Last weekend I hosted a poker night at my house. I say hosted, as I didn’t end up participating – I don’t know how to play poker (at 22? how embarrassing, I know). This was somewhat of a surprise to my friend Nancy and her boyfriend, who felt that I had lured them there under somewhat false pretenses. So my Saturday night consisted of a group of neuroscientists, an engineer and a former paleontologist around my dining table, several pizzas and countless gin and tonics. It was a great success, something I’d partially like to attribute to my excellent buffalo wings.
The history of the buffalo wing is a bit unclear, but most people agree that it originates from Buffalo, New York. There was another American in attendance that evening, and I knew he’d appreciate a buffalo wing to go with all the San Miguels we’d bought for the night ahead. Buffalo wings are a great accompaniment for beer, and are easy to make in batches, making them the perfect bar food.
200g plain flour (or rice flour for gf)
1 tsp cajun spice
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
150ml hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot)
50g salted butter
plastic bag
16 chicken wings
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees, and grease a baking tray, then set to one side. In a saucepan, start melting the butter on a low heat. In a bowl, combine the flour, cajun spice, chilli powder and cayenne pepper, and pour into a plastic bag. Put the chicken wings inside the plastic bag, seal the top and shake until each wing is coated in the flour mixture. Some folks like to put the floured chicken into the fridge to marinade for half an hour or so, but I skipped this step as tensions surrounding the game were already high – no need for extra stress!
Once the butter has melted in the pan, stir in the hot sauce and let simmer before taking it off the heat.
Once the sauce has cooled slightly, dip each wing in the pan until it is covered in the liquid, then place on the baking tray. Once completed, pop the wings in the oven for 45 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, turn each wing over so each side crisps up evenly.
And there you have it! Serve with a cold beer while watching your favourite team win at the Olympics (or, more realistically, whilst looking perplexed at all the sports you didn’t even know existed).
islandbell.wordpress.com 