Super Bowl Staples: More Wings

Tomorrow is the Big Game and it's not too late to throw a party or at the very least stuff yourself with every fatty, salty, sugary foods you can handle! My favorite way to indulge as if you didn't know by now are WINGS!

Alton Brown's Buffalo Wings
courtesy of Food Network

Ingredients

• 12 whole chicken wings (about 3 pounds)
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• 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. Use kitchen shears or a knife to separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings in the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay out the wings on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator to dry, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the paper towels on the pan and replace with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven, about 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook 20 to 30 more minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.
4. While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl with the garlic. Pour this along with the hot sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine. Remove the wings from the oven, transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

I found this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Andrew Knowlton's The BA Foodist. He stumbled upon these wings back in 2006 at the Brooklyn spot, The Good Fork. When describing these tasty little wings, he said: "these plump wings were perfect--crispy skin, juicy meat, and bathed in just the right amount of fiery sriracha and sambal oelek sauce. They were nothing like the scrawny, over-cooked, over-buttery specimens I ate growing up." I don't know about you, but I'm sold!

Souhui Kim's Asian Hot Wings with Cucumber and Scallion Sour Cream Dipping Sauce
courtesy of BA Foodist, Andrew Knowlton

Ingredients
Wings

• 3/4 cup sriracha (this can get hot, so adjust for heat tolerance)
• 1 tablespoon sambal oelek or other asian chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 stick cold butter cut into pieces
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings (about 12 pieces), cut in half with wing tips cut off

Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 3 scallions cut into thin slices
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber

Preparation

1. Add vegetable oil to 12-inch skillet to reach depth of 1 inch. Heat over medium-high heat to 350°. Salt and pepper wings and add to skillet. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Transfer to paper towels.
2. In a saucepan, bring sriracha and vinegar to boil. Whisk in cold butter gradually.
3. Add cooked wings to saucepan and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Dipping Sauce

1. Mix ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Seriously...get the wet naps! Happy Winging!