Chicken Wings With Bacon Chipotle Sauce

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Over this past Memorial Day weekend my cousin-in-law grilled up an inspiring mess of chicken wings. He used a teriyaki glaze that he kept basting them with as he turned them on the charcoal grill. The end result was a juicy and tender bite with great flavor. I’m glad there were bones to slow me down, because if there hadn’t been I would have plowed through the entire batch like a great white shark at a seal gathering.

For this recipe, I make my own version of grilled chicken wings. The sauce is made from scratch and features bacon and chipotle pepper as smoky elements to compliment the charcoal flavor from the grill. Also included is a hefty amount of fresh cracked black pepper for kick.

I made these with my nephews visiting. They begged me to leave the sauce off a few but I refused. I talked them into trying the wings by convincing them they were “peppery” and not “spicy.” It worked because they ate as many wings as the adults did at our Friday night feeding frenzy.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I love chicken wings, but for the most part I have only ever had them breaded and fried. Grilled wings are a relatively new experience. I love the smoky grill flavor and it’s a little healthier.

I make the sauce for these and leave out any Tabasco which seems to be the spice of choice with wings. I like buffalo style but for me a little goes a long way. Tabasco sauce is so acidic that after a few bites, all I can taste is the acid and it is not a pleasant flavor. That is why I enjoy making my own sauce. I can make it as hot as I want, I just do it without Tabasco. No offense to the residents of Buffalo, NY. It’s just not my style.

As I mention in the introduction, my nephews were visiting when I made the wings and they pleaded with me to leave the sauce off of some, but I didn't. I’m glad that they trusted me enough to try them with the sauce and I was genuinely surprised at how many they ate. My youngest nephew really chowed down. I am hoping that they will be more inclined to try spicy food, I’m sure they will eventually enjoy the spicier stuff like their uncle. They just have to acquire a taste for it.

Heat is kind of like beer, you have to gradually get into it before you can go bonkers. I’ll introduce my nephews to the spicy stuff now, but they're gonna need to wait until they’re legal before I tempt them with Miller Lite. By that time though, I'm sure they will have already have become experts through the corruption of their friends – especially if they decide to go away to college.

Eat well, cook often ...