Friday, January 22, 2010

Wingadingding

You all know that I got cookbooks for Christmas right? I'm not the kind of gal that lets a good cookbook sit on the shelf as decoration, thus giving the appearance that I am a good cook with a spotless kitchen. OH NO... My cookbooks have sticky notes of various neon colors sticking out of them. They are batter smudged, grease spattered and flour sprinkled, usually spread out across the equally smudged counter or on my night stand (bedtime reading). I love me a good cookbook. My most recent addition to the beloved collection is full of knock off recipes from various restaurants. Some of those secret recipes are not so secret anymore...
I've been busy lately trying out some of these copy cats. I made up a batch of Hooters Wings for our weekly, family American Idol night. Lemme just tell you right now, they were GOOD! I can't say for sure whether they measure up to the real deal or not. I'll let you be the judge of that. Give em a try for yourself or better yet, come on over and let me whip up a batch for you. Then we can decide together whether the scantily clad, overworked girls in orange are necessary.

I know, this is a disgusting picture right? Ick...raw chicken. It's here for a reason. I'm just showing you how the wings should be cut.
Start with about 14 wings cut into sections and throw out the wing tips. Hint: Use a very sharp heavy knife.
Rinse your wing pieces and keep them a bit damp.

Next mix together your batter of about a cup of flour and 2 teaspoons each of cayenne pepper and paprika. More cayenne if you like your wings on the spicy side.

Put your wings in a sealable bowl or zip bag, throw in the flour mixture, seal it up and give it good shake until you wings are well coated. This is where the recipe book says to put them in the fridge for 30 minutes to seal the coating. Ummmm.... who wants to wait 30 more minutes for delicious hot wings? Not me. You can if you want to.

Nope.
Plunge those little wingdings right down in some hot oil and fry em up until they are golden brown.

While you are waiting on that golden brown color, gather your ingredients for the sauce.
You'll need a stick of butter (8 Tbsp), 1 cup of hot sauce, black pepper to taste and 4 cloves of garlic.

Let your wings drain after frying. Lately I've been using paper grocery sacks for this purpose. The commissary has decided to start sacking groceries in paper instead of plastic. I guess it's cheaper? Or earth friendly? Whatever the reason, I now have plenty of paper sacks to make use of. They are also great for cooling cookies fresh from the oven. Before I know it Gracie will have figured out how to remake one into a Sunday dress or an outfit for Snickers or curtains for her room... With that kid, you just never know.

So anyway, whisk your sauce ingredients together and bring it to a simmer. Be careful not to let it boil or the butter will separate out too much. If that happens just turn the heat down and whisk it back together. I speak from experience.

Pour your sauce over your wings and stir them around to coat them. The next step is the trick. Put the coated wings into an ovenproof dish and slide them into a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes. This sets the sauce into the coating and makes them look less like they are swimming in an orange pond.
Again, I had mixed reviews on this recipe. The over 30 crowd of Aunts, Uncles and my sweetheart said:" They are delicious and perfect, don't change a thing". I even got one "These are the best wings I've ever eaten" comment. Wow!
The under 20 crowd consisting of my children and the cousins said: "They are yummy but they could use a little more heat".
I believe that with age comes wisdom.

2 comments:

thefurlongs said...

Bec - these were amazing wings. I might just try this recipe tonight. I have a houseful of twenty somethings who are hungry. Love you lots, K

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna try these too. Yummy thanks, Lisa

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