Tasteful Tuesday: Ultimate Wings

At the request of the good editors of this blog, I am going to offer up a few columns on food, including some recipes. It may not surprise you to learn that The Friar not only likes libation, but also food in almost all of its wondrous varieties. Now having gone to college in upstate New York, I quickly acquired a taste of Buffalo Wings. In my years since graduation I have made wings in all shapes and sizes with varying degrees of success. The recipe I am about to share with you is a more recent (yet highly delicious) addition to my wing repertoire. I find that the smoked meat pairs beautifully with the very hot yet sweet sauce.

Smoked Jumbo Wings with Habanero Mash
Prep Time: 4-6 hours (not including overnight marinade)

The Wings: It all begins with the wings themselves. You really want to get the largest and highest quality wings you can find, and be sure to keep them whole. The Friar is blessed to live in the City of Brotherly Love and therefore goes to Cannuli House of Poultry in the world famous Italian Market to buy his wings. They cost more per pound than the regular sized variety but the extra meat is needed because of the smoking and to be honest, if you are going to spend this long making wings then you want as much meat as possible to savor when you are done.

The Marinade: Minced garlic – 1-2 cloves per pound of wings. Cheap hot sauce – like Franks or Durkees – 1 bottle per 5 pounds. After removing the wings for cooking make sure you reserve the marinade for use in the sauce.

The Smoking: If you have never used a smoker it would take too long to explain the process here. Anyway use good hardwood chunks (better than chips). Smoking time depends on the heat of your fire and the amount of meat you have put in.

The Crisping: Simply smoking meat can produce a leathery skin that is not unpleasant but I have found that if you throw your freshly smoked wings on the grill for 5-10 minutes the flames get the skin to crisp nicely thus simulating traditional wing crunch nicely.

The Sauce: OK – this is the tricky part to relate because The Friar is not a scientific cook. Also when working with Habaneros, one’s heat tolerance comes into play. Anyway, when I make this mash, I make a large amount and store it for future use. First thing is to Ventilate The Kitchen! Take 6 cloves of minced garlic, 1 minced small onion and 12 minced habaneras (consider wearing gloves when handling the peppers). Sautee in oil. When thoroughly cooked down add 2-4 Tbls of honey. Store in a plastic, air-tight container.

Pour the marinade into a saucepan and add 4 tsps of butter or margarine. Heat to a boil. Turn off the heat. Stir in 1-4 Tbls of the Habanero Mash.

The Finish: Pour sauce over the wings and coat thoroughly. Serve!

Quick Prep Variation: If you do not have a smoker or you do not have the time to use it you can simulate the results by cooking your wings on the grill the whole time and using a smoker box insert (a small metal box filled with wood chips that goes on the flames under the grill surface). Cook over low heat for 1 hour. Turn up heat to high and follow Crisping directions.

Enjoy!

The Friar

Note from the editor – not sure if this is the full-board recipe, but be forewarned, these suckers are melt-your-skull hot, so adjust as necessary.