Chicken Wings Cookoff....a little help here?

[Jester]

And I emphasize the word "little."

See, I have a good idea what I'm doing with the wings sauce. I have kind of an idea what I'm doing with the wings. I even know where I'm going with the bleu cheese dressing. (I'm making my own, just because.)

Now, I hadn't thought about celery, but a lot of people like them with wings. I could chop up some celery, sure. I could have a bowlful of them in just a few minutes, even with my slow knife skills.

But I want something....different. What are some alternatives to celery that I could serve with my wings? I've already considered cucumbers (and nixed them) and zucchini (considering). And of course there's always carrots...tasty, but boring.

But I feel that, due to so much of my attention having been paid to the wings sauce itself, I can't really think outside the box right now. So, my fellow CS culinarians, I need your help. Please....start throwing ideas at me. I don't care how screwy it is. Hell, I myself have considered Celery Soda (or as it's called by Dr. Brown's, Cel-Ray), but I don't think it's available down here. At least, I don't recall having seen it. Also, there is the thought of serving shots of chilled celery soup. I have no idea how appetizing that would be. Another idea that just occurred to me would be to serve a shooter of cold ginger beer (basically ginger ale with the ginger level ratcheted way up), but not sure if ginger would really go with my wings, which I envision as Smokey Southwestern. (Sweet, spicy, and smokey...sort of barbecue meets buffalo, but with a different kind of kick.)

EDITED TO ADD: I just had a crazy idea, that is both traditional and way the hell out of the box. Need your opinion on it. Celery and beer are both traditional accompaniments for wings. What about soaking some celery in some beer to pick up the flavor? Would that work? Celery is mostly water anyway, so I don't think it would get overly soggy. But would it absorb the beer flavor? Oh, this is an experiment I'm going to have to try at work tomorrow, where we have an abundance of both items. But what do you guys think?

Hit me, kids. Let's see what you've got! (Oh, and no pressure...the cookoff's Sunday.)

[Shpepper]

I can't guarantee what it will taste like, but yes celery should absorb beer. We used to put celery in cups of colored water to show how the capillary action of the veins in it worked. It should work the same way with beer.

Ginger beer would, IMO, overpower the taste of your wings and sauce. Ginger is such a strong flavor that I think it would just be too much.

Experiment with the celery and beer idea. Also did you think of something like Jicama? http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-jicama.htm

[Jester]

I like jicama, and I've worked with it before, mostly in salads, but no, I didn't think of it. I've always cut it in little strips...never thought about it more stick-like...but I wonder if it might be a bit starchy for what I'm going for. It is very potato-like, ya know....

And thanks for the Mr. Science bit on celery. Good to know.

[AccountingDrone]

I like jicama, and I've worked with it before, mostly in salads, but no, I didn't think of it. I've always cut it in little strips...never thought about it more stick-like...but I wonder if it might be a bit starchy for what I'm going for. It is very potato-like, ya know....

And thanks for the Mr. Science bit on celery. Good to know.

LOL and i was going to suggest jicama...

I think it is more like water chestnuts than potatoish. I do know it is less carbs than a similar weight of potato.

How about sticks of one of the asian non-sweet melons, or armenian cukes? Although I think cukes would be a nice change from celery, as would zucchini. Hm, eggplant raw? I don't like it cooked and have never tried it raw, so I don't know.

How about pickled whole green beans, or pickled asparagus spears?

[Jester]

I think it is more like water chestnuts than potatoish.

I've always described it as being the love child of an apple and a potato. Though I can see the water chestnut comparisons.

How about sticks of one of the asian non-sweet melons, or armenian cukes?

Good ideas, but don't think we have those in our few stores down here. Also, I think those would be better with a more Asian wings sauce than what I plan on making.

Hm, eggplant raw?

Might be a bit spongy....not sure myself.

pickled whole green beans, or pickled asparagus spears?

Both sound amazing, especially the green beans...but again, I think that they would go better with a more Asian wing sauce. But you've got me thinking!

[Cookie]

Perhaps a carrot and raisin salad would be good? It would mix the traditional and something different and the sweetness of the raisins would be a nice touch. That does require a fork, though, and not sure you want to stray from finger food.

[lordlundar]

Ginger beer would, IMO, overpower the taste of your wings and sauce. Ginger is such a strong flavor that I think it would just be too much.

That, and ginger is a spicy ingredient itself and tends to inflame any heat of the food, often overpowering the flavour in of itself and in a competition, flavour trumps heat unless heat is the judging criteria. Avoid ginger anything if you can.

[It shouldn't]

How about instead of celery
some fresh green beans, snap peas, asparagus, or other non traditional green vegetables.

or how about a lime type jello shot with shredded cucumber or finely diced celery in it.

[Kittish]

How about cantaloupe? Cut either into chunks or balls. Or possibly some bok choy, it's a nice crunchy texture and a very mild flavor.

