Who doesn't love chicken wings, besides my vegan and vegetarian friends?
Some people don't realize how easy they are to make at home. And how much better they taste when you make your own wings from some nice fresh, never frozen chicken.
-3 lbs fresh whole chicken wings (or separated if you dont like to do the work)
-1 cup white flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 pepper (packaged pre-ground works best, though fresh ground will work)
-peanut oil (or other oil if you have an allergy to peanut, canola works great)
-Gourmet Honey Garlic Diana Sauce, Frank's Red Hot, or any other sauce you really really like!
1. WASH YOUR CHICKEN IN COOL WATER. clean meat is the best meat... you can also remove any pieces of feathers that might have got missed when your wings were packaged. Let water drip off, then pat wings dry with paper towel.
2. Separate the wings into pieces. To do this, you'll need to cut off the tips (dispose of these), and then separate the "drumstick" from the rest of the wing. A sharp knife, and a little force works well. You'll need to cut down into the "joint". See pictures at the bottom. (OR buy wings that have already been separated, but that costs $$$ and us men are cheap, and like to cut things up)
3. Mix flour, salt and pepper in medium bowl.
4. Pour oil into a deep frying pan/skillet. Enough oil to cover the wings, but not so much it will over slow when you add the wings. I use a good old fashioned cast iron skillet. It works great for everything! You could also use a deep fryer if you have one, but who does?
5. Heat oil at high heat until when you flick a drop of water in it, it "snaps" and "pops". If it crackles, get your spoon, 'cause you probably have Rice Krispie's. But seriously, you want the oil nice and hot. Once water makes it pop, turn heat to medium heat.
6. Take your wings, a few at a time, and drop them in your flour mix. Flip around, in the flour, make sure they have a good dusting on them.
7. Carefully drop in hot oil. Continue until pan if loosely full of wings. let cook for 4 or 5 minutes, then flip them over using a fork. They will be floating. Cook about another 4- 5 minutes, or until a uniform golden brown colour.
8. Using METAL tongs, or something similar, remove wings, and place in an oven safe bowl with lid. place wings in "warm" oven. We dont want your wings to cool while waiting for the next batch to come out of the skillet.
9. Repeat until all your wings are done. The the fun part comes in. Pour in your favourite sauce all over the wings. I dont like to re-invent the wheel, so I use premade sauces. My favourite, Gourmet Honey Garlic Diana Sauce. It is fantastic. Feel free to use Frank's Red Hot, or any of your other favourite sauces, or heck... leave them plain if you like that better.
After you coat the wings with sauce, put back in the oven for a few minutes and allow the sauce to soak in a bit.
10. Place on a plate, and then share 'em with your friends. And... BE A MAN! These serve well with some ranch dressing and some nice fresh carrot sticks and celery to munch on. But trust me, the vegetables only make you feel like you're being healthy, don't fool yourself, this is man food.
You can't beat these, I promise. Where possible, stick with the peanut oil. It gives the wings a specific flavour that can't be duplicated. You can save your oil for a second or third use if you let it cool and strain it out. DO NOT SAVE LEFT OVER FLOUR MIX. It is now contaminated, and needs to be trashed. Bacteria builds up fast!
