Hot Wing Face Off and The Meal Plan 2/7- 2/13

Football season has been busier than usual in our household. As a result, I didn't follow either of the teams competing in tonight's Super Bowl on their journey to XLV. So, for a little added excitement, since I didn't particularly care about the outcome of the game (and because I'm a bit of a food geek), I decided to stage a competition of my own during the game. I carried out the "Hot Wing Face Off" as I watched the Super Bowl from my kitchen. The contenders: Oven Baked Wings vs. Traditional Fried Wings.

We're big fans of  traditional hot wings, fried to a crisp and tossed with hot sauce. But last week, I came across THIS recipe for Unbelievable Baked Buffalo Wings on Food.com. Would they really be "Unbelievable"? Better than the fried version, even? I had to find out.

Wings were already on the menu for our Super Bowl snacks, so I set just 6 wings aside to make the Unbelievable Baked Wings.

Here's how it went:

All wings started out the same, separated into flats and mini drummies with my kitchen shears (for a tutorial on how to do this, see HERE) and rinsed.

Put the wings in a pot with water (to cover) and red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil and then cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Transfer the wings to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

The recipe instructed: "Bake wings on "Broil" (high) for 15 minutes on each side.(For crispier wings, cook longer on each side, maybe 20 minutes per side)."

20 minutes per side!? This much broiling for itty bitty chicken wings seemed excessive to me, but I just shrugged and followed the instructions, but not before moving my oven rack further away from the broiler so the wings would not be so close to the intensity of the heat. About 10 minutes into the broiling time, I smelled something burning. Uh-oh. Luckily, I was able to salvage the wings...barely. No worries about them being crisp enough. I did turn them over and broil for another 2 minutes on the other side just to insure even crispness before removing them from the oven.

To finish, I tossed the wings in my go-to classic wing sauce: equal parts of butter (melted) and Frank's Red Hot. So simple, but it always turns out perfectly.

*For 1 dozen wings, I used 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of Red Hot.

Now for the fried wings: I just dropped the wings into the basket in my fryer (pre-heated to 350 degrees).

Send them for an 8-10 minute dip in the hot tub.

Then remove the perfectly crispy wings. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with a little salt, and toss with sauce.

*To sauce, I like to put the wings in a plastic container filled with sauce, top with a lid, and shake the container until the wings are coated.

The verdict:

Side by side on the serving plate you can't tell the difference between baked and fried. Despite the fact that the baked wings were boiled with spices, there was no discernible difference in taste, either. But the texture...well, here's where the fried wings had the edge. Both preparation methods yielded a crispy outside, but the meat of the baked wings was a bit chewier-slightly rubbery, even. Not so much that it was repulsive, but enough that I definitely preferred the fried wings to the baked. And so, THE WINNER: the fried wings! That said, if you're really trying to cut fried food out of your diet...and you've got a hankerin' for hot wings, the Unbelievable Baked Buffalo Wings would be a good substitute. But me, I'd skip lunch just to splurge on the fried wings!

YUM!

And now, for a meal plan!

Monday February 7th

Stewed Garlicky Sausage and Peppers

Tuesday February 8th

Duck Fajitas

Wednesday February 9th

Zippy Chicken Soup

Thursday February 10th

Leftovers

Friday February 11th

Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza

Saturday February 12th

Saturday night appetizer: Spinach in Onion Shells

Sunday February 13th

Brunch: Croque-Madame Casserole


Grocery List

Produce
3 large onions
1 large "flat" sweet onion
1 red onion
3 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
1 yellow bell pepper
garlic
avocado
cilantro
jalapeno pepper
basil
mushrooms

Meat
1-3/4 lbs. sweet or hot Italian sausage
4- 6 oz. boneless, skinless duck breast filets
1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
6 oz. turkey or chicken Italian sausage
8 oz. deli ham

Dairy
sour cream
shredded Mexican blend cheese
8 oz. mozzarella
Parmesan cheese
cream cheese
7 eggs
milk
butter
6 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese

Dry Goods
oregano
red pepper flakes
12- 6 in. flour tortillas
cumin
chili powder
cayenne pepper
cornstarch
tortilla chips
sugar
1 package active dry yeast
cornmeal
crushed rosemary
garlic salt
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
10 slices white bread
nutmeg
flour

Canned Goods
olive oil
vegetable oil
tomato paste
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
dry white wine
salsa
32 oz. reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
28 oz. can whole tomatoes

Freezer
2 cups whole kernel corn
10 oz. package chopped spinach

PRINT IT! For a printable copy of this meal plan AND grocery list click HERE!

Hot Wings!

