I likes me some wings, but why the heck are they do dang expensive? Making them at home is almost as much as buying them from the local pizza shop. Which is probably why this was the first time I actually made wings at home. Well that, and I didn't want to go to all the trouble until I came up with something unique. I didn't want to just smother them in bottled BBQ sauce, and I'm not really a fan of things that are too spicy, so smothering them in hot sauce was off the plate too. But when I saw a bottle of new Chipotle Mojo on the shelf at the grocery store for the first time, it quickly became clear that the time had come. I got a bag of frozen separated wings, about two dozen or so, and put them into a plastic container when I got home. I poured the entire bottle of Mojo over the wings, and then placed in the fridge to marinate and thaw. As timing went here at home they wound up marinating for about 48 hours before I got back to them, but I would go ahead and let them marinate overnight anyway, especially if they are still frozen of course. You could also give them a shake or flip the container once in a while to make sure they stay covered in sauce while marinating.
Traditional Buffalo wings are deep fried, but to be honest I really don't like them that way. They get leathery and dried out more than they get crispy, so I decided to pan fry mine in an electric frying pan. (Grilled might work nicely for this too.) I glazed the bottom of the pan with canola oil and brought it up to temp, about 350F-degrees or so. I laid down each wing individually, so they weren't all bunched up. You want them all making contact with the pan. I poured a little extra sauce over them, covered, and simmered for about 7 or 8 minutes. Turn, then give them another 7 or 8 minutes.
At this point, I poured off most of the excess from the pan which was a little easier since the wings were sticking to the pan a little. This is a good thing. In fact, we're really going to get them to stick now deliberately, end even start to burn a little. Once you have poured off most of the excess, sprinkle with a dusting of granulated sugar. Turn sugared side down, and sprinkle the other side as you let them sizzle (un-covered now.). Letting them stick to the pan like this, it's going to be hard to not break the skin, but do your best to avoid that, and keep that blackened chipotle goodness hanging on there. I got up under each wing with a regular old pancake flipper. One they are blackened up to your liking, and the sauce is really stuck to them, the wings 'r done man. You should also see the meat just starting to pull away from the bone a little on the drumettes, which will help to verify that they are done all the way through.
Tasting the sauce from the bottle, I was pretty worried that the wings were going to be way too spicy for my liking. The chipotle gave a really deep lingering heat, but as they turned out, they were right on. Some heat, but not enough to make your eyes water or scorch out the flavors. If you really are more of a fire-eater, dribble on some Tobasco or other hot sauce at the end. But the slow-burn of the chipotle should be enough to get your nose running a little without actually being painful.
Bleu cheese dressing is the traditional coolant for wings, so let's go ahead and add the funk to these awesome Mojo Chipotle bad boys. The first time out of the gate, I was not about to stink up my wings with some bottled dressing, and made up my own bleu cheese dressing to dunk. Not too hard to make at all, and oh, so much better than the bottled crap. In a bowl mix at about a 50/50 ration spoonfuls of mayo and sour cream. Fold in crumbled blue cheese. I didn't bother with anything too expensive and found a small tub of it already crumbled for a good price, though some blue cheese can get really expensive. Now we are going to thin it out just a bit with some buttermilk. This is the real funk folks. Buttermilk sounds like it would be sweet and satiny, but actually the opposite is true. Buttermilk tastes and smells like sour milk. Pungent. Mix a little of that in, and your dipping sauce is done. Of course, you can do this while your wings are cooking too, or ahead of time to chill in the fridge. Serving it fresh mixed will give max funk though.
Don't want the dip so funky? You might try a little regular milk, or heavy cream rather than the buttermilk. Don't have sour cream? Try yogurt instead. Don't like blue cheese at all? Get a packet of ranch seasoning and sprinkle that in rather than the blue cheese. Or you might try using Parmesan cheese instead. All of these ideas I might run through sometime in the future. Or if you try them, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out for ya.
Make it a meal by serving with a bowl of sweet corn or some corn on the cob, some rice and beans, or maybe mini-pizzas.
Here's what to pick up at the store:
1 bag of frozen, separated chicken wings. 1 bottle of Goya brand Mojo Chipotle marinade. Pick up some granulated sugar and canola oil too if you don't have any at home.
For the dip you will need:
Blue cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk.
