Oh man ... I love hot wings! And for a party that involves a football game, it's sure hard to keep them off the menu. However, I'd never found a way to make them that I really liked. I didn't want to deep-fry, I didn't want to bread them, I didn't want a sugary-sticky sauce ... I just wanted Hot Wings. Is that too much to ask?
I finally found a recipe that I thought sounded pretty good, tweaked it a little, and made five pounds of wings on New Year's Day when all the bowl games were on. I don't even remember who won the games that day, but these wings were declared a winner.
The most work comes in preparing the wings, but once that's done, it's Easy Street. First, clip off the tip using either a chef's knife or a pair of kitchen scissors. (This photo shows my scissors, but I ended up preferring my chef's knife because a couple of pounds in and my thumb joint on my cutting hand was killing me!)
Once the tip is clipped, bend the "drumstick" part and the "thigh" part backwards to reveal the joint, then cut between.
You'll end up with two pieces from one wing.
Put all the wing pieces in a large bowl, coat lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top it with a baking rack. Arrange the wing pieces on the rack with a little room in between each. You want them to have room enough to get golden all over.
Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, wash that large bowl because you'll need it again. Then melt six Tablespoons of butter with 2 Tablespoons of minced garlic in a small pot. If you have a cute copper one, this would be a great time to use it. ;) Add Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and brown sugar and simmer for 2 minutes without letting it boil.
Mix a 16-ounce bottle Frank's Hot Sauce and a little ketchup in a small-medium size bowl, then carefully add the melted butter mixture. I feel the brand of hot sauce really does matter and that Tabasco is NOT the right choice for this. However, if you have a brand of hot sauce that you can't give up, go ahead and use it, but please don't send e-mails saying that it didn't taste right! :)
When the wings are done, put them back in the large bowl that you used earlier and have since washed, and pour enough of the hot sauce mixture over to coat them good. Serve them up hot with a little bleu cheese or ranch (my preferred) dressing and have plenty of napkins on hand. They will definitely be needed!
{Scroll past photo for printable recipe.}
Go Team Go!
