Incredible Chicken Wings




I made a version of these wings for my Super Bowl party last year. I thought they were delicious then, but my excitement about my new recipe was over-shadowed by the devastating defeat of my beloved Indianapolis Colts to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.

This recipe is very simple and packs a ton of flavor. Three store-bought sauces are mixed together for the delicous coating. The wings are also tossed with flour and deep-fried. This gives them a juicy succulent flavor that just can't be replicated on the grill or in the oven and the crispy-crunch – well, it's why we all indulge in deep-fried food, even when we know it's not that healthy for us.

When I documented the recipe for the column I used my large fryer in my relatively small production kitchen. I made two kinds, honey chipotle from the Super Bowl party, and a new honey-mustard version just to experiment. I had the fryer going for a long time in the small kitchen. The next day I got into my car and noticed the smell of the frying oil from the night before. I had left my coat on a chair in the kitchen and it had soaked up the aroma of my fryer. I am sure that anyone who got within five feet of me that afternoon thought they were standing next to a 150-pound french fry.

I went with the honey-chipotle because I prefer my wings with kick and I love the smoky flavor that the chipotle adds to the sauce. The honey sweetens it up and cuts through the spice a bit. I do include a note in the column for "less heat." The note says to use mustard instead of tabasco sauce, that creates the honey-mustard recipe I used during production.

The introduction is based on a true story of a night out during my final semester of college at Ball State University. It was the most memorable wing moment for me to-date. For some reason super spicy-foods are great canon-fodder humorous events.

If you decide to make this recipe, be sure to have a wet towel by your side when you eat the wings. Napkins aren't enough to keep your hands and face from being a chicken-wing mess. I needed a shower after eating what was photographed for the column.

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