The Hot Wing Massacre and Redemption

Everybody has one thing they are really good at- some are talented artists, or singers, or dancers, while others tell funny jokes. I am not very artistic and my singing voice leaves something to be desired. My jokes leave even more to be desired, but man, I can make some good chicken wings! It's practically a savant talent, but I cannot take all of the credit for my phenomenal wing-making skills. My momma, who cooks just about everything very well, makes some darn good teriyaki wings herself, and all three of my sister have been known to crank out some wings themselves. So, it must be genetic, but enough of tooting my own horn...

This past weekend, I had a group of ten I was grilling for and I had a magnum of drumsticks marinating in Honey Ridge Farms mild Honey BBQ Sauce. The grill was pre-heated, the cedar planks were soaked, so we slapped the chicken on the planks and got it going on the Weber charcoal kettle, while the corn and brats occupied the gas grill.

The trick to any backyard BBQ is timing- getting all the grub on the grill at the right time, so everything is ready at the same time. And this weekend, my timing was off, way off. The brats and corn came off the flame, but the charcoal grill was taking a looooong time and we had a group on hungry people. So my fellow pit master and I had the bright idea to move the grate of the charcoal grill to the gas grill to give the oh-so-close-to-being-done chicken that last little kick of heat and get these people their dinner.

Disaster struck and our shoddy-at-best method of moving the grate failed. Ten-hungry-BBQ-goers worth of chicken hit the ground with a thud and a clang, getting a healthy coating of "floor spice." But not to worry, Trucker, the trusty labra-mut, who lives by the mantra "dirt don't hurt" promptly swooped the situation and got straight to clean up.

So... brats and corn it was, for everyone but Trucker, that is.

Not one to except defeat (especially since I hadn't been all that modest about my wing chefin' abilities and failed to produce anything but dirt chicken), I tried, tried again the next night. This time I used two different marinades: Honey Ridge Farm's BBQ Sauce and a generic hot wing sauce, which I added some honey to. Any marinade with honey as a main ingredients will really aid the texture and appearance of the wings.

Below I have listed my basic method of prepping these wings. Note: The time in the oven will be longer the larger pieces of chicken you use. i.e. if you decided to use full-size drumsticks apposed to wings and drumettes.

Cedar Planked Hot Wings

· Marinate wings and drumettes in desired sauce (BBQ, teriyaki, hot wing sauce) for at 2-6 hours

· Soak Outdoor Gourmet Cedar or Hardwood Grilling Planks at least 2 hours, preferable more.

· Preheat oven to 350°, then bake wings for 25-30 mins.

· Preheat Grill to medium heat, then place planks and wings on grill after baking is completed.

· Leave on grill for 10-12 mins. The planks will smolder, smoke, and possibly even catch on fire! It’s OK- don’t panic! That’s what wood does when you put in near an open flame. Just have some water on hand to douse the flame with.

Remove wings from grill and enjoy with homemade Bleu Cheese dressing and celery.

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing

Take all the ingredients and mash ‘em together!

• 2 Tablespoons Buttermilk
• ¾ Brown Cow Greek Yogurt
• 6 oz. Roquefort Bleu Cheese
• Fresh Ground Pepper and Sea Salt to taste
  

The second round of wings was thankfully a success! Everyone was fed enough and my good name was cleared, but there is still photo evidence of that one time I dumped roughly 12 lbs. of chicken on the ground due impatiences and bad engineering.

Moral of the story: Good things are worth waiting for and Jimmy-rigging the grill will just end in tears and a well fed dog.

Welcome to Recovering from your Weekend! -KB