Wings, 3 ways, and Blue Cheese Dressing

Ok, so I sort of failed this one.  The wings were all delicious, but I was busy prepping the sauces and I didn’t set a timer.  So I think I baked them for about an hour at 450°F but it may have been a little more or less.  And I forgot to sprinkle kosher salt over the Parmesan Wings-Colicchio would be unimpressed.

My daughter has been asking for chicken wings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner lately.  For some reason she is on a chicken wing jag and since she never requests specific food or eats with any sort of enthusiasm I have been more than eager to accommodate her.  Since the New Year I have been trying to eat and cook at home as much as possible and I have also been trying to be more mindful of how caloric our meals are.  Luckily those goals correspond since the homemade version of any restaurant meal is generally healthier.  So chicken wings for dinner was the challenge.  Normally I would have fried the wings but I felt like I had been frying something or another all week and I want to try baking them instead.

We all like a different sort of sauce so I decided to go ahead and make three different types since the prep is essentially the same.  For the sticky wings I sauced them with my standard Asian sauce and then baked them.  For the hot wings and the garlic-Parmesan wings I cooked them first and then tossed in the topping before serving.  You could bake or fry these, I just had everything baking at the same time.  When the sticky wings were done, I turned the broiler on the plain wings to crisp the skin up a little.  Then tossed with the sauces I had prepped and served.

And so I offer you the longest blog post ever written by me:

Blue Cheese Ranch Dressing or Dip

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or 1/4 cup buttermilk for thinner dressing)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (can use dried)
• 2-3 tbsp parsley, minced (can use 1 tsp dried)
• 1 green onion, green and white parts, minced
• 1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar (use lesser amount if using buttermilk)
• 2 tbsp blue cheese, more if desired-this is very lightly flavored
• salt and pepper

1. Combine all ingredients, except blue cheese.  Stir well.
2. Spoon a small amount of mayo mixture onto a plate and use a fork to mash blue cheese until well combined with dressing.  Or if using blue cheese crumbles just stir them in.
3. Stir cheese mixture into remaining dressing.
4. Salt and pepper to taste, chill.
5. Thin with a small amount of milk, buttermilk or water before serving if too thick.

Make your dipping sauce first so it has time to chill and the flavors can develop.  We are still sort of weenie-ish when it comes to blue cheese so this is very lightly flavored, as in it is basically ranch dressing.  Add in additional blue cheese until it is a pungent as you like it.  This dressing is really delicious by the way on a fresh, green salad.

Sticky Asian Style Wings

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp ground garlic
• sriracha chili sauce to taste
• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints, tips removed

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.  By the way, I have a crap oven so it is possible this will be too hot for your super awesome oven.  You can lower the heat to 425°F if you think this will be a problem.  It will affect the cooking time slightly but since I am not sure how long I cooked them for exactly you have to guess anyway.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, tossing to cover. I did not add any sriracha because I wanted the kids to be able to have some of these, but for grown-ups I would have added a couple of tablespoons.
3. Line a deep baking sheet with foil-trust me you do not want to have to clean this up.
4. Lightly oil the foil then pour wings and sauce onto sheet.
5. Bake about 20 min then remove sheet and use a spoon to re-coat wings with thickened pan sauces.
6. Bake about 20-30 minutes longer, remove sheet when sauce begins to stick. Shake wings around in pan and toss for a final coating then remove to a platter.

Garlic Parmesan Wings

• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints, tips removed
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp parsley, minced
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

1. Cook wings.  Fry at 370°F for about 20 minutes or bake at 425°F to 450°F for 30-50 minutes.  You can also broil wings (although I would remove sticky wings from the oven if cooking both).
2. While wings are cooking combine melted butter, garlic and parsley in a bowl.  Set aside.
3. Toss cooked wings in butter while hot.
4. Arrange on a platter, sprinkle with cheese, salt and pepper.

Hot Wings

• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints, tips removed
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce
• 1-2 tsp Tabasco sauce, to taste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Cook wings.  Fry at 370°F for about 20 minutes or bake at 425°F to 450°F for 30-50 minutes.  You can also broil wings (although I would remove sticky wings from the oven if cooking both).
2. While wings are cooking, melt butter in a small sauce pan.
3. Add Hot sauce, Tabasco and Worcestershire.
4. Whisk to combine well then add cooked wings and toss to coat. Serve with Blue Cheese Dressing.

While this may seem like a lot of work, you will notice the prep times for all of these add up to only about 20 minutes total of actual work.  Also, feel free to use pre-cut wings or drummettes or whatever but if you cut the wings yourself, be sure to keep the wingtips in a bag in your freezer.  They will be a great addition to stock later on.