Buffalo Wings

In case you didn't know, college football (especially Aggie football) is kind of a big deal in our home. So, when the Ags played OSU on ESPN Thursday night, we thought it was a great excuse to have friends over. While we won't discuss the outcome of the game (it still hurts too much), we did have a good time visiting with friends while munching on some football food.

I don't know if there's a better football watching food than Buffalo Wings. The two just go together. (Although, I must confess that I hadn't EVER ordered Buffalo Wings until about a month ago. Now I'm hooked). However, the wings you get at most restaurants are fried & full of calories & fat. So, I set out to find a good recipe for baked Buffalo Wings and I hit the jackpot! Alton Brown (from the Food Network) had a recipe that had received over 200 reviews with an average rating of 5 stars. And the reviews were right! YUMMY!!

Below is the original recipe:

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 12 whole chicken wings
• 3 ounces unsalted butter
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1. Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

2. Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. *(see below)

3. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes.

4. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry.

5. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

7. Replace the paper towels with parchment paper.

8. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

9. While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

10. Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce.

11. Serve warm.

12. Don't forget the Ranch Dressing (or Blue Cheese, if you're into eating mold).

My Tid-Bits:

* I took the easy road & just bought wing portions & drumettes at HEB. That eliminated step 2 above.

* I knew that 24 wings portions wasn't going to feed 5 people. So I bought about 48 pieces and doubled the sauce. I also had to steam the wings in 2 batches.

* When I first read the recipe, I thought to myself, "why on earth do you steam the wings first." But all the reviews said not to skip this step, so I didn't. I'm still not exactly sure why you do this, but I'm pretty sure it has to go with making the meat super tender & the skin extra crispy. Don't ask questions....just steam the wings.

* I was AMAZED by the amount of fat that dripped off during the steaming & roasting process. I could just see the extra calories & fat melting away!!

* For the sauce, I used Frank's Red Hot Original (not the Buffalo) and it was perfect! They weren't super spicy, but still had great flavor.

* I couldn't resist making more Pumpkin Ale Bread this week. I served it, along with this yummy Caramel Apple Dip, for dessert. Someone came up with the idea of putting the dip on the bread. I wish they hadn't. It's dangerously tasty.