Well, if Dougie and I were going to watch some six hours of playoff football today, we were going to need some buffalo wings. Yet, Buffalo is so far away.
Really good, crispy, savory, moist wings are deep-fried, which was out because a) I have NO experience deep-frying and b) why add epic fat calories when you can oven-bake them? And although I'd never made oven-baked wings before, I'd seen recipes. I knew our goal was achievable.
We hunted around to get the basic process of oven-baking hot wings and found two VERY different techniques. One, which was set to be used with the Buffalo sauce, entails dredging wings in flour and spices before dunking in sauce and baking; the other called for an olive oil/garlic/more garlic/MORE garlic/chili sauce, used as a marinade. Recipes below! And so we began:
We started with 26 chicken pieces -- about 18 drumettes and 8 full wings (wingtips trimmed), washed and patted dry. Dougie pulled together the first recipe, mixing flour, cayenne, and salt, and dredging half the chicken in the mixture. I whipped up the chipotle-garlic sauce, whisking olive oil mixed with about the same amount of minced garlic (note: that's a HELL of a lot of garlic), THEN some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a solid few tablespoons of ground chipotle peppers. Wowza.
The smell hurt a little. That's how you know it's gonna be good. Chicken in the bag, sauce -- refrigerator.
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| See the tiny chunks in the lefthand bag? THOSE ARE ALL PIECES OF GARLIC. |
While the chicken absorbed their respective peppery goodness, I chopped sweet potatoes into wedges and tossed them in a plastic bag with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme -- a variation on my cinnamon-chipotle oven-baked sweet potato fries. (To make, just swap the cinnamon and chipotle in the linked recipe for about 1 T. dried thyme.)
After an hour, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees. The chipotle wings were good to go, as were the fries -- I spread both on pans covered with greased parchment paper. Meanwhile, Dougie dunked the flour-dredged wings in the Buffalo sauce before spreading them out on the pan, and we set the whole shebang to baking, about 45 minutes.
Dougie, Kev (who'd joined us by now, probably able to smell the wings from Columbia Heights), and I were all salivating within 10 minutes. The air was filled with the sweet, spicy, almost acrid aroma of high-heat chilis, and when I pulled the wings out to flip halfway through, a whiff almost made me keel over. This chicken smelled HOT. I was a tad concerned; I like my hot wings with a kick, but come on -- we wanted to be able to taste these things.
By the time the wings were ready to come out, we were cruising toward the end of the second football game (Packers were still embarrassing the Eagles. Really, Vick?). BEHOLD:
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| Chipotle-garlic! |
AND:
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| Buffalo! |
And on a plate:
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| On a plate! With thyme sweet potato wedges! |
Wow. These wings were knock-down, drop-dead delicious. Neither recipe was painfully spicy -- the bouquet was worse than the bite (heheh). The reviews:
The Buffalo-style chicken wings had the most immediate kick and much more sweetness to them. The flavor was right on, but hadn't penetrated as deep into the actual meat of the wings. They were, however, reminiscent of college years in upstate New York, and dipped in ranch dressing, we successfully lightened up classic sports bar wings. Mission accomplished.
The chipotle-garlic wings were much more complex. Just an hour of marinating had helped the intense smokiness of the chipotles and the sweet bite of the garlic penetrate deep into the meat, right down next to the bone. They actually were spicier, but not in the blindingly simple Frank's Red Hot sort of way. I think the three of us preferred this approach, less traditional though it may be, but all decided it could use some honey or brown sugar.
All in all, a big success. And yeah, I know, I need to start taking better pictures. More experimentation to come as the playoffs continue. GO PATRIOTS!
Recipes:
Chipotle-Garlic Wings
6 T. olive oil
6 cloves minced garlic
4 t. ground chipotle chilis
2 t. garlic powder
Salt and pepper
12-20 wings, depending on size.
Whisk ingredients, toss over chicken in a sealed plastic bag, and massage into chicken. Refrigerate at least an hour, up to a day. Bake, on a greased surface, at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes (depending on size of chicken pieces), flipping once, halfway through. Serve with honey for dipping.
Buffalo-Style Hot Wings
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. buffalo sauce -- Anchor Bar being among the best
12-20 wings depending on size
Mix dry ingredients and toss over chicken in a sealed plastic bag. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture extremely well. Feel free to refrigerate! Right before baking, dunk in buffalo sauce, ensuring good coverage. Bake, on a greased surface, at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes (depending on size of chicken pieces), flipping once, halfway through. Serve with bleu cheese or ranch dressing.