I has been nearly a week since my last post. It sure feels like a lot longer! I hadn't intended to go on such a long Christmas break, but we have been sick, sick, sick in this house. I'd really like a Christmas "do-over" but since that's not possible, I'm just hoping that we're all healthy for the new year. I haven't done much cooking at all...but I do have these to show you:

Crispy Southern Fried Hot Wings with Spicy Dipping Sauce



and Buffalo Style Hot Wings with Ranch and Celery



On Christmas night, during what we didn't yet realize was to be a calm in the "sickie storm", I made these for my husband after the kiddos were tucked all snug in their beds. It was my Christmas surprise to him. For months, he has been campaigning for the addition of a fryer to our ensemble of small kitchen appliances. Usually the reason I avoid purchase of more kitchen appliances is 1. That they don't get enough use to justify the space they take up in the kitchen and 2. I can often acheive the same result that these gadgets boast with the tools I already own and a little extra effort. For instance, a quesadilla maker. Do I really need a whole appliance so that my quesadillas can come out pre-portioned into little triangles? Probably not. However, this time I denied his request for a fryer on the grounds that if we have a fryer, we will be likely to use it. Maybe even often. And really, who needs more fried food in their diet? Definitely not us!

All through football season I have heard about how if we had a fryer, we could make our own wings...and then we could make our own wing sauce...and then....and then... More than once, my husband threatened that one day he would come home with a fryer and make this hot wing dream come true. But he didn't. So, as Christmas shopping season rolled around, I knew exactly what I was getting him for Christmas. This: Euro-Pro F1052 Professional 2-Liter Stainless-Steel Deep Fryer! With the fryer purchased and in the mail, I began research on how to make wings. I ended up on one of my all time favorite food blogs, Deep South Dish. I figured that Mary knew how to fry up some wings! She did not disappoint. I found a number of wing recipes to choose from after clicking on the Appetizers and Party Food category on Deep South Dish. After choosing two recipes, I made my grocery list, picked up the ingredients to make the wings, grabbed a gallon of canola oil for the fryer, and planned a trip to the West Side Market to obtain fresh wings the day before Christmas. Because after all, what fun is it to get a gift if you can't use it right away? It's like giving a kid a remote control car with no batteries when all of the stores are closed on Christmas day. SO not fair!

I have to say that now that we have a fryer in our lives, I do not regret it. Let's face it, fried food is just good. Not good for you...but good! The wings were amazing! I expected them to be pretty good, but I never dreamed that they would turn out every bit as good as the wings from our favorite wing restaurant. And seriously, they were really easy to make.

Let's begin with the easiest of the two recipes that we made, Buffalo-Style Hot Wings. I started by making the sauce. Just melt a stick of butter and stir in a cup of hot sauce. I used Frank's Red Hot. Remove from heat.



And now for the wings. You can purchase whole chicken wings and disjoint them yourself. Mary explains the whole process here in her post about these hot wings. I purchased mine already cut up into wingettes (or flats) and drumettes. One of my favorite places to shop in my city is the West Side Market. I love the energy, the variety, the fresh produce, meat, and pasta, and the competitive prices! I got these cut-up wings for $2.99/lb. My cousin happened to be visiting from Atlanta and ventured out to the market with me. According to him, he recently paid $7/lb. for wings at the grocery, so I was feeling pretty good about $2.99. I bought about 4 1/2 pounds. For our Christmas night wingfest, we only fried 2 dozen wings. I froze the rest. I'm thinking hot wings for New Year's Eve...

I preheated my husband's brand-spanking-new fryer to 350 degrees, put the wings in the basket, dropped them into the oil, and fried them for 8-10 minutes. You'll want them golden brown and crisp.

Here they are, all ready for a dip in the hot tub.



Once the wings were fried, I tranferred them to a plate lined with paper towel and salted them. Then, I put them into a resealable container, poured the sauce over top, put the lid onto the container, and gave them a good shake.



And that's all there is to it. I made some ranch dressing (my husband prefers ranch to bleu cheese) and plated them up with some celery sticks. YUM! To get the detailed recipes for these Buffalo Style Hot Wings and Mary's Bleu Cheese Dipping Sauce click HERE.



Now for those Crispy Southern Fried Hot Wings...



This recipe was a little more involved. First, you make a rub with 2 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning, 2 teaspoons of black pepper, 2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning, 1 tablespoon seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper, 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon onion powder. Toss the wings in the rub, then cover and refrigerate for an hour. Because of my husband's aversion to lemon flavored anything and the fact that I think the lemon pepper seasoning that I used in this may have been old (therefore really strong and offensive)...I'll probably leave that out the next time I make this recipe. Otherwise, the flavor was delicious and packed just the right amount of spicy kick.



Before frying, I made an egg wash with eggs(duh!), hot sauce, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.



Dip the wings in the egg wash.



Then dredge in flour. Fry em' up...



and serve them with this Spicy Dipping Sauce. Just mix together sour cream, horseradish, chili sauce, and cayenne pepper.



I'd like to fry up a whole chicken this way. Buffalo style is still my favorite way to eat wings, but if I were making fried chicken, I really loved this Crispy Fried Southern Chicken recipe, which you can find at Deep South Dish. Just click HERE for the wing and Spicy Dipping Sauce recipe.



Now dust off your fryers and go get some wings! You won't be sorry!