Buffalo Chicken Wings

(I served it with a blue cheese dip.)

How American can you get? Traditionally, these are chicken wings fried straight from the grocery, then dipped in mixture of pure fat (butter) and an instant seasoning sauce (Tabasco). It is quick, simple and indulgent.

Of course, I decided it needed a twist, so I seasoned the meat prior to frying, added some other stuff to the sauce to make the flavors more interesting.

For one kilogram of chicken, I seasoned it with some salt, pepper, juice of one lemon, two cloves of chopped garlic and a teaspoon of fresh thyme. You don’t need to flavor the chicken. We only want enough flavoring to mask the “off” meat flavor. Set this aside for a day or two in the refrigerator.

(I marinated the chicken the left it in a freezer bag in the ref for a day.)

Heat up some oil, then fry the wings after dredging them in a small amount of cornstarch. The cornstarch (or flour) will form a coating that will absorb our sauce. Drain on a paper towel.

(Drain the chicken well, but make sure they are still warm when you toss them with the sauce so they absorb much of it.)

Mix the sauce: one teaspoon chopped garlic, ½ teaspoon seasoning sauce/ soy sauce, three tablespoons chili catsup/ tomato catsup, ½ cup melted butter, one teaspoon maple syrup and 30 mL chili sauce (Tabasco, Sriracha, sambal, etc).

(Toss the chicken with the sauce to evenly coat all peices.)

Trust me, the combination of maple syrup, tomato catsup and chili gives a smoky- sweet and sour flavor!

I made a dipping sauce of cream cheese (1/2 cup) and blue cheese (two tablespoons).