ShareThisServing chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday is a natural, whether you cheer for the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Arizona Cardinals this weekend.
Nothing could be better than a menu of chicken wings, deviled eggs, tortilla chips with avocado dip, casseroles of macaroni and cheese, and baked beans. For dessert, serve homemade brownies.
The tender meat and the crispy crust of a pan-fried or baked chicken wing is delicious anytime. Granted, this finger food can be messy, especially if you slather on a sauce or baste it with a glaze. But you can keep it simple and easy, and supply your guests with plenty of napkins.
On Super Bowl weekend more wings are sold than at any other time of the year, says Debbie Moose, author of "Wings: More Than 50 High-Flying Recipes for America's Favorite Snack" (Wiley, $16.95).
The National Chicken Council projects that 1 billion wing portions will be consumed during Super Bowl weekend, which is more than 90 million pounds of wings. In 2008, about 12 billion chicken wings (2.55 billion pounds) were marketed as wings (as opposed to wings on whole chicken or breast quarters). Of these, 3.5 billion wings were sold through food-service channels. Another 3.5 billion wings were sold in retail grocery stores.
Not only are there more restaurants specializing in cooking and serving wings, home cooks have countless interpretations of this classic finger food.
My interpretation is simple. I don't even split the three-segment wings, although sometimes only wing pieces are available in stores.
According to the chicken council, the majority of wings are disjointed, with the third joint (known as the flapper) being exported to Asian countries and the meatier first and second joints sold domestically.
Whether I fry or bake the wings, I dredge them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
My mother, who was the ultimate chicken fryer, always made chicken in her iron frying pan. In recent years, rather than fry the chicken wings, I bake them at 400 degrees and they get quite crispy.
If I fry wings, it's in an iron frying pan or an electric one, with about a half cup of Crisco heated to 350 or 375 degrees. You don't want the heat too high or the wings can burn. I watch the heat and the chicken, turning the pieces every 15 minutes until they are golden brown. I add additional Crisco by the heaping tablespoon if necessary, but I don't put too much in the pan. When the chicken is done, I remove each piece to a paper-towel-covered platter so any grease is absorbed.
Pan frying takes time, and that's probably why so many recipes call for deep frying, which requires extra safety when you have a pan of hot oil.
Basic Fried Wings from Moose's "Wings" cookbook is more highly seasoned than my wings (with cayenne and pepper) and cook faster thanks to the deep fryer.
In fact, it's even hard to find a pan-fried-chicken recipe unless you search a Southern cookbook like "Bon Appetit, Y'all" by Virginia Willis (Ten Speed Press, $32.50) with Meme's Fried Chicken and Gravy or "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea" by Martha Hall Foose (Potter, $32.50) with Proper Fried Chicken.
The key is selecting a fat (I prefer a tasteless fat), heating it to the proper temperature and cooking chicken long enough so no pink juices run.
If you bake the seasoned-flour-dredged wings at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, they get crispy enough.
I am surprised at the variety of chicken-wing recipes that add so many ingredients and steps in the recipe.
One cookbook's recipes marinated the wings for 1 to 24 hours. Wings are tender enough that they don't need marinating.
A second concern is if you do marinate wings, do not reuse a marinade for basting whether the chicken is cooked on the grill or in the oven. "If I'm basting chicken, I would make a separate batch of marinade," said Moose in a phone interview.
"Wings take so well to a variety of ways of cooking, from marinade to rubs," she says. "They are so small that there is not a lot of meat." She thinks that if you marinate wings, three hours should be plenty of time.
When Kay Lynne Schaller tested the Baked Buffalo Wings recipe from "Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics" (Wiley, $25.95), she marinated 1-1/2 hours and found there was plenty of spice in the flavoring in that time.
Kickin' Chicken Wings from "Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook" by Phyllis Pellman Good (Good Books, $29.95) is made in a slow cooker. It's a simple recipe.
Schaller tested wing recipes with flash-frozen chicken wings and fresh wings. When using the slow-cooker recipe, the flash-frozen chicken wings were thawed in a bag of cold water so as not to put frozen meat in a slow cooker.
Wings can also be grilled and then seasoned with glazes and sauces. "I had fun coming up with glazes," says Moose about her cookbook, noting Ginger-Lime Wings with Rum Glaze. Other recipes include Roasted Black Pepper Wings with Maple Bourbon Glaze and Dean's Asian Barbecued Chicken Wings. The flavors of fresh ginger and hot Thai chili-garlic sauce are found in Tangy Thai Wings. The heat builds as you eat them.
