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Jan 15

Party Food : Buffalo Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

 

Buffalo Wings

 

 

Chicken wings are the ultimate party food in my opinion. They are cheap, versatile and oh-so delish. Put them on the grill; deep fry ’em; or simply bake them on a tray … whatever method you choose they will always be a crowd pleaser. Mum used to make me dark soy and honey ones, and being Asian, we ate them with a plateful of rice (duuh …!) but that’ll be a recipe for another day, folks.

 

 

Today I am making the all American favourite ~ hot and spicy buffalo wings along with a blue cheese dipping sauce. I got to thinking about buffalo wings when I was out in the doggie park on Sunday with a few members from our expat doggie play group. One of the members is an Irish chap, and after a rather chilly day spent outdoors with our furry friends we all found ourselves at a local pub, warming ourselves with hot chocolate. This pub inevitably was broadcasting a LIVE feed of the English Premier League (Man Utd vs Liverpool). Incidentally, my boyfriend LOVES English football too and the two of them sat very merrily watching Manchester United beat Liverpool. After the match R mentioned that we should invite our new found Irish friend over for future football matches …. perhaps one of the big games of the season, Premier League Final.

 

 

What immediately occurs in my mind is, “Oh my god! This is like the Super Bowl, and we need food to go along with!” So when we got home that very evening I took out my pen and some paper and immediately started scribbling down random food ideas that popped into my head, choosing the best ones for later. I knew I wanted chicken wings on the menu but I have never made buffalo wings before, so I put in a couple of hours research into that. I also turned to my online food mentor, Chef John of Foodwishes.com coz I knew that was probably the best place to start … and I was right. Big shout-out to chef John for teaching me how to cook like a decent person over the years.  🙂

 

 

Anyway, so let’s get started. First we’ll begin by oven-frying our chicken ~~ way healthier than deep frying; plus the chicken comes out super tender and the bones kinda just slip out. I’m just using regular supermarket wings … nothing fancy here. You’ll want to separate them into ‘drums’ and ‘flats’ by cutting right through the joint. Wing tips are to be discarded or kept for making stock on a later date.

 

 

Buffalo Wings4

 

 

Then salt and pepper the chicken pieces. I also added a dash of garlic powder to my mix. Then comes the oil to coat ~ choose something neutral with no strong flavour, like regular veggie or sunflower oil. After that place the chicken wings into a large ziplock bag or a bin liner along with one cup of plain flour. Tie it up and give everything a good shake. Dust off excess flour and place wings onto a lightly greased baking sheet.

 

 

Buffalo Wings5

 

 

Whack them in a preheated oven at 190ºC for 30 mins each side. The floured bits will crisp up and turn a nice golden brown, adding a bit of crunch to the finished product.

 

 

While those babies are baking away, let’s get started on the coating that will go over them later. It’s a nice spicy sauce so grab yourself a bottle of hot sauce and some Tabasco. Heat this and a knob of butter on medium heat, along with the vinegar, Worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Give it a good stir and taste for seasoning. If you like it hot then add more Tabasco.

 

 

Buffalo Wings

 

 

Once the chicken wings are done, transfer them to a heatproof bowl. Pour over the hot sauce, cover with a plate and shake to toss. Work in two batches for ease. Do this while the chicken is still piping hot to soak up all that flavour.

 

 

Buffalo Wings7

 

 

Now rearrange the wings onto the baking sheet and return them to the oven to dry up a little, but turn the heat down to about 100ºC.

 

 

Buffalo Wings8

 

 

While the wings are happily drying in the oven and soaking up all that honest to goodness hot sauce, it is time to whip up our blue cheese dip. You can use a commercial brand too if you wish, considering there are heaps of decent products out there. But here is my recipe anyway. Place everything except the chives into a blender and whizz. Done in less than a minute. Adjust seasoning to your liking. Finely chop the chives and stir thru the creamy dip. Keep in the fridge until ready for use.

 

 

Buffalo Wings

 

 

So there you have it, a fun yet fantastic finger food option to serve at your next party. Remember, these are super delicious so you’d wanna make lots of them. This is the first time I have made chicken wings using this method of oven-frying, but I must say the results speak for themselves. This technique will be firmly added to my growing collection of cooking know-how.

 

 

 

Ingredients: (adapted from Chef John’s recipe.)

  • 24 chicken wings
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 80 g butter
  • 1/2 cup hot sauce
  • 1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
  • 5 drips of Tabasco sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp white distilled vinegar
  • pinch of salt

 

 

Blue Cheese Dip.

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 150 g mature blue cheese of choice
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • salt and black pepper to taste

 

 

 

Buffalo Wings

 

 

 

Well rest assured this is only my first chicken wing recipe. I’ll be back with more in the near future … quite possibly an Asian inspired one. But that’s it from me today, and until next time … happy cooking and goodluck!

 

 

 

~ Enjoy! ~

 

 

 

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