Baked Chicken Wings

Food Trend: It’s Fall which means football season. And wings and football go hand-in-hand.

Inspiration: One of the restaurants I work for, a southern roadhouse BBQ spot, has won best wings in NYC three years in a row. This year I worked with our chefs on creating the best wing. I observed (behind the camera & instagram video app) how to brine, cook and create a complimenting sauce. I was also a very lucky taste tester. It was time for me to spread my wings (pun intended) and try out my own recipe.

Adaptation: I was hosting Sunday Funday for my college friends – and while we are all good eaters – I wanted to be somewhat health conscious, so I decided to bake the wings instead of frying. We all agreed, that the baked wings were just as good (almost better) than the fried. Also a few of my friends are sensitive to spicy food, so I wanted to come up with two sauces: a traditional hot buffalo then a sweet honey soy glaze. These are a must for any football party!

Prep & Photo Tips:

The best wings are always brined overnight. Brining is similar to marinating. It keeps food moist and tender by increasing the moisture holding capacity of meat. This makes its tender and juicy when cooked. I made a sweet and salty brine with a dark ale, honey, sugar, salt and some whole scotch bonnet peppers for a subtly spice.

The brine will turn you wings a dark color. The skin is just completely filled with beer and sugar goodness. Make sure to completely let your wings dry before you bake them otherwise they won’t get the golden crispy skin you are looking for.

For my honey soy glaze, I infused garlic and ginger into soy, sake & honey. The aromatics were incredible. Drain the garlic and ginger before you let the sauce cook and condense.

Once the wings are cooked, toss them in a large mixing bowl with your sauce, flipping to make sure your wings are fully coated. This is a photo of the buffalo wings.

Because of the brine, when I baked the wings, they developed a beautiful dark color. What looks “burned” is actually not. It is all the sugar that has cooked and baked into the skin.

Here are the Honey Soy Glazed Wings. Served with Ranch, Carrots & Celery

Here are the Buffalo.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Wings

2013-10-28 12:45:02

Chicken Wings two ways: Buffalo & Honey Soy Glazed

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For the Brine

50 Chicken Wings

3 Bottles/Cans of beer (I used a dark ale)

1 cup honey

1.5 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 whole scotch bonnett peppers wrapped in cheesecloth

For the Buffalo Sauce

1 Bottle Franks Hot Sauce

1 Stick Unsalted Butter

For the Honey Soy Glaze

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup saki

8 garlic cloves, smashed

8 1.5" pieces of fresh ginger

For the Wings

Combine all ingredients and marinate overnight. Dry wings completely. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake wings for about 40 minutes, 20 on each side. Keep checking to make sure they don't burn. Toss with sauce in a large mixing bowl to fully coat the wings. Coat half in buffalo, half in honey soy. Serve immediately with ranch dressing, carrots & celery

For the Buffalo Sauce

Combine ingredients and cook over medium heat for about 7 minutes

For the Honey Soy

Combine all ingredients in a pot of over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes letting the sake reduce and the honey to dissolve, stirring often. Once the sauce is reduced by half, strain out garlic and ginger, and let the sauce sit for about 15 minutes to cool and to thicken. Toss with warm wings.

By Julie Zucker

Press Worthy Eats http://www.pressworthyeats.com/