Sometimes simplicity reflects absolute genius.
In a world that seems to become more and more unnecessarily complicated every week, we treasure those moments of inspired simplicity more and more.
Here’s an example of brilliant simplicity at its best – a Southwestern Chicken Wing recipe that is unique, tasty, easy to prepare and damned tasty. You’ll never bake another mass produced chicken wing in your oven again.
(This is a repost of a recipe we had up a few years ago; it was taken down in a fit of long-winter induced madness a January ago in the midst of another project. Vicki from Biloxi emailed me two days ago looking for it and I promised we’d repost it today. She’s entertaining a crowd of almost 50 for Memorial day and gave them a choice of foods – they voted for wings. That’s my kind of crowd. She’s locked up 50 lbs. of wings by report for the big day.)
The key to this recipe is that the wings are pan fried in oil, drained, then coated in a magic spice mix leaving them crispy and powerfully flavored. We’ve taken to dumping 10 or so cooked wings in a gallon resealable bag with the spice mix and shaking like hell to make sure they’re coated well.
4 tbs red chile powder (we favor Chimayo)
2 tbs garlic powder
2 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs ground thyme
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp chipotle powder1 cup vegetable oil (or as needed)
30 chicken wings, tips trimmed, wash and patted dry
Make the spice mix. Mix well all of the dry spice ingredients, set aside.
Pan fry the wings. Get out your largest saute pan or dutch oven. Heat the oil over medium high heat until very hot. Add the wings in a single layer and saute for roughly 5 minutes per side – they need to be golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels for several minutes to cool.
Dredge. Dredge the wings in the spice mixture (see the suggestion above) to coat them very well.
Serve with a cold adult beverage and go to it. Make more than you think you might need at first glance – they’re addictive.
Enjoy.
Tags: Friday Feast
