Did anyone catch the game the other day? Good because you can fill me on what happened. If you haven’t guessed it, I am not a fan of football. But, I love “game day” food. I love a great dip, mozzarella stick and fried chicken wings. Although I’m not part of the 64% of Americans who watch football, I wanted to find a great appetizer to serve at my Super Bowl halftime show. I can’t wait to see Lady Gaga perform!
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I have a lot of experience making different types of chicken, but I never ventured to wings. Usually, I want to spend most of my time eating and not preparing chicken wings. However, I was up for an adventure, so I turned to my Cravings cookbook. I stumbled on John’s Fried Chicken Wings with Spicy Honey Butter recipe. Doesn’t it just sound amazing? Well, it tastes even better than it sounds. Side note – the recipe is accompanied by a beautiful photo of Chrissy Teigen eating wings in a bathing suit. I need to take note because it’s not a pretty site when I’m inhaling my wings.
For Christmas, I asked Santa Marquis for another book, The Food Lab cookbook by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. I know your thinking, “why is she talking about more books?” But trust me, you need to hear about this book. The Food Lab has become my kitchen’s bible. Now that I’m a few recipes in, I’m a believer. I always knew that if you marinate your chicken, you will have better results. But I’ve under estimated the effects. The Food Lab reintroduced the importance of brining.
Per The Food Lab: Brining is the process by which a lean mean, such as chicken, is submerged in a salt-water solution. When the meat is sitting in the saltwater, it breaks down a muscle protein in the chicken called myosin. Myosin acts as glue, which holds fibers together. As a result of breaking down this protein, the following things happen: the ability for the meat to hold moisture increases, alters the texture and seasons the meat beyond the surface. I knew John knew what he was doing because his recipe called for 4-24 hours of brining. This guy is a believer too.
I’m done nerding out; back to these fried chicken wings. Paired with this perfectly fried chicken is an amazing spicy butter sauce. This sauce was so good I could have poured a glass and sipped on it for the rest of the day. This butter sauce is a combination of butter and Cholula sauce. John was pretty adamant on using this branded sauce and it was pretty good choice. I cannot wait to make this recipe again for my half time showing. Remember: set your reminders the night before the game to start your brining! Oh, and you may want to get a copy of Cravings ahead to time!
