Got a somewhat unusual email this week from a fly fishing organization down South inviting Jake and I to come speak (Montana fishing and access issues) at their annual fundraiser, though there was a catch, and a big catch at that.
They also wanted us to help them cook and serve a ‘wing feast’ for 250 people, mostly hungry, outdoorsy, fly fishing and wingshooting types; they’re figuring they need to prep and serve something in the order of 350+ pounds of chicken wings.
Doing some quick math, and guessing there’s somewhere in the vicinity of 10-16 wings per pound (pending size of course), the vision of 3500 to potentially 6000 wings sitting on the proverbial kitchen counter proved a bit daunting. (They did promise an army of help and a commercial kitchen onsite…).
I will have to admit that a great chicken wing is one of my all time favorite foods – few foods combine the crispy, crunchy goodness of chicken skin with the sweet, sublime flavor of meat cooked right next to the bone like a chicken wing. Add the fact that wings are an uber-adaptable platform for a host of great spices, rubs, slathers and glazes and you have an indisputable winner.
While I’m still partial to our dry rubbed Southwestern Chicken Wings, this Ginger Balsamic Wing recipe might just be the best ever. This recipe holds the advantage of producing super-crispy wings due to a long bake in a hot oven and the balsamic | ginger | garlic | brown sugar glaze is simply genius. (Lately we’ve been experimenting with this on pork tenderloin and thick cut pork chops from the grill and adding various forms of heat – the floral, fruity heat of habanero based sauces has been simply awesome…)
America doesn’t need a chicken in every pot; we need wings on every table.
4 lb. chicken wings
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. good salt
1 tsp. finely ground fresh black pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp. minced fresh garlic
2 tbsp. brown sugar
Hot sauce to taste (we use a habanero based sauce)
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
Prep time. Line two large baking pans with foil and place racks on the foil lined sheets (optional); set oven racks to upper and lower thirds and preheat the oven to 425. Trim the wing tips and pat the wings dry.
Roast ‘em. Toss the wings with the oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place wings in a single layer on the baking sheet racks / foil. Roast for 2o minutes, turn the wings and rotate position in the oven for another 15-20 minutes until wings are crispy and brown.
In the meantime, build a glaze. In a medium saucepan combine the soy sauce, balsamic, ginger, garlic, brown sugar and hot sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to roughly 1/2 cup; go easy on the heat, don’t burn it or make it too syrupy. When reduced, remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
Glaze ‘em up. Cool the roasted wings for 2 minutes or so, remove from the roasting pans and place in a large bowl. Drizzle the glaze over the wings, making sure to scrape the ginger and garlic pieces from the saucepan too; toss to coat and rest for 5 minutes.
Go to it. Toss again and go to it. Leave the big bowl within reach as you’ll want to sop up any and all of the glaze left in the bowl.
Enjoy.
