Wingin' It

Chicken Wiiiings! That's the battle cry heard from my husband and his friends on Saturdays throughout the fall, and during Detroit Red Wings games, so basically year-round. Again, I don't like to eat them myself, so I have no idea how they should taste. But with a deep fryer in the cupboard gathering dust and a few sports-obsessed hungry men who want to watch the game at home rather than at Buffalo Wild Wings, I decided to give it a shot. I've been making these for about a year now, and each time I try something different, and I never seem to measure things exactly. Sooooo, the ingredients are listed as to my best estimate - but since I change things up so much and have always received great results - experiment and just wing it ;)

Sacked Wings

2 lbs chicken wings, wings cut at joint, tips discarded
3/4 cup flour
1.5 tablespoons garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1.5 teaspoons paprika
vegetable oil for deep frying (amount depends on size of deep fryer)
2 tbsp or more of butter or Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
1.5 cups of favorite BBQ or Buffalo sauce (I like Sweet Baby Rays')

Combine the spices with flour and lightly toss wings in mixture. Shake off excess and repeat for all the wings, place coated wings on plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for
1/2-1 hour.

Remove from fridge and deep fry wings for 10-13 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large skillet melt butter and add sauce. I often divide between two skillets and make half with BBQ and half Buffalo sauce.

Drain wings on paper towels to remove excess oil, and add to the skillet(s) and cover with tin foil. Simmer on medium-low for 8 minutes.

At this point you can eat them right away if you like saucy-style wings, or especially if I am making a large amount that's too much for one batch in the deep fryer, I heat the oven on low, maybe 275, while I am simmering wings in sauce. I spray the tin foil that I used for covering the wings on stove and put the wings wrapped loosely in foil and on a baking sheet for not more than ten minutes. The sauce will now be have a more baked-on texture rather than saucy.

I hardly ever make the wings the exact same way. I experiment with different spices - cayenne, chili powder, onion powder, garlic salt, etc depending on what sauce I am using. So depending on how many wings you are making, or how thin you like the sauce, etc you can easily adjust the amount butter, flour, spices & sauce.