Picture this: you, out at night, with your friends, throwing back a few cold ones, feeling good and having fun. Then you get the hankering for something to eat, always a good thing to do when you're drinking. You grab the menu and see wings, cheese sticks, burgers, dogs, ribs and ...that's about it.
Bar food is not exactly upscale, healthy or vegan, unless you count the bowl of peanuts that have been palmed over a dozen times or the french fries.
Before I settled down, I made a living bartending. Garlic hot wings were my favorite, followed second close by cheese sticks. Wings I've seen before veganized (Chicago Diner is primo example), but I've never seen vegan cheese sticks.
Hot Wings date back to the Anchor Bar where, during the 60's, the mother made wings for her hungry son's friends. The rest is history. The Buffalo Wings were born. Really that is what hot wings are. I am crazy about garlic, though, so my fried Tender Seitan pieces are coated with hot sauce, Earth Balance and garlic.
I also made a ranch dressing using veganaise. Really easy and very good.
Having had a fabulous learning experience this month regarding the fried aspect of the culinary world, I felt brave enough to attempt Cheese Sticks. I used cashew milk for the "egg" part and breaded my sticks using breadcrumbs, flour and seasonings. The trickiest part is to choose a good vegan cheese. In the picture is Follow Your Heart Mozzarella, but any solid vegan cheese will be successful. Give it a try! There is Teese, FYH and any homemade block of cheese. I tried doing this with Daiya but the vegan cheese has no binding power when just squeezed (I couldn't get the shreds to stay together too long) and so they almost fell apart during frying. Experiment if you wish, but the blocks work great.
Lastly, I needed something that my kids could eat without burning their mouths, so the BBQ Wing was it. I made a simple BBQ sauce using ketchup, sugar, vinegar and spices. I think I reduced it a little too much, though, since it seems a little clunky on the seitan. Sorry.
Anyway, we didn't have any Guinness dark vegan beer with these, but you are certainly welcome to.
(Elisabeth let me know that there is controversy regarding the veganism of Guinness, so check out the link for a great vegan beer to enjoy with your goodies. Thanks, Elisabeth! I didn't realize Guinness couldn't see through their dark beer long enough to give a consistent answer regarding their status.)
Salud! Egesegedre! L'Chaim! Cheers!
Cost Breakdown:
hot wings:
seitan: $2
hot sauce, Earth Balance, garlic: $1
veganaise, spices: $1
Total for 20 wings:
$4.00
cheese:
vegan cheese: $2
breading, cashews: $1
Total for 10 sticks:
$3.00
BBQ:
seitan: $2
ketchup, vinegar, sugar, garlic, onion: $2
Total to make 20 wings:
$4.00
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| Hot Garlic Wings |
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| Cheese Sticks |
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| BBQ Wings |
