Wing Weekend

Ahh, Football season. For some this means the next few months will be filled with fantasy, free agency and trades. For me, it is an excuse to eat junky appetizers washed down with beers on a Sunday afternoon. 

 There are so many instances, sitting around with friends, cheering or booing that I look back fondly upon. Like ordering 3 buckets (yes Buckets) of wings from a local chicken wing joint during the AFC championship, where guacamole and Oreos were the only break in wing consumption we had that day. Or meeting the actor who played Steve Urkel, who looked an awful lot like Stefan, at the Eagles bar in West Hollywood.  (Yes, I'm name dropping.)

I may have mentioned that I have a special weakness for appetizers. Frozen appetizers are the food I am most ashamed to admit that I love. The thing is, I know they are not even that good. I am a sucker for packaging and advertising. A commercial filled with people having fun and eating previously frozen pizza puffs, hooks me every time. And the siren call of appetizers at restaurants, lure me in to a false hope of deliciousness. Combo platter? Yes, with all the dipping sauces you have please.

In fact, after college when I was living in a house with a couple of girlfriends, we would have roommate happy hour. This entailed cheap very fruity “wine”, frozen appetizers and a good dose of America’s Next Top Model. Now, of course Joe will indulge me sometimes, but I can only get him to agree to 2 out of those three items. So I take full advantage of any opportunities that present themselves to indulge in tiny pre-meal bites.

Wings are the ultimate appetizer to me. Special enough to require some time and effort in preparation – or just a really great wing bar. But wings at home almost seem exotic. Should they be fried, or oven baked? And don’t even get me started with sauce options.

For me, wings should be tender and the meat should fall off the bones. You should not be able to eat wings daintily, and you should feel good about having carrots and celery in between bites of wings. So the next time you have an America’s Next Top Model marathon, or just need to sit on the couch and watch football for 5 hours straight, here is an easy, tasty wing recipe.

Tar Pit Wings
as adapted from Gourmet Cookbook

Be sure to foil the bottom of the pan. The sauce has a tendency to boil up in the oven, and will be a pain to clean if you don’t properly foil the pan. The sauce will also look like a lot, too much even, at the beginning of the baking process, but don’t worry it’ll all work out in the end.

1 lb chicken wings, split and wing tips removed
1/3 c. light soy sauce
1/3 c. dry red wine
1/8 c. sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
Black Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°. Place wings in a single layer, in the bottom of a foiled roasting pan. Combine the soy sauce, wine and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in ground ginger and black pepper. Pour sauce of the wings.

Bake wings for about 45 minutes, then turn the wings over. At this point about 1/2 the sauce should be left. Continue to bake for another hour and 10 minutes, or until the sauce is sticky and the wings are super tender.

Let the wings cool until you are able to handle them. Serve and enjoy!