Chicken Wings, the Super Snack

Chicken wings wouldn't have the same cachet today if it were not for the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y., where fried wings were first bathed in butter and hot sauce back in 1964 and served up with celery, carrot sticks and blue cheese dressing to a winning bowling team.

Wings took off from that day forward and soared to a place very near first on snack and appetizer menus everywhere. Parlaying their restaurant popularity, wings became a regular on the party-food circuit, too, one of those items occupying huge trays at casual gatherings.

They are cheaper to buy and faster to cook than ribs after all, and able to hold vast quantities of spicy sauces. Neither does a cook need a machete to hack and divide wings at their joints. It's definitely a kitchen operation, as opposed to the tougher task of sawing spareribs into short lengths for party "appeteasers."

Wings are such a staple for entertaining types that they're sold already disjointed, the less meaty wing tips discarded or dedicated to soup stock, and the remaining drummettes frozen in gigantic plastic bags for buying clubs and warehouse stores.

Wings seem inexpensive, but are not on my shopping lists because they're not good providers of either meat or protein for the dollar. They're more bone and skin than meat, yet when you want a saucy, finger-lickin' treat, calories no object, then wings are the things to buy.

A survey of cooks' literature turned up these tasty wing preparations, which don't involve blue cheese dressing or celery sticks, for once. For nearly any recipe, the cook can choose whether to grill, bake or pan-fry the wings.

Big wing worshipers will want to check out this cookbook, Wings Across America: 150 Outrageously Delicious Chicken Wing Recipes, by chef Armand C. Vanderstigchel (Birch Lane Press/Carol Publishing Group, 1999). Incredibly, the author of this amusing and creative collection received his chef training in Europe. Now he lives on Long Island and previously co-authored The Adirondack Cookbook. Clearly, he's been won over by American regional food and the wild fusion of borrowed tastes from abroad.

There's a tad of duplication here, I think, with some of the sauces using different proportions of the same ingredients like hoisin sauce or lime juice. But there are also tips in the book for giving a wing-tasting party and some outstanding side-dish recipes, including many different dips (Armand's Remoulade, Hot Apricot, etc.), Party Cole Slaw, Red Devil Potato Salad, Spicy Corn Salad, Refreshing Cuke Salad, Bad Boys Beans and Rice, Hot Corn Pudding, Buffalo Mashed Potatoes, Buffie Huffie Puppies, and Easy Garlic Bread.

One look at this wings cookbook, and Super Bowl party plans begin to take shape in your mind.

The most elaborate recipe for chicken wings--Finger Poppin' Honey Buffaloes with Dragon Wing Dust and "Bluer Than Blooze" Cheese Dressing--is found in the new Famous Dave's Backroads & Sidestreets cookbook by winning barbecue cook and restaurant owner Dave Anderson (The Mino-Giizhig Fund/Favorite Recipes Press, 1999, $32.95 hardcover). He's a Choctaw/Chippewa who has won many entrepreneurial awards and a master's degree from Harvard. Many of Anderson's recipes call for his own seasoning blends (check his website at www.famousdaves.com) and a few other ingredients listed in the recipes. They're not quick and easy formulas, but a barbecue cook's masterpieces. The book would be a delight for a weekend hobbyist cook.

I'm sharing his recipe for blue cheese dressing that would enhance any Buffalo wings feast, with a salute in the direction of his 22 Famous Dave's BBQ Shack restaurants scattered around the country. This dressing has all the fat and calories left out of the meat-free frozen hot wings.

Bombay Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

24 chicken drummettes
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 Tbs. minced green onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. pepper

Preparation:

In a large bowl, mix the curry powder, turmeric, soy sauce, oil, green onion, garlic and pepper. Add chicken, tossing to coat well. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. Drain chicken and place in a single layer on a jellyroll pan. Place in a 350-degree oven and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Arrange chicken wings on a platter with a bowl of Yogurt-Chutney Dipping Sauce in center.

Yogurt-Chutney Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 Tbs. finely chopped mango, peach or cantaloupe
1 Tbs. minced cilantro
1 Tbs. minced green onion
1/4 tsp. hot sauce
1/8 tsp. pepper

Preparation:

Blend together ingredients and serve.

Yield: 6 appetizer servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Marinate: 1 hour
Bake: 25 minutes

Recipe from Chicken Cookbook
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Sweet-and-Sour Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
2 Tbs. Asian sesame oil
2 lbs. chicken wings (about 12)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
chopped green onions

Preparation:

Prepare outdoor grill. Prepare sweet-sour sauce first: In a one-quart saucepan, combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil and 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens; boil one minute. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle wings with pepper and place on grill over medium heat. Grill wings 25 to 30 minutes, until tender and golden and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with tip of knife, turning wings frequently and brushing with sweet-sour sauce during last 10 minutes of cooking. To serve, sprinkle chicken wings with chopped green onion.

Yield: 4 small main-dish servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Grilling: 25 to 30 minutes

Recipe from Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Main Dishes
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Bavarian Oom Pah Pah Wings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coarse German mustard
2 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
2 Tbs. beer
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
20 trimmed, separated wings

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mustard, honey, dry mustard, onion powder, beer, vinegar, cayenne, garlic, pepper and green onions. Add the wings to the bowl and toss. Marinate four hours in the refrigerator.

Spread the wings evenly in a greased or sprayed two-inch-deep baking dish and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a platter; serve with beer and pumpernickel bread, potato or cucumber salad.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 7 minutes
Marinate: 4 hours
Baking: 25 minutes

Recipe from Wings Across America
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Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup each buttermilk, sour cream
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. red pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. Famous Dave's Steak seasoning (see note)
1/2 tsp. cracked pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup coarsely crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup small-curd cottage cheese
2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Combine mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream and cream cheese in a blender container. Process until smooth. Combine the mayo mixture, onion, parsley, lemon juice, Worcestershire, red hot sauce, steak seasoning, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl and mix well. Fold in blue cheese, cottage cheese and Parmesan. Chill, covered, overnight to allow flavors to blend.

Yield: 3 cups dressing
Prep time: 20 minutes, plus chilling overnight

* Note: If you don't have steak seasoning, use Morton Nature's Seasons Seasoning Salt.

Recipe from Famous Dave's Backroads & Sidestreets
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