I have the right to life, liberty, and chicken wings.
Mindy Kaling

Once again freezer diving was necessary and I came away with a package of chicken wings, the family-sized package of course so perhaps I have enough for two recipes or maybe one big recipe to share with a couple of friends.  I am considering a Mark Bittman recipe that I made some time back and it looks pretty good, but I also have several recipes for chicken wings to consider including “Smokestack’s Chicken Wings with Peach-Bourbon Sauce”, oh heck what a decision to make as well as

A Mark Bittman recipe is the focus for this week’s menu planning theme “Bite-sized” great for a weeknight dinner or weekend gatherings so  Asian style chicken wings are the headliner here.

Mark suggests just black pepper and garlic wings, but of course, taking it a step or two further, I stovetop smoked the wings for about 20-25 minutes with the handy-dandy Nordic Ware smoker and finished them on the range top grill. You can of course follow his instructions for indirect grilling and finally direct heat grilling, but I am in the middle of cleaning out the pantry and it is nothing to smoke the wings and then finally sauce them and grill before eating. I changed things a bit like trimming the wings early in the day and seasoning with the black pepper and minced garlic, refrigerate until ready to smoke or grill. Make the Fish sauce and refrigerate until time to grill.

Bittman’s Recipe:

* Note: I doubled the sauce and divided one bowl for a brief 20-30 minute marinade after smoking and grill basting and one bowl for the finished wings to dip again before serving.
Smoked Wings before grilling
3 pounds of chicken wings
Neutral oil½ cup fish sauce*
Optional Sriracha garlic sauce  from Trader Joe’s
½ cup of sugar
2 whole fresh, red-hot chilies (I didn’t use the peppers since I was using the Sriracha sauce)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

PREP:

1. Cut 3 pounds of chicken wings into 3 sections; save the wing tips for stock. Toss the wings with a little neutral oil to keep them from sticking.
2. Heat a charcoal or gas grill; the fire should be moderately hot and the rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat. Leave one side of the grill cooler for indirect cooking.
3. Put the wings on the cool side of the grill. Cover the grill, and cook, checking and turning once or twice, until most of the fat has been rendered and the wings are cooked through 15 to 20 minutes.
4. While the wings cook, combine 1/2 cup fish sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 whole fresh, hot red chilies (like Thai), 2 tablespoons minced garlic, and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Whisk to incorporate the sugar. Put the sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until it thickens into a thin syrup (essentially a fish-sauce caramel).
5. When the wings are cooked, move them to the hot part of the grill and cook, uncovered, turning as necessary and basting with the caramel until they’re nicely browned on both sides.

Another favorite, Miso Wings…

Wings Redux…

Marisa and Jacob are here for a week and of course, the menus are ever-changing according to their individual likes one of which is Marisa’s chicken wing dinner and a good opportunity for me to share a giant package of wings and a new to me recipe from Donna Hay.  For the second time this week, I am dipping into the miso container, red miso that is as I have vowed not to get more until this one is gone and I always have a use for wonderful miso.  The side bonus is a small pot of chicken stock made with the usual ingredients and all of the wingtips trimmed from whole wings.

Simply cut the wing tips off  2-3 pounds of wings and then cut through the joint for two pieces, wash and pat dry the wingtips, and set aside.  In the meantime thoroughly blend 1/3 cup red or white miso, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamarin, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon of grated ginger.  Quarter a couple of limes to squeeze over the finished wings.  Toss the wings into the marinade and thoroughly coat.  

Just a note if you like your wings spicy consider adding a bit of Sriracha chili sauce to the marinade.

Heat the oven to 400º Lightly oil a sheet pan and spread the wings in one layer.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, turn and roast for another 20 minutes, serve hot with lime wedges and your favorite hot sauce.

Link to Donna Hay recipe:
https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/dinners/dinners-chicken/miso-and-honey-glazed-chicken-wings