Katydid Knits

Every time I post a recipe, Yorkie claims I’m trying to kill her, so I figure I’ll let her know right know that she needs to just look away.

I made this for a dear friend‘s birthday party the weekend before last, and then ended up down with the flu and just haven’t had much blogging mojo. (Seriously – I’ve been sick on and off since before Halloween. This SUCKS.) So, I’ll post it now. Grab a beverage – this one has LOTS of pictures.

What I’m showing you is a recipe I saw on an episode of Cooking Live 8 or 9 years ago.  Since then, it’s become a party staple for us, which was why friend’s hubby asked me to make it.

Presenting: The Buffalo Wing Ring.

Dice a medium sized onion, and let it saute in 1/4 cup melted butter until softened, but not caramelized.

While that sautees, combine 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese with 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, and stir until blended.  Stash this in the fridge.

This?  This is like my nightmare.  I am not a blue cheese fan.

Once the onion is softened, add in 3/4c milk, and 1/2c water.  Remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature-ish.

In the bowl of your mixer, combine 1-1/2 c flour, 3T sugar, 1-1/2t salt, and 2 packages of Fleischman’s Rapid Rise yeast.  You can also use their bread machine yeast that comes in the jar, if you have that on hand.

You will also need an additional 3 cups of flour in a separate bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients (not including the set-aside flour) to combine them.

With the mixer running on low, pour in the onion-milk-water-butter mixture and stir until it is incorporated.

Mix in one egg, and beat for two minutes.

Add the remaining flour, I do it about 1/2c at a time, and mix until you have  a soft dough.

Mmmm… sticky.  Knead the dough with the mixer for 4-6 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic.

While it is kneading (I love my stand mixer…), grab the cheese – about 8 oz. each of cheddar and pepper jack.

I buy blocks and shred them myself using my handy-dandy food processor.

Set the cheese aside once it is shredded.

Once your dough is elastic…

Turn it out onto a floured board (or, you know, your countertop), cover it with a towel, and let it rest for ten minutes.

Once it has rested, roll it out into a rectangle – about 18″ long by 12-14″ wide.  And seriously, this is the most perfect rectangle I’ve ever rolled out.  I was way proud of it.

And assemble the fillings – the mayo-blue cheese mixture, the shredded cheddar and pepper jack, wing sauce, and cooked chicken.  I cheat and use the pre-cooked stuff, but you can certainly cook and chop up your own if you prefer.  You need about 1-1/2 pounds.

Spread the mayo-blue cheese mixture over the dough, leaving the edges plain so you can seal them later.

Top the blue cheese with the chicken

And then drizzle on about 1/3 cup of the wing sauce.  I usually end up eyeballing this, and often end up with a little more than 1/3c.

Top it with the cheeses.  Looks like pizza at this point…

Starting from the far long edge, roll the dough toward you.

And pinch the seam to seal it.  This is not always successful for me. 

Roll the log so that it is seam-side down, and bend it into a ring on a pan (pizza pan, cookie sheet, whatever you’ve got handy) that has been lightly sprayed with Pam.  (Side note, I used to refuse to buy that actual brand, because the name bugged the hell out of me when I was a kid.)

Slash the dough about 1/3 of the way down, in 8 places, using a sharp knife.  Try not to giggle at the piece of chicken that pokes out like it is trying to escape.

Bake the ring at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes until the crust is nicely browned and the cheese is bubbling through the slashes.  If you manage to seal the seams, you’ll have less issue with the cheese leaking into the center.  Clearly, this one didn’t seal well.

Normally, I’d show you a picture of a slice of it, but since I was taking it to the party, I didn’t slice it until we got there, and I didn’t bring my camera. If anyone would have understood, they would have, but I decided that some things are too weird even for me.

I sometimes make a cheesesteak variation as well – I add chopped green pepper with the onions, use Cheez-Whiz instead of the mayo/blue cheese mixture, cook up some Steak-Ummz for the chicken, swap the pepper jack for provolone, and use A1 instead of the wing sauce.

November 20th, 2009 | Tags: Food | Category: Misc. | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed