Specialities of Buffalo

Beef on Weck and Buffalo Chicken Wings

Buffalo Chicken Wings

This extremely popular creation came out of a New York restaurant in the 60’s by Teressa Bellissimo, who covered them in her own special sauce and served them with a side of celery and blue cheese.

Beef on Weck

Beef on weck is a classic Buffalo sandwich. It’s thinly sliced roast beef served on a caraway and coarse salt coated roll. It’s salty, meaty, and very satisfying.

The “on weck” part comes from the name of the roll, Kummelweck. These rolls can be hard to find outside of the Buffalo region, but you can easily make them at home.

They are served with horseradish sauce and a side of warm beef jus for the most authentic experience.

Preparations

Classic Roast Beef

Ingredients:

Large (about 2kg) beef roasting joint
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp plain flour
400 ml beef stock, made with 1 beef stock cube
Splash of dark stout (optional)

Take the joint out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to bring it up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Weigh the joint and calculate the cooking time. Allow 15 minutes per 500 g, plus 15 minutes for rare; 18 minutes per 500 g, plus 20 minutes for medium and 22–27 minutes per 500 g, plus 25 minutes for well done.

If your joint is wrapped in a net to hold its shape, remove and discard then tie at regular intervals with kitchen string. Put the joint in a roasting tin, fat-side up.

Smear the mustard over the fat and season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper – the mustard helps to form a tasty crust on the beef, but the flavor will mellow during roasting. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C for the remaining calculated cooking time. Cover the joint with foil during roasting if the surface starts to brown too quickly.

Baste the joint every 30 minutes using the juices released from the meat in the bottom of the tin. To test the beef is ready, use a meat thermometer. Push into the centre of the thickest part of the meat: for rare beef, the meat thermometer should read 60°C, for medium, it should read 70°C and for well-done beef, it should read 80°C. If you don’t have a metal thermometer, a metal skewer works well. Insert into the centre of the meat and leave for 30 seconds. Pull it out and touch the tip against the inside of your wrist. If it is cold, the meat is not yet done. When it’s warm, the meat is rare, when fairly hot, it’s medium and when it’s very hot, the beef is well done.

When the roast is done, leave to rest covered in the foil for 20 minutes.

Beef Au Jus

Ingredients:

¼ cup beef fat drippings from a prime rib or other roast beef
1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef broth
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Spoon any excess fat out of the roasting tin when making the roast. Whisk flour into beef fat; cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes.

Pour beef broth into fat mixture; increase heat to high and bring mixture to a boil.

Boil mixture until it thickens slightly; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Kummelweck Rolls

Ingredients:

3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup warm water (105 degrees F/41 degrees C)
1 package active dry yeast
2 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon honey, or more to taste

Topping:

1 large egg white
2 teaspoons water
½ teaspoon caraway seeds, or to taste
coarse sea salt to taste

Instructions:

Whisk 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup warm water, and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit until foamy, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir 2 tablespoons oil, 1 egg white, sugar, salt, and honey into yeast mixture; whisk until smooth. Gradually add flour to yeast mixture while mixer is running with the dough hook attached; knead until a soft, sticky dough forms, 3 to 4 minutes.

Drizzle remaining vegetable oil into the bowl and turn dough to coat. Cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with paper.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, flatten dough, and press into rectangle. Cut dough into 12 pieces and form pieces into rolls. Place rolls apart on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Whisk 1 egg white and 2 teaspoons water together in a small bowl. Use kitchen shears to cut an X at the top of each roll. Brush rolls with egg white mixture and sprinkle with caraway seeds and salt.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.

Horseradish Caraway Dressing

Ingredients:

½ cup avocado oil mayo
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or red wine)
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
3 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Add the caraway seeds to a small heavy dry skillet over medium heat, shaking skillet often, until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Let cool.

Make the dressing. In a small bowl whisk together all the ingredients. Whisk together until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Assemble the Beef on Weck Rolls

Thinly slice the roast beef.

Dip the roast beef into the jus and remove it quickly.

Cut the rolls in half and dip the top into the warm jus. Top the bottom of the rolls with roast beef. Spread the horseradish sauce on top of the roast beef and then top with the dipped roll.

Serve with extra jus and dig in immediately!

Restaurant-Style Buffalo Chicken Wings

Ingredients

½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
10 chicken wings
1 quart oil for deep frying
¼ cup butter
¼ cup hot sauce
1 dash ground black pepper
1 dash garlic powder

Instructions:

In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended.

Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Sauce

Ingredients

2/3 cup hot pepper sauce (If you want to make your own hot sauce follow recipe för Chili Garlic Hot Sauce)
Add to the sauce:
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste

Instructions:

Combine the hot sauce, butter, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt in a pot and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer while stirring with a whisk. As soon as the liquid begins to bubble on the sides of the pot, remove from heat, stir with the whisk, and set aside for use.