Dry Rubbed Buffalo Wings
This weekend all sports minded eyes will gaze towards Minnesota. As great as it would have been to see the Vikings win the Superbowl at home the Eagles and Patriots will surely put on an entertaining show for the crowd. There will be eyes in the stands, eyes in the bars and even eyes in homes that are glued to every play. Regardless of the intensity those guests at peoples homes will occasionally look away from the screens to see what will undoubtedly be a gigantic spread of finger foods and other snacks to enjoy that evening. Although my eyes will be in Minnesota, my heart will be in Buffalo.
The essential finger food of football is, of course, the Buffalo wing. If you are a child of the ’80’s and grew up in the ‘90’s you grew up surrounded by and always knowing wings. At bars, at the grocery store, they were everywhere. So much so that you may have once or twice thought they were called buffalo wings because they were at one time made from buffalo. That however would be incorrect.
As late as the early 1960’s the chicken wing was considered an off cut. Typically they were kept for making stock like bones and carcasses are today. It was a late night in 1964 when a group of friends stopped into the Anchor bar in Buffalo and wanted to try something different. The cook, looking around saw some wings set aside for stock and decided to try to turn them into something. The group thoroughly enjoyed the offering and it has spread like wildfire.
While wings now come in all kinds of wacky flavours I’ve come up with something a little more down to earth, with a twist. These dry rubbed wings have some definite heat, however there is no need for a waiver. Combined with a citrusy undertone these wings will be sure to please any pallet searching for wings of a more modest intensity.
The Recipe
Ingredients:
20 large chicken wings
4 oz. by weight white sugar
1.5 oz. by weight table salt
½ oz. smoked paprika
.2 oz. lime zest
.2 oz. cayenne pepper
.1 oz. onion powder
Directions:
- Combine all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Coat each wing uniformly with dry rub mixture and place on greased baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
- Bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.
- Serve.
The mighty wing has not been around for that long, however it sure has made its presence known. From a saucy mess to a heat bomb there are a number of ways to dress your wings. For a crowd our wings offer a subtle complexity for those who enjoy keeping their taste buds intact while retaining a good sense of heat that is sure to give off enough kick to keep the heat seekers contented. The foods on offer may be of secondary concern, but if those items stand out you just may retain home field advantage and host again next year.