I agree that ginger beer would probably overwhelm the flavor of the wings.

The celery in beer idea sounds interesting. Let us know how that works out.

[MoonCat]

Parsnips? A little sweet, and sturdy enough to use for dip. Get the big ones, slice them the long way like for carrot sticks, and blanch them first so they're neither raw nor mushy. You want them cooked but still firm.

You could also do roasted vegetables if you just want a side dish. Potatoes, quartered; carrots, parsips, sweet potatoes (also quartered). Parboil them for a while to get them partially cooked, then place on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. Sprinkle with herbs/spices depending on what taste you're going for.

[TheSHAD0W]

ARRGH.

ARRGH!

DAMN IT!

Okay, first off, I was hungry before reading this message. When I did, a recipe suddenly popped into my head:

Wings, with a melted cheese and horseradish sauce.

And I knew I had to have some.

Difficulty level? I live 30 minutes from the nearest grocery store, and my experience in cooking is enormously limited. Trying to develop this is far beyond my skill set.

WANTS SOME! NOW!!

[AccountingDrone]

Both sound amazing, especially the green beans...but again, I think that they would go better with a more Asian wing sauce. But you've got me thinking!

Why? green beans and asparagus are very european, and 3 bean salad is essentially sweet picklesih green and yellow beans =) and you can buy canned in glass jar asparagus spears and change the brine for pickling liquid and let it pickle in the fridge for a week r so [sort of like you would recycle artichoke heart canning liquid to flavor something. I reuse giardienera liquid for my own veggies if I see the jar is getting low on munchies]

[ArcticChicken]

If you can find good apples this time of year, they might go well, depending on your sauce. Personally, I'm quite fond of sweet and spicy, though right now I'm really digging on apple and bacon and cheddar sammiches, which makes me sad, 'cause I think I ate the last decent apple in the state last week some time. (I'm a huge apple snob, there were two apple orchards in my hometown.)

[Jester]

or how about a lime type jello shot with shredded cucumber or finely diced celery in it.

Celery jello shots? Cucumber jello shots? Oh, that sounds like an idea! I may not do it for this one, but that is an idea I will return to.

Now that you've got me thinking on it, there are a few savory jello shots that might work. Basil comes to mind immediately. Crazy idea, but perhaps roasted garlic. (Not raw, roasted. Becomes sweet.) Maybe carmelized onion? Jalapeno? Oh, that one sounds interesting! Spinach.. .tomato... carrot.. parsnip... oh, the list goes on and on. And while I doubt it would ever work, how awesome would a bacon jello shot be?!?!?!?!

The celery in beer idea sounds interesting. Let us know how that works out.

Tried experimenting with that at work. Early in the day I took two cups of two different draft beers, and put two celery sticks in each one. Later in the day, when a few of my regulars were in, we tried them out. They weren't bad, and seemed to absorb the beer flavor nicely, and it didn't just seem like we were tasting the beer from the OUTSIDE of the celery stick. But it seemed too subtle.

Then one of them pointed out what many people had already pointed out....there is a lot of moisture already in celery. And then The Russian had what may prove to be a genius idea....why not remove some of the moisture from the celery before beerinating them?

And that is why, as we speak, I have a colander full of celery sticks and salt, seeing if I can pull significant moisture out of them. In about 90 minutes, I'll check on my experiment, and if all goes well, rinse off the celery and douse them in beer.....

Crap. How do I rinse the celery off the salt without reloading all the water content back into the celery? Or does it take longer than a quick rinse to do that. Science majors?

Wings, with a melted cheese and horseradish sauce.

Don't know about wings specifically, but that sauce sounds like an idea. May have to try to make that some time in the future. (I have made a Southwestern cheese dipping sauce, placing in a cooking-with-beer cookoff in the process.)

Difficulty level? I live 30 minutes from the nearest grocery store, and my experience in cooking is enormously limited. Trying to develop this is far beyond my skill set.

Never know till you try.

Admittedly, the distance is daunting. But as for the skill set? Why not try to make something if you think it would taste good. Hell, I do that all the time. "But Jester, you're a pretty decent cook." Yeah, well, do you how many abject failures I have? Oh, the list of suspects is long. The horseradish mashed potatoes that were more glop than potatoes. The bacon cheese and beer soup that just didn't work. And we try not to mention the mushroom spread around here....ever.

Why? green beans and asparagus are very european...

Yes, they are, but not generally pickled.

Don't get me wrong, I like the different ideas, and I welcome the input. But in the end, these are my wings, and I have to decide what I am putting out there. And if the accompaniment feels too Asian to me, and I am doing non-Asian wings, wouldn't it be silly for me to do that accompaniment?

I'm a huge apple snob...

Sounds like the way I'm a Mexican food/Southwestern food snob here in Florida. (Then again, I am often a beer/rum/food snob in general.)

[Food Lady]

I liked the idea of celery soup shots right off the bat. Do a cold celery soup with beer as the "broth".