While huddled in my dark bedroom whimpering like a puppy, I wondered why my kids' love of onomatopoeia rises in direct proportion to any pain I might be experiencing. The first twinges behind my right eyeball bring an immediate need for a toy earth mover to back up across the family room (beep, beep, beeeeeeeeep). By the time little silver flashes cross my field of vision, an ambulance speeds its way to an emergency at the domino run (oooooh-waaaaah, oooooh-waaaaaah). When I'm ready to weep, tears falling in unison with the pulsing in my temple, there is inevitably a Lego tower in need of demolition (petchoooom!). It is a most vexing phenomenon and something I find really odd - I swear that the little ambulance never sees any action unless I am about to take a drill to my head, a la Maximilian Cohen.
Anyway, all is quiet now and it turns out all I needed was a little time and the distraction of the first nice-ish day this year. We had the kids run around in the mud a bit and managed to soak up some vitamin D conversion rays ourselves, coming inside just in time to whip up a few snackies and sit down to the
Among the treats turned out post-headache were a batch of wings inspired by the Crock Pot Blogger Lady's sweet and spicy wings. Being from the greater metropolitan Buffalo, New York area as I am, I find the idea of "sweet and spicy" wings sort of, well, icky. But! It was her method that intrigued me. Wings can be tricky and there are all sorts of opportunities for failure - they may be soggy, chewy, too hot (as in no flavor, just heat) and so on. And? Word to the uninformed: there are no "flavors" of Buffalo wings. Buffalo wings are the flavor. Sweet, spicy, teriyaki, whatever, sure. They're your flavors. But please, don't ever let me hear you talk about all the kinds of Buffalo wings you ate at happy hour. Good?
Moving on, then. The original recipe came from, of all places, the Semi-Homemade corner of the universe and I have to give props where props are due: this is a really clever method of preparing the wings and solves a lot of the problems home wing-makers have long faced.
(Totally unrelated aside: As I type this, the NFL has ruled that one more play must be run to complete the Super Bowl. Bill "Not A Cool Guy" Belichick has left the field, having apparently realized somewhat belatedly that no amount of creative rule interpretation can guarantee a championship team. Yes, it sucks to be 35 seconds away from a perfect season and have it blown to pieces. Really, though? Walking away like that before the game is truly over? My four year-old manages better sportsmanship.)
What was that about moving on? Yes - solving problems. The whole broiling the wings before a nice long soak in the sauce is a lovely alternative to frying or broiling alone. Frying at home is messy and broiling alone deprives the wings of depth of flavor. I broiled my wings in a single layer for about 20 minutes at a fairly high setting and then put them and the sauce in the crock on low for a couple hours. After this treatment, the wings were crazy tender but a leeeetle soft in the skin for me. A second 15-minute broil (on low this time) solved that problem nicely and a toss in a bit of the leftover sauce made an excellent batch, good enough even for this hardened Buffalo born-and-bred wing snob.
But what about the sauce? Simple. One part unsalted butter to three parts Frank's Red Hot, with a tiny splash of white vinegar for additional added kick and a smidge of ground black pepper just for fun. The good people at Frank's make a pre-mixed wing sauce that may be lovely, but homemade is easy and tasty so why not make it fresh? Oh, and also? Tabasco sauce, another fine peppery product, is great for many applications but isn't the best choice for your Buffalo wing needs. Other sauces, maybe, but not the Buffalo.
Now that my headache is gone, the game over and the wine glass empty while the work week looms it's time to call a it a day. Sweet dreams, everyone.