Cook the Book: Classic Buffalo Wings
The official position of The Great Wings Book on fresh versus frozen is: "It's a tie." While more delicate meats are adversely affected by freezing, chicken wings are indestructible.
Just as indestructible is the American appetite for this classic wings dish. There's some debate over which the Buffalo, NY restaurant first created the spicy favorite, but we can all agree that buffalo wings should be served with tangy blue cheese sauce and a heaping mound of celery and carrot sticks on the side.
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Classic Buffalo Wings
- makes 24 wings -
Adapted from The Great Wings Book by Hugh Carpenter & Teri Sandison.
Ingredients
For the blue cheese dressing:
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 to 4 tablespoons whipping cream, half-and-half, or milk
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the wings:
24 chicken wings
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vinegar, any kind
4 cups flavorless cooking oil
Carrot sticks and/or celery sticks, for serving
Procedure
1. To make the dressing, in an electric blender, place 1/2 cup of the blue cheese and all the remaining ingredients and liquefy. For a thinner consistency, add a little more whipping cream. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup blue cheese. This can be done up to 12 hours before cooking, and then stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.
2. Cut off and discard the chicken wing tips. Cut the wings in half through the joint. You will have 48 pieces. Rub the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the hot sauce, butter, and vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then set aside.
3. Place a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat on an indoor stovetop or an outdoor gas grill. Add the cooking oil. Heat the oil until bubbles form around the end of a wooden spoon dipped into the oil, 350 to 375°F. Turn the heat to high. Add half the chicken wings. Deep-fry until the wings become deep golden and the meat is cooking along the bone (cut into one with a paring knife), about 12 minutes. Transfer the wings to a wire rack to drain. Cook the second batch of wings.
4. Place the wings on a serving platter. Pour the butter sauce over the wings. Serve with the dressing and the carrot sticks.
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10 Comments:
A three to one ratio of hot sauce to butter works well. You want to use Frank's Hot Sauce if you are striving for authenticity. The best way to coat the wings is to put them in a bowl with a cover and shake them. THe longer they are in contact with the sauce the hotter they will be-- a quick toss yields medium.
outsidecounsel at 1:26PM on 01/22/09
There's a debate as to where chicken wings deep fried & tossed in hot sauce & butter came from? Here in Buffalo, NY we know they originated here. I've never heard of a debate on that.
We also don't put vinegar in classic wing sauce...just Frank's hot sauce and butter. The more hot sauce, the hotter the wings.
@outsidecounsel - you are right about one thing...the best way to sauce them is in a bowl or container w/a lid....put the sauce in first, put the chicken wings in, close the lid, and shake away!
mepolo at 3:44PM on 01/22/09
@mepolo - You're right about the debate, and I stand corrected. Everyone seems to agree that they come from Buffalo, it's a question of which restaurant in Buffalo.
Michele Humes at 3:52PM on 01/22/09
My buddy learned from his neighbor who worked at Hooter's:
- boil the wings for 10 minutes
- drain then fry until golden brown
- toss with half butter/half Frank's OR Frank's wing sauce (already has butter in it)
purecharger at 4:57PM on 01/22/09
Frank's is good stuff, don't get me wrong, but I have found that I prefer Texas Pete and butter instead. I don't know what it is, but I can drink Texas Pete right out of the bottle.
Around my home, all we do is the hot sauce and butter(I have some other ways, but hardly ever bother). If they're fried, toss them in a bowl with a lid and shake away. If I smoke them on the grill, when nice and crispy, I place the wings in a pot full of Pete and butter, then bake until thay are almost falling off the bone. Either way, it's a no fail afternoon of good eats.
Raiders757 at 5:30PM on 01/22/09
@mepolo: Franks hot sauce has vinegar in it, so if you were using a different style of hot sauce, you might want to add vinegar.
I'm always amazed that most recipes seem to make classic chicken wings more complicated then they need to be. The directions on the back of the bottle of Franks are the best and the easiest:
Take 2 1/2 lbs of wings and fry at 400 degrees for 12 minutes ( I tend to keep mine in a little longer to get the skin extra crispy)
Combine 1/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup hot sauce in a bowl
when chicken wings are cooked, drain from oil and toss to coat in butter sauce mixture, the longer you toss the hotter and messier your wings. (although if you want them truly suicidal I'd roll them in fresh cayenne pepper powder after coating ). Please no salt and pepper rub, that's just nasty....
For the blue cheese, I don't think there's anything wrong with using a commercial blue cheese dressing (like Kraft Roka), after all these are wings here. According to legend, the wings were created at the Anchor Bar as a quick cheap meal for workers who just got off the late shift. Personally, when restaurants here in Buffalo cut their blue cheese dressing with mayo or milk I feel like I'm being ripped off, also hard to get real carrot sticks anymore, or celery at all.....
stonechiper at 6:07PM on 01/22/09
Also I don't think there is any argument over which restaurant in Buffalo, it was the Anchor Bar
http://www.anchorbar.com/
stonechiper at 6:10PM on 01/22/09
@stonechiper - I'm referring to a Calvin Trillin piece that appeared in the New Yorker in 1980, in which he interviews a man named John Young who claims to have invented the dish. He called it "wings in mambo sauce". Here.
Michele Humes at 6:18PM on 01/22/09
@stonechiper - yes...Franks, and most hot sauces have vinegar in them....that's why I couldn't figure out where the vinegar in the recipe above comes in.
You've noticed the same thing though....alot of places around here aren't even putting the veggies in with the wings anymore....cheap huh? lol
@michele - I have read that piece.....that's the only place I've ever seen a debate about the origins...around here...the birthplace of the wing...it's pretty commonly know that they originated at the Anchor Bar.
Guess we'll never know...
mepolo at 1:18PM on 01/23/09
All is good, but I got a receipe from a hotel owner in Buffalo Ny
1 8oz can tomato paste
1 stick butter
Franks hot sauce
Tabasco
water
Melt butter and add tomato paste. Add water until you get the consistancy you like. Add about half the bottle of Franks and about 1/4 to 1/3 of bottle of Tabasco. You can add more or less but be carefull it doesn't taste hot but will really sneak up on you. The Franks has all the right ingredients so you don't have to add them individually. This gives you a hot wing with great flavor that doesn't just burn your mouth like most.
kdog61 at 4:21PM on 01/30/09