Orange Hoisin Spiced Chicken Wings from the National Chicken Council is seasoned with a blend of spice mix of Chinese five-spice powder, ground ginger, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Then the wings are deep-fried in canola oil until the skin is crispy, about 8 to 9 minutes. The cooked wings are tossed with Orange Hoisin Sauce.
While deep-fried chicken wings have been a staple of Southern cooking, the concept of cooking wings in peppery hot sauce was born in 1964 at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y. Co-owner Teressa Bellissimo cooked leftover wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack. Her son and his friends liked them so much, that the Bellissimos put them on the menu the next day and served them with celery slices and blue-cheese sauce. Buffalo Wings were an instant hit.
The concept went national in 1990 when McDonald's began selling Mighty Wings at some restaurants. KFC rolled out Hot Wings a year later.
BASIC FRIED WINGS
Vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
12 wings, cut in half at joints, wing tips removed and discarded
Pour enough vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan to hold the wings and allow them to float. Attach a frying thermometer to the pot or use an electric frying pan or deep fryer. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 360 degrees.
Meanwhile, combine the flour, black pepper, salt, paprika and cayenne, if using, in a large bowl. Dredge the wings in the mixture and shake off any excess.
When the oil is hot, use tongs to gently lower the wings into the oil. Do not crowd them; they should float freely. You will need to cook the wings in batches. Monitor the oil temperature carefully and adjust the heat up or down to keep it near 360 degrees.
Cook the wings 10 to 12 minutes or until they float to the top of the oil and are golden brown. Drain the wings on a wire rack placed over a plate, then serve with your favorite dip.
Yield: 24 pieces
-- "Wings: More Than 50 High-Flying Recipes for America's Favorite Snack" by Debbie Moose
KICKIN' CHICKEN WINGS
4 pounds chicken wings
2 large onions, chopped
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup red or white wine
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
Cut off wing tips. Cut wings at joint. Place in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients. Add to slow cooker. Stir. Cover. Cook on Low 5 to 6 hours.
Yield: 8 main-dish servings
-- "Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook" by Phyllis Pellman Good
ORANGE HOISIN SPICED CHICKEN WINGS
3 pounds chicken wings
For the Spice Mix:
2 tablespoons five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Orange Hoisin Sauce:
1 8-ounce bottle hoisin sauce
1/2 cup orange-juice concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon sesame-seed oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons orange zest
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
3 cups canola oil for frying
In a gallon-size plastic bag with zip closure, combine all ingredients for spice mix. Seal and shake well to blend. Make Orange Hoisin Sauce by combining in small saucepan over medium heat the hoisin sauce, orange-juice concentrate, sesame-seed oil, rice vinegar and chili powder. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in zest and cilantro. Cover and set aside.
In a deep saucepan or stock pot, add oil and heat to 350 degrees. While oil is heating, add chicken wings to plastic bag with spice mixture. Shake until all wings are coated. Remove wings from bag, place in pot, and fry in batches for 6 to 8 minutes or until skin is crispy. Remove wings from oil and place on paper towels to drain. After final batch of wings is cooked, place wings in a large mixing bowl. Pour Orange Hoisin Sauce over wings; toss well to coat.
Yield: 4 servings
-- National Chicken Council
BAKED BUFFALO WINGS
For the Blue Cheese Sauce:
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 tablespoon finely crumbled blue cheese
For the Wings:
12 chicken wings
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon red pepper sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Paprika
Celery sticks, if desired
In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors. Meanwhile, continue with recipe.
Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife, cut each chicken wing at the joints into 3 pieces. Discard the tips. In a resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix the honey, ketchup, pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add the chicken. Seal the bag; refrigerate at least 15 minutes, but no longer than 24 hours, turning occasionally to marinate.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15-by-10-by-1-inch pan with foil. Place the chicken on the foil in the pan; sprinkle with paprika. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, brushing meat with pan juices after 30 minutes, or until wings are golden brown and juice of chicken is clear when the thickest part is cut to the bone. Serve chicken with celery sticks and sauce.
Yield: 12 servings (appetizer)
-- "Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics"
(Contact Toledo Blade food editor Kathie Smith at food(at)theblade.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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