Light Lens: My fiery valentine

by T. Touris –

My lips burned. Beads of sweat dripped from my forehead. Tears ran down my cheeks. I craved for more. These were the early years of my long passionate affair with the chicken wing.

I remember the rise of the chicken wing craze as a young lad growing up in the Buffalo region in the 1970’s.  Back then; five bucks would get you a big bucket of crispy, spicy, greasy love. Those early years were a frenzied search for ever hotter, intense gratification. The wing craze went national, the chickens bulked up on steroids and my waistline bulked up on chicken wings.

As if those chickens could suddenly fly, things went south. Wings tricked up in breading, exotic sauces; Chicken fingers masquerading as wings. Madness set in as fools decided that undercooked, flabby wings was a thing. Like ‘80’s rock music, the chicken wing was reduced to an artificial, vapid, flavorless, soulless, staple of mass consumption. The loss of crispy innocence and the horror of having to ask for wings well done, forced me to turn inward.

Years of experimentation led to the discovery of a true homemade wing. I’m now in domestic bliss. Enjoying wings whenever I like and no longer at the mercy of some fry cook who thinks chicken skin should be yellow and mushy.

The recipe is included here.  Enjoy!

The Classic Buffalo Chicken Wing (home version)

Ingredients:

5 – 6 whole high quality chicken wings cut into sections – organic free range

is best in every way. (do not use precut, frozen wings).  To avoid waste,

place the tips in a quart of water to make a delicious broth for soup.

Salt and Fresh ground black pepper

¼ cup Frank’s Redhot Sauce

½ tsp Celery seed

½ tsp Garlic powder

Hot pepper flakes (optional for additional heat, to taste)

1 Tbsp Butter (optional)

Parchment paper (not an ingredient, but an indispensable part of the recipe)

Wing Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees (450 degrees if using a convection oven)

• Line a baking sheet with a sheet parchment paper.  Make a 1” upward fold on each edge of the sheet.

• Spread the wings on the sheet.  Sprinkle salt and ground pepper on both sides of the wings.

• Spread the wings across the sheet, spaced about 1” apart, as if baking cookies.

• Place the pan into the oven on a top or middle rack.

• Bake for approximately 15 minutes.

• Flip the wings using tongs being careful to keep each wing in the pool of its own fat that has begun to render on the sheet

(THINK FRYING BACON!).

• Bake another 15 minutes.

• Examine the wings.  The skin should appear crispy and a deep golden brown.  The parchment paper should also be turning brown.  If not, allow to bake until so, then remove the wings from oven.

• Place wings on a plate in a single layer and drizzle the sauce over each wing.  Gently move the plate back and forth so wings slide in the sauce resulting in a uniform coating of sauce on all the wings.

• Serve with a high quality blue cheese dressing and celery.

Sauce Instructions:

If using butter, place the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.

When the butter has melted, add celery seed, garlic powder and optional pepper flakes, leave over low heat for a few minutes.

Add the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.  Allow to warm over low heat until wings are ready.