Chicken Wings and Football

Super Bowl Eve.  Now, I have to admit Mrs. K and myself are not football fans but the Super Bowl seems to bring something out of us.  Namely, chicken wings for myself and chili for the Mrs.  I really didn't feel like ordering in so I decided to make some at home.  In the oven, without a fryer.  Seriously, it can be done and in my mind it rivals a lot of the chicken wing joints out there.  This is for my brother and father who wanted to learn how to do this at home as well.


Okay, so culinary school teaches the basics.  It teaches what makes a certain food good.  It kinda makes you think in a way that breaks down food into its most basic seasoning, flavors, textures and temperatures.  When it comes to chicken wings I feel that there are many factors that make a great wing. Let's start with texture.  It must be crispy on the outside!  What's the easiest way to achieve this?  Deep fat frying.  I personally don't mind a little deep fry just as long as it does not occur in my house.  You know when you fry and you see that steam coming off?  Well, now imagine every water molecule that is now in gas form coming off that food being encapsulated by fryer oil.  Where does it go once it's airborne?  Well, according to Sir Isaac Newton, "What goes up must come down."  Those oil capsules disperses all over the house, on the counter tops, ceiling and in the closet where all those freshly laundered clothes hang.  Anyway, keep that in mind next time you deep fry inside the house.

Next is seasoning and flavor.  For Buffalo wings there is no substitute for Red Hot, Pete's or Frank's.  I mean Anchor Steam Bar uses Frank's.  They are the original Buffalo wing joint after all.  I happen to like some heat to wings so I fortify the hot sauce with Cayenne pepper and sometimes red pepper flakes.  Why don't I just use more hot sauce?  Well, there is a point where the end product only gets as hot as the actual hot sauce and what are hot sauces mostly made of?  Vinegar and what mostly comprises vinegar?  Water.  Water is what will destroy the crispy skinned wings we have spent so much time creating.  So, by adding a dry form of heat to the sauce will not add water but will add the heat we all crave.  Additionally, I add some celery seed, salt, additional vinegar and some Sambal Oleeki (spelling?).  But wait, add more vinegar?  Didn't I just say adding water is a no no?  Yes I did and to combat this, I reduce the hot sauces and vinegar down to almost a paste before adding butter.   I like an acidic wing as it helps to cut through the fattiness of the actual wing.

Okay, enough rambling.  This is how I do Buffalo wings at home:

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F.  While this is happening, set up a steamer 'cause we are going to steam these wings before we bake them.  Steaming does a couple of things.  First, it gives the meat a head start on cooking.  Secondly, it renders fat out of the skin which aids in crisping in the oven.  Much like pouring boiling water over the skin of a duck for that crispy skinned Peking Duck.  I steam them for 12 minutes.  You can do this in batches.  Just make sure the wings don't overlap each other and your water bath doesn't run dry.

Veggie steamer basket set up over boiling water.  You can take it out while you arrange your wings to be steamed.

I separate my wings at the joint but leave the tips on.  The wing tips, when crisped are like chicken flavored potato chips.  You can cut 'em off if you wish.

Wings steamed for 12 minutes:

You can see the fat that has rendered off in the steaming water.  Trust me, this helps in the skin crisping situation:

 Okay, now line those wings up on a rack over a sheet tray lined with foil.  More fat will render off in the oven.  I know, they don't look so great.  But this is pretty much what you are faced with: undercooked soggy wings for 10 bucks at some sports bar. 

Be sure to season!

Into the oven these go and time to start on some Buffalo Wing Sauce:

Basic ingredients:  Hot Sauce, Cayenne, Celery Seeds, salt and some cider vinegar.  That's a hunk of butter hiding out behind the celery seeds.

Everything reduced down:

So, 30-40 minutes later.  The wings are cooked through and, yes, they are crispy!  They look like they have been deep fried don't they?  Oh, by the way, halfway through the cooking process I turned the oven up to 450 deg. F.

So, now, the wings are cooked and the sauce is almost done.  I turn the heat back on the sauce on low and monte with butter.  Just like the French do.  Why not just boil the sauce and throw the butter in?  Well, if you were to do that the butter will break.  Meaning, the butter fat will separate from the milk solids and water.  Then, you will be left with an orange oil spill on top with that dreaded water addition to your nicely reduced hot sauce.  This is a bad thing.  The sauce will not coat the wings like a true sauce should:

Keep swirling the butter in over low heat.  Do not boil or you will break the butter:

Butter nicely emulsified:

 

Wings ready to be sauced:

All plated up with some blue cheese and green onion batons.  Yeah, I know, weird but I like onions with my wings:

To go along with the wings is a bowl of Mrs. K's chili.  Great stuff.  Thanks dear!

I hope that this was helpful and  a little inspiring.  Off to sand those darn shelves again.  Oh, and the Giraffe paintings are done!  I will post some pics another time.