Grilled Buffalo Wings

I love chicken wings. During the winter months, I make do with the frozen kind...Perdue's Buffalo Style Chicken Wings. They are ok, but not great. You just bake them. The sauce is already on the wings, but they have a faint metallic taste to them.

Come spring, chicken wings get elevated to a whole new level. First off, the wings are fresh... butchered the day before. And I cook them over charcoal and mesquite for a subtle, smoky flavor. And few things taste better than fresh, grilled chicken wings.

The reason I like this recipe so well is because it is so stinking easy. Most buffalo wing recipes call for basting the wings while they cook. Basting all of those little wings is a big pain in the ass. And basting while they grill means you will have a major grill cleaning session afterwords....one requiring an extraordinary amount of elbow grease.

With this recipe, you just grill up your wings...dump them in a bowl...pour the sauce over them... then toss and serve. It doesn't get any easier than that and clean-up is a breeze! A tip of my hat to Joshua Bousel for his Grilled Buffalo Wings recipe.


INGREDIENTS

For the Wings
3 pounds fresh chicken wings, cut up
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Sauce
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Wings Buffalo Sauce
2 tablespoons of Sriracha or Tabasco
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper


DIRECTIONS

1. Place chicken wings in a zip lock bag. Add cayenne, pepper and salt to bag. Seal bag and toss to mix. Refrigerate for 4 hours or more.
2. Prepare your grill for both indirect and direct heat zones.
3. Make the sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan and then add rest of sauce ingredients. Whisk to mix and keep warm over very low flame.
4. When grill is ready, place chicken wings on indirect side of the grill. Cover grill and cook wings for 8 minutes. Then move wings to direct side of grill, cover grill and cook for 2 minutes. Then flip wings, cover the grill and cook for 2 minutes more.
5. Remove the wings to a bowl. Pour sauce over the wings and toss to coat evenly. Then serve.

Pairing: If it's buffalo chicken wings, the only beverage I will consider is an ice cold Pilsner. If someone puts a gun to your head and forces you to drink wine, pick a Zinfandel...but it had better be a Turley.

Grogs and Goldie, 1956