Buffalo Wings

Recipe for: BUFFALO WINGS (Spiced chicken wings)

Ingredients:

·         A great big pile of chicken wings (cut the thin tips off & joint each wing into two to leave bit-size pieces on the bone)

·         2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed

·         1 tblsp olive oil

·         1 ½ tblsp cider vinegar

·         1 tsp paprika

·         1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

·         2 tblsp tomato puree

·         1 tsp salt

·         2 tblsp pepper sauce – choose how hot/ intense you want the wings to be!)

·         2 tblsp clear honey

Method:

1.       Prepare the chicken wings, and place them in a large bowl with some room to be able to stir them around.

2.       In a separate bowl, mix all the other ingredients to form a hot, sticky marinade.

3.       Taste & adjust as you see fit, depending on how spicy you want your wings.

4.       Pour the marinade over the wings, and turn them over to coat everything thoroughly.

5.       Cover and stick the bowl in the fridge for as long as possible.  Overnight is good.

6.       Stir/ turn the wings in the marinade a few times.

7.       When you are ready to cook, heat the oven to 180C/ fan 170C/ gas 4.

8.       Drain the wings and reserve the marinade.

9.       Spread the drained wings onto a large baking sheet, spacing them out as much as possible.  If there’s a lot, use two trays rather than crowd them – they need to bake, not steam.

10.    Bake for 30 minutes, then pour off any excess oil that has gathered on the tray.

11.    Baste the wings in some of the marinade, then return to the oven.  Turn the oven up by 10-15C, because we want the edges of the wings to start catching in the heat.

12.    Bake for another 15-20 minutes, basting with marinade 2 or 3 times.

13.    The wings should be sticky & glazed, with most of the liquid/ marinade evaporated or poured off.  That means dry, not floating in a sauce!

What else you need to know:

1.       Serve on a warmed large serving platter, sprinkled with chopped coriander and/ or spring onions.

2.       Provide plenty of napkins/ kitchen towel as the wings are wonderfully messy, and a bowl to catch all the discarded bones.

3.       The traditional American accompaniments are sticks of raw carrot and raw celery, together with a blue cheese dip/ dressing.  No idea why, but they do, and it works just fine!