it does leak, and just let it do it's thing for a few days. Try to remember to turn them once or twice a day to make sure they coat evenly.

When you're ready to cook them, let them sit on the counter for 15-30 minutes while your grill heats up, to take the chill off them. Because of oil and the sugars in the soy sauce, if you cook them too high, they'll cause a flare up and the wings will char. I like a good char on my BBQ, but these wings are best when that doesn't happen. Let them slowly brown, turn them often, tend to them.

 
In my husband's family, they've been known to bake them off in the oven for 45 minutes or so at 350, to cook them most of the way, and then finish them off on the grill. This is good for parties, I find, when you have lots of other things to grill. Or when you're making a huge batch of them. But I like to cook them on the grill all the way through, as long as I have someone to watch the kids so I make sure they don't burn!

I'm so happy to pass on these family recipes to my boys, and hopefully this blog will help their kids and grandkids to grow up with them, too.

All the Tormey cousins and their significant others, at cousin Sara's wedding, New Years Eve 2009

Nana and Papa at a family party at the lake house ♥

Nana's Soy Garlic Wings
3-4 pounds of wingettes, or whole wings broken down
1/3 cup less sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup light oil (canola or vegetable)
2-3 TB garlic powder, to taste

Rinse the wings and pat dry. Put the wings in a gallon sized freezer storage bag, or large tupperware container. Mix the soy sauce, oil and garlic powder and pour over the wings. Seal and mix around until all wings are coated. Refrigerate and let marinade for at least 3 days.

When you are ready to cook, let the wings sit for 15-30 to take the chill off. Heat the grill to medium high and cook the wings, turning frequently, until lightly browned and crispy on both sides, about 30 minutes. Alternately, cook on a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, and then finish off on the grill. Great for parties, even better cold the next day.

French Meat Pie

These are the first pictures I ever took for this blog. 3 apartments ago, and I wasn't even pregnant with Declan yet. So I'd say it's been a long time coming!

One of the reasons I love cooking is that food is very nostalgic to me. This recipe is one that's been passed around my family for a long time. I always think back to a few years ago, when my parents and I were making a trek to Wegman's to get supplies for Thanksgiving dinner. My mom asked me to call her mother (my Memere) to ask if she had any requests. She asked me to make a "meat stuffing". Confused, I asked her what was in a meat stuffing. She said "Oh, you know. Beef, and pork. And potatoes. And those spices, and onions and garlic." I said that it sounded like the base for meat pie, and she said "Yes! That's what you make out of the leftovers. I'd like a meat pie." We laughed, because according to my mom, they'd never made stuffing like that, but they sure did make meat pies for holidays.

This is the ultimate in comfort food, for me. It may sound weird to you if you've never had a meat pie, but trust me, it's wonderful. Spicy and homey, and it will certainly fill up your belly. Peasant food is good that way.

Full disclosure: I cheated with this and used a pre-made pie crust from the refrigerator section of the grocery store. I know, it's shameful. I really am not fantastic at making homemade pie crust, no matter how easy everyone tells me it is. I'm working on it. In the meantime, there really are tasty pre-mades out there. You don't even have to tell anyone.

I think one of the keys to this pie (and most ground meat dishes, really) is using both ground beef and ground pork. Ground pork doesn't have a ton of flavor, but it's lighter, and really adds moisture. I use equal parts here, about 3/4 of a pound of each. You can also substitute ground turkey, chicken, veal, bison, lamb or meatloaf mix here. Just be sure to use a combination.

Another key to getting the perfect texture to this pie is one I almost forgot about. When I was pulling this together, there was a flurry of emails with my cousin Nicole and her mom, my Aunt Sue, as well as my own mom, about ingredients, proportions, timing. It's such an old family recipe that none of us (save maybe my Aunt Sue) has it written down anywhere, we make it from memory and asking each other the parts we forget. Nicole and I both forgot that one of the most important binders in this recipe is very, very finely diced potato. It's diced so small that it all but disappears into the filling, but it's essential in holding the pie together and thickening it up. I used a few Yukon golds, but a russet would work nicely as well.

It's also important, when browning the meat, that you break it up as finely as you can get it. You don't want any chunks of meat OR potato, you want it to be wholly incorporated and broken down. Sometimes I cook the meat first, pull it off into a bowl, and then cook the diced onion and garlic. Then I add the meat back and cook in the potato. Sometimes I saute off the onions and garlic first and then cook in the meat (it really depends on if I am feeling ambitious enough to drain off some of the fat. This time, I did not feel so ambitious).

Once this is all combined, it's just adding the liquid and the spices and really developing the flavor before baking it off.

Cook it all down until the potatoes are soft, then break them up. I think an important step at this point is pulling the meat off the heat and giving it time to cool before adding it to the pie crust. This helps ensure that the bottom crust cooks up crisp and not soggy. No one wants a soggy bottom crust.

This is an excellent time for a glass of wine. You can't make a French dish without a glass of wine, am I right?

I like to egg wash the bottom crust before adding the filling as well as the top crust.

Bake and enjoy!

French Meat Pie
double pie crust (homemade or store bought)
1 large white or yellow onion, diced
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced or grated (my preferred method is grated)
3/4 pounds ground beef
3/4 pounds ground pork
3-4 Yukon gold potatoes, very finely diced
1/2-1 teaspoon ground clove (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon ground allspice (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more to taste)
1-2 cups stock or water
1 egg, wisked with a few TB of water to make an egg wash
3 TB butter or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
ketchup, for serving

Preparation
Pre-heat oven to 350°. Prepare and set aside pie crusts, or take out pre-made crust and bring to room temperature.

Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and add butter or olive oil. Add in onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and saute until soft, 5-8 minutes. Add in ground beef and pork and cook, breaking down, until all the pink is gone and it's very combined and fine, about 10 minutes. Season with clove, allspice and cinnamon and stir to combine (note: clove is a strong spics. I go heavier on the cinnamon and allspice to start, and then adjust to taste). Add in finely diced potato and the water or stock (the liquid should just about come up to the level of all the ingredients in the pan, use as much as is needed to do that) and simmer until potatoes are soft and the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. When soft, mash a bit with the back of a fork to break up the potatoes. They will still be visible but start to combine, and will break down fully when baking. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning as needed.

Move the mixture to another dish or allow to cool, stirring to help it along. This should take about 15 minutes, but it's a crucial step to the ever-important non-soggy crust.

Roll the bottom crust into a 9-inch pie dish. Brush with the egg wash. Spoon the filling mixture into the crust and smooth out so it's even. Roll the top crust over the filling and crimp the edges. Egg wash the top, and cut a few slits in the crust for the steam to escape.

Bake at 350 for a half hour, or until golden brown. You may need to use foil or a pie crust protector to prevent the edges from getting too brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting, to let the filling set.

Slice and serve with ketchup. Trust me on this one.

Comfort food defined

Notice how broken down the potato gets

Mmmm flaky crust

I know it sounds weird, but the sweet/tang of the ketchup is perfect with the spice of the filling