Chicken Wings

Chicken Wings...

also known as "Buffalo Wings" outside of Buffalo...

Legend has it that the "Buffalo wing" was invented in 1964 by Teresa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY. You can read more about the history of the Buffalo chicken wing at http://www.anchorbar.com/. You can also order authentic wing sauce from the site, or from http://www.buffalofoods.com/. The wings you get from Pizza Hut or Papa John's are awful and nothing like the real thing!

~How I Make My Wings~

Use thawed chicken wings. You can deep fry frozen wings but they take longer to cook as they make the temp of the oil plunge, and the ice coating on them causes a lot of spattering. If you buy fresh wings you may have to disjoint them and discard the tip. This means cut off the tip and separate the "drumette" and the "flat". If you like, you can give the wings a light coating of flour- sometimes I do as I think it makes the sauce stick to the wings a little better. Deep fry thawed chicken wings in oil (canola, vegetable or peanut oil) at 350° for about 14 mins until they are browned, crispy and fully cooked. Remove from deep fryer and toss in wing sauce in a small bucket with the lid on (that's how they do it in Buffalo, and it works great); serve immediately.  You can also cook chicken nuggets and toss them in the sauce. You can bake wings instead of deep-frying them, but they aren't quite the same. However baking is often easier and less messy than frying, so if you bake them, do so on a rack set inside a baking sheet and bake for about an hour at 425°, flipping once halfway through.

Buffalo Wing Sauce

Melt some butter, add Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, or similar Louisiana style hot sauce, Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce works too- just use less butter, (but do not use Tabasco!) and add some garlic powder, black pepper, and dashes of Worcestershire sauce- all to taste. Word on the street is that Worcestershire is the secret ingredient in Duff's wing sauce. Use less margarine/butter for hotter sauce, more butter/margarine for milder sauce. For suicide sauce add lots of Tabasco and/or cayenne pepper.

When I'm feeling lazy, I'll use Frank's Redhot Seasoning (like a dry rub). It's fantastic! 

Blue Cheese Dressing (Dip)

In Buffalo, NY wings are always served with blue cheese and celery sticks, NEVER ranch dressing! For store-bought blue cheese dressing, I like refrigerated dressings such as Litehouse Original Bleu Cheese or Marzetti Simply Dressed Blue Cheese Dressing. Do not buy the shelf-stable blue cheese dressings- they are awful!

• 2 cups mayonnaise, Hellmann's/Best Foods recommended (it's called Hellmann's on the East coast and Best Foods on the West coast)
• 1/2 cup dairy sour cream
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• dash black pepper
• 4 oz crumbled blue cheese, divided
• about 2 tablespoons of milk; you may need to add more to achieve the desired consistency

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth reserving 1/2 of the blue cheese crumbles. When fully blended, pour in bowl and stir in the rest of the blue cheese crumbles. You can serve immediately, but tastes better if it sits overnight.

Wing tip: Like Winger's wings? Take the above recipe and add brown sugar to make Winger's sauce! Also add a dash of lime juice. 

French fry tip: I used to own this industrial fry cutter purchased from Northern Tool. It does the job of a restaurant fry cutter for less than half the price, but wore out after many years of use. I think bought a different brand industrial fry cutter, which was difficult to use and even more difficult to clean. So then I ordered this fry cutter from Progressive Prepworks. It works amazingly well! Highly recommend it. When I make my fries I peel the potatoes around the sides but leave some skin on the ends. Cut into fries using fry cutter. Rinse the fries well in cold water to remove excess starch and then dry as best you can with a paper towel to prevent spattering when dropping in the fryer. Then deep-fry at 350° until just beginning to brown, remove, and let cool slightly. Then fry again until browned and crispy to your liking! This double fry method makes the best fries!

Best Chicken Wings in Buffalo:

• Anchor Bar "Home of the Original Buffalo Chicken Wings"
• Duff's My favorite wing place.
• Mustachio's best pizza & subs in Kenmore, NY! Excellent wings too.

Related Chicken Wing Links:National Buffalo Wing Festival