Quadrille Publishing Ltd Wings and Things: Lip-smacking Chicken Recipes

I’ll preface this review by stating I am an avid home cook. Unlike some negative reviewers I DO have a deep fat fryer, (several) BBQ’s including Hot and cold smokers, immersion circulators, pressure cookers blah blah...basically I have a very well equipped kitchen- so this negative review is not because I find the recipes complex or inaccessible.I’m probably one of the few people who bought this book who actually had some of the obscure ingredients required for most of these recipes (rice flour, Japanese Daashi stock powder to make Kewpie Mayo etc, although the recipe for this is never mentioned, the authors just assume I have ready access to Japanese mayonnaise). The main reason for my negative feedback is simply LAZY recipe writing; spoiler alert, basically every recipe requires the same dry spice mix (white and black pepper, celery salt) and buttermilk. They could have stuck this info on page 1 then had a few pages of sauce recipes...it’s so repetitive. Also the recipe scaling is incredibly wasteful (some recipes call for over a pint of sauce for 1.25kg of wings, I halved these amount and still had half again left over after coating the wings), also the dry coating (always corn flour and rice flour) calls for 300g of flour per 1.25kg of wings which leaves 70% unused and now contaminated flour left over for the bin. For example, Modernist Cuisine calls for 80g of flour per kilo and that’s a perfect amount in my opinion.Another point, there’s around 18-20 recipes for wings (again, mostly the same with the variation being the incredibly wasteful recipes for differing sauces [300g fresh scotch bonnet chillis for 1.25kg wings, that’s another joke] and very similar garnishes) ...in a book with nearly 200 pages!! Yes I know it’s called ‘Wings and Things’ but no one is buying this book for a bloody burger or milkshake or cocktail recipe! It’s all just filler, and filler I’m not willing to add to my collection of 100+ cookbooks. This is literally the only cookbook I will be returning for a refund, and that’s not because I’m a cookbook snob, I have everything from Jamie Oliver to Larousse, Delia to the Fat Duck, but this is just a waste of bookshelf space, and probably a waste of paper.In summary, recipes basically identical and wasteful ingredient amounts, sauce quantities are ridiculous and turn a budget-friendly meal like chicken wings into an expensive folly (300ml Sriracha for 1.25kg wings...another zinger) and you could fit all of the actual wing recipes onto two sides of A4 paper instead of a whole book. No doubt the lads were approached by a publisher and offered a fine fee to divulge these recipes and they’ve done a half-arsed job, I can think of no other reason why this book is so poor, I can’t help but think their heart wasn’t in it at all.

There’s some decent recipes in here but most are not really aimed at the causal cook and are geared for the professional kitchen. Huge list of ingredients and multiple cooking techniques.The most annoying thing is they’ll list obscure ingredients such as ‘Szechuan Seasoning’ ..what even is that? What does it consist of ? I’ve been cooking Chinese food for years, I have Szechuan Peppercorns, five spice etc in my cupboard but I’ve never heard of Szechuan Seasoning and I guarantee the majority of people also won’t have. It’s lazy editing..tell us how to make it ..same with ‘Blackened Cajun Seasoning’..how’s that differ from the bogstandard Cajun Seasoning ??I’m a competent cook and I’ll probably cook a couple of dishes but I wouldn’t recommend the book...it’s more of a marketing tool for their restaurants and the awards they’ve won.

I have been BBQing seriously for just over 2 years now and I have bought various wing books in that time. This is by far the best one I have come across and the only one you really need to buy.It is beautifully made so it will last and it is packed with every kind of wing recipe you could want. They are really easy to follow, no fluff to make it sound fancy. Just good wings and how to make them. It also has stunning pictures throughout so you know what your cook will look like.There are great little notes by the authors throughout and to my surprise it even covers how to cook in the oven as well as on the bbq.As well as the wings you get sides, drinks, sauces and everything in between. This is 191 pages of pure gold and delicious tasting wings/food/drink that anyone can make.Highly recommended 🔥

I've been to wingman's restaurant a few times and was excited to hear they were bringing out a book.Pretty much as the wing recipes require a deep fat fryer and large quantities of cooking oil. Not something that I have in my one-bedroom apartment without a garden. Also, shallow frying can be quite dangerous and messy. Also, most of the recipes require ingredients that are not easily available. eg: beef marrow bones, not something you can get from the supermarket, only very specialised butchers.We made the Mac & Cheese with short rib and crack crumbs. It takes almost 3 hours to prepare. It was delicious but really takes a lot of planning and an expensive trip to the supermarket.I'd make a few more of the recipes in this book, but it would depend on the ingredients needed and equipment, If you don't have a deep fat fryer or a BBQ, this might not be the book for you.I would still go and visit their restaurant though!

I am loving this book!!! Made 2 recipes from it now, Shanghai wings and Seoul sister burgers and I can’t begin to tell you how good they were.The recipes are incredibly well put together, you can taste the skill that has gone into them. The book itself is well written with really great pictures.There’s even vegetarian recipes, desserts and cocktails.I literally can’t wait to cook more from this book!