Meet The Wing King

Without a doubt, chicken wings are America’s number one appetizer. During Super Bowl weekend alone over 1.25 billion wings were sold in 2009. That’s a lot of angry chickens!

Wings are definitely a staple at tailgate parties. A safe and convenient way to prepare wings for tailgating is to boil them at home and marinate them in your favorite sauce recipe overnight. Grill them at the party, brush on additional sauce while grilling long enough to heat the wings and leave some nice grill marks.

The original Buffalo wings recipe calls for the wings to be deep fried then shaken in a combination of butter and Frank’s RedHot ® Cayenne Pepper Sauce. Over the years, however, wings have taken on many sauce variations as foodies have added their culinary creativity to the dish. My favorite sauce combines Frank’s RedHot, brown sugar, honey and ancho chili pepper. The sweet and the heat always creates a winning flavor.

Some nice, chunky blue cheese dressing complements wings well. This will enhance the flavor and cool down the heat.

We certainly take our wings seriously in Buffalo. So much so we even host a National Buffalo Wing Festival on Labor Day weekend that has attracted over 90,000 people from around the world. Over 700,000 wings were consumed. That’s 40 tons!

To learn more about the Wing King and to learn about his favorite wing recipe, visit: www.buffalowing.com/c-1-meet-the-wing-king.aspx

Shake It Up

What you put on your wings is pretty serious business. Will it be hot and zesty or sweetly mild? Whatever you drench them in you’ll want to make sure every bite is covered in your sauce of choice.

Find yourself a big plastic bowl with a lid you trust will stay locked shut – you don’t want to be cleaning wing sauce off the ceiling, cupboards and floor. Put your freshly cooked wings in the bowl (make sure they’re not too hot!), add your sauce, lock down the top and give it a good shaking. Take a peek to make sure the wings are covered. If not, add sauce and repeat!

Do The Dip

Bleu cheese is fine, but sometimes you want something with a little more kick. Try this spicy wing dip recipