Buffalo Chicken Wings for Dining with Dad on Fathers Day

  It's Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day to all of the Dads out there. Well there are actually three very special men in my life; my dad, my husband, and my brother. That being said this is in honor of my Dad, Victor, who is actually my stepfather of more than 30 years, and was actually more of a father to me than my biological father (sadly enough, my biological father wasn't really there for me past my 13th birthday). My stepfather came into my life in the early 70's, and he has been there for me through thick and thin. Plus, he loves my mother with a heart he wears on his sleeve (even though she can't always see it). He has always loved her children as much as his own. He has been through some very tough times and never waivered in his devotion to his family. 

  So to him, I give him his weekly must have: Buffalo Chicken Wings! For he and my mom dine in more than out, and he is a huge fan of TGI Fridays frozen Buffalo Wings. I know, frozen you say? Yes, for he is a simple man. A man of few pleasures for himself, and since there are just he and my mom at home and she is not such a fan of Buffalo Wings, he does not ask her to go through all of the trouble of cooking them for him, so he settles for the frozen box. This is sort of funny in its own right. You see, he is somewhat of a picky eater. He does not like; raw or cooked onions in his food, (though he loves deep fried onion rings), any gravies or sauces on his meat entrees, nor long braised, melt in your mouth meats like a well braised pot roast as his meat entrees should have a substantial bite to it, like in a pernil or lechon asado (pork roast). He would prefer to have a rare cooked steak every day, though my mother tries to get him to eat healthy with a well balance (rotated) diet. His vegetable palate is very limited as well. No, I am not picking on him. He does humor my mother and lets her cook some of her favorites as well for the two of them such as braised short ribs, calves liver and meatloaf even though these are not his favorites. I do wonder why is it that it is mostly the men that have a picky palate? Just slap a steak down in front of them seven days a week and you would have them eating out of your hand.

  Well, I decided rather than give in to that well loved grilled steak which I am sure would be a tribute to all fathers, my stepdad Victor, my FIL Harry (RIP), my FIL Bernie, and my biological dad Jerry (RIP)  all of whom I lovingly call Dad, I would make these wings, which are a little healthier version of those deep fried in unhealthy oils you would find at restaurants. These are Mark Bittman's Buffalo Chicken Wings from How to Cook Everything, Chicken Wings Six Ways. His version is roasted in the oven as opposed to the deep frying we are all accustomed to. I have to add that Michael has worked for Winghouse Restaurant in the past and he makes these frequently at home for us. I liked this sauce recipe better than his. He does not as a rule, generally put in a vinagar, which I think gives the heat an extra punch. I compare this sauce to one of those other wing restaurants. Oh, who gives a HOOT! On to the recipe at hand.

Four simple ingredients for the sauce.

 

Combine the hot sauce, melted butter, vinegar, and garlic in a small bowl.

Blot your chicken wings (Drummettes) as dry as possible.

This alows the skin to be more receptive to crisping up.

Pre-heat oven to 375F.

Put wings in a roasting pan, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle liberaly with salt and pepper.

Put the wings into the oven and roast, undisturbed, until the bottom of the pan is coated with

fat and the wings are begining to brown, about 30 minutes.Using a spoon, baste wings with the

drippings, then carefully pour out the remaining drippings. Turn the wings over and return them to

the oven until nicely browned, another 20 minutes or so. Raise the oven temperature to 450F.

Carefully pour off any remaining fat, then drizzle the wings with the wing sauce and toss to coat.

Spread them back out in a single layerand return them to the oven. Cook, tossing once or twice,

until crisp, about 10 more minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

OUR FATHERS

Dad - Victor (left)

Dad - Harry

Dad - Jerry

No photo on the computer

Dad - Bernie

Dad - Michael

Dad - Barry

I think they would all like these wings. Deep fried and tossed in this sauce.

Notes: Loved the sauce. I will give these one more try at a lesser cooking time. If that fails then I'll simply deep fry the wings and toss with the sauce.

  I would have to say, and Michael wasn't shy about it either, these turned out to be very dried out due to the long roasting times. I (and I am sure my dad too) would have preferred the deep fried method. They turn out much more moist with a quick deep fry. Though I have to say the sauce was my perfect idea of what a Buffalo Wing Sauce should be. So, for my Dad I would offer these up in the deep fried version with this sauce (and the bottle of hot sauce on the side, he likes them REALLY hot). He actually puts hot sauce on ALOT of his foods. Maybe next year we should buy him stock in a hot sauce company. 

I am submitting this to this weeks challenge for IHCC's Dining with Dad .

I want to apologise for such a long post, however today is a tribute to all of the men in our lives who have come into our world, been there for us, and/or passed on through.

For all of our Dads out there   .

Michael and Carla