Red, White & Bleu

My husband and I normally enjoy doing something festive for the 4th of July, and it usually involves an outdoor grill. I don't know if it's just me, but this summer seems like it's a LOT hotter than normal! That said, the last thing we wanted to be doing was standing outside in 100 degree heat, over flames! No thanks! We thought of what some other favorite "American" meals were and decided to try making buffalo wings at home. We're both HUGE buffalo wing fans, but never made them at home. After checking out a bunch of different recipes, this is what we came up with:

Christen's Spicy Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:

1 package raw chicken wings and drummettes
vegetable oil for frying
Seasonings to taste (I used Tony's Creole Seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder and salt)
1 bottle Emeril's Wing Sauce
Bleu Cheese (we used Marzetti Ultimate Bleu Cheese)
celery sticks, if desired

Method:

A few hours in advance, dump all raw chicken into a gallon sized ziploc bag, add desired seasonings, close (with some air in the bag) and shake it up! When it seems like all of the chicken is evenly coated, place in refrigerator.

When ready to fry, heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Place chicken in (we were only able to get about 6 pieces at a time in our Cuisinart Mini-Fryer) the fryer and cook 11-12 minutes, or until a deep golden. Drain on a wire rack placed over paper towels. If you're only able to fry a little at a time like us, place some aluminum foil over the chicken to keep warm on the wire rack.

Pour bottle of wing sauce into a microwave safe bowl and when all of the chicken is almost fried, heat the sauce in the microwave until hot.

Put all the chicken in a large bowl and toss with the warmed wing sauce. Serve immediately with bleu cheese and celery sticks.


Delicious, crispy buffalo wings!

The Verdict: mmmmmmmmm. That's the sound you make when you take a bite. This was fantastic! I've actually never fried chicken on the bone before because I'm always scared it won't be cooked through. This was cooked to perfection, the perfect amount of crisp and the Emeril's Wing Sauce delivered the exact amount of heat needed. A few of the recipes I looked at called for the wings being breaded first. I'm really glad I did it the traditional way, it was delicious! With today's economy this was an inexpensive way to enjoy a restaurant favorite at home! Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!