Chicken Wings

So, you just made a whole batch of hot sauce. What could you put it on? Well, pretty much anything. But let's say you've got a hankering for some wings. You could go to some chain restaurant, pay $8 for 10 wings, and be forced to use whatever they think is the best sauce for you. Or, you could just make your own. Winglets (pre-separated wings) go for about $3 a pound, and full wings (unseparated, with the tips still attached) are a shade cheaper, and the tips are great to save for chicken stock.

To recap, those wings cost you less than half what they would in a restaurant, you made the hot sauce last week, and you already have flour, baking powder and butter in your pantry. 

First thing you're going to want to do is separate the wings. You can google some instructions if you're nervous about it, and I would have included pictures, but cutting wings is a very two-handed affair, leaving no hands for the camera. Balance the wing upright on your cutting board with one of the two joints on the board. Move the knife about an eighth of an inch away from the wing tip, and push the knife down and away from you. You'll get a better feel for this after a couple of gos, but a sharp knife plus this positioning should get you right between the joints.

Now, you can either bread the wings or not. I prefer a light breading, some claim that this is heresy. Take your pick. Also, pre-heat the oven, or fryer, to 350.

For my breading I used 1/2 cup of flour, some salt and pepper and a half teaspoon of baking power, the baking powder helps to brown the wings. Roll the wings in the flour, or put the mixture in a ziplock bag and shake. Spread the wings out on baking sheet, or baking sheet with a cooling rack.

Bake for 30 minutes, or fry for 10-12 minutes. Baking the wings will result in a smoother texture, which doesn't hold sauce quite as well, but breading and baking power helps that. Frying gets you the blistered skin that really grabs on to the sauce, but also takes more time for clean-up, which is why I opted for baking.

Mix equal parts melted butter and hot sauce for the buffalo sauce (you can ease up on the butter a little bit. For a dozen wings I'd go with two tablespoons of each. Put the hot sauce in a bowl and toss the wings with the hot sauce.

On the left are the wings I made with the hot sauce from last week. On the right are wings with Texas Pete's hot sauce, which is a perfectly middle-of-the-road hot sauce, if you're throwing a party. My wings had just a little heat, and a sweetness from the peppers that you almost never get in wings. It was kind of surprising and very pleasant. Obviously, you can totally customize the taste based on what peppers you use in the sauce.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken wings (about 6 full wings, or 12 pieces)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 TBSP hot sauce

2 TBSP butter, melted

salt and pepper

Procedure

Preheat oven, or oil, to 350

Cut the wings, if necessary

Mix flour, baking power, salt and pepper and cover the wings in the mixture

Bake, or fry the wings. If baking on a cooling rack, don't bother flipping the wings, if you're baking without one, flip the wings half-way through, about 15 minutes, 30 minutes total. Frying should take between 10 and 12 minutes.

While the wings are cooking, melt the butter and mix with the hot sauce. Place the buffalo sauce in a bowl.

When the wings are done, put them in the bowl (3 or 4 at a time, depending on the size of your bowl) and toss the wings until they're coated with buffalo sauce.