Honey-glazed wings and shredded squash

Walt cooked a small batch of chicken wings yesterday. He was inspired by a recipe that our American friend K., who lives a couple of miles down the road from us, found in the Guardian newspaper (a British daily). It was in an article written by a man named Nigel Slater.

I thought these wings were excellent. You could cook drumsticks or thighs the same way. It's funny, though, that Slater calls them "thyme and garlic" wings, because the dominant flavors are definitely honey and lemon. I think it's the lemon zest that makes them especially flavorful.

Here's my version of the recipe:

Lemony honey-glazed chicken wings

4 Tbsp. honey
2 large cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves (or 1 Tbsp. dried thyme)
2 or 3 pinches hot red pepper flakes (or hot sauce to taste)
2 to 2½ lbs. chicken wings

Strip the leaves and flowers off the thyme sprigs, if using fresh thyme (or use dried thyme). Put it into the bowl of a food processor (or use a stick blender) with the peeled garlic cloves, along with a generous grind of black pepper, the honey, the hot red pepper flakes or sauce, the grated lemon zest, and the lemon juice. Process or blend for a few seconds to make a sauce and marinate the chicken pieces in it for several hours (if you have time).

Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF/190ºC. Arrange the wings on a baking sheet so that they are not touching and salt them. Bake them for 40 minutes, turning them over two or three times as they cook, basting them each time with the remaining marinade. The honey will caramelize and give the chicken a nice golden color.

Serve hot or warm. Squeeze lemon juice over the wings at the table if you want to, and of course eat them with your fingers.

Honey-glazed wings with grated zucchini
"stewed" in butter and cream

To go with the wings, Walt made a Julia Child recipe (from the book The Way to Cook) using grated summer squash (round green squash in this case). To make it, coarsely shred two or three whole fresh squash, skin and all — it's easy and quick using the food processor. Put the shredded squash in a colander or strainer, sprinkle a teaspoon or two of salt over it, mix the salt in, and let the squash exude water for 30 minutes.

Rinse the shredded squash and dump it into a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze out the remaining water over the sink. Then finely slice a medium onion, a couple of shallots, or a couple of cloves of garlic. "Stew" the shredded squash flesh and the onion or garlic in butter on medium heat in a frying pan for about 10 minutes. Add a tablespoon or two of cream, some salt and pepper, and keep cooking it until the cream is mostly absorbed and starts to thicken. Serve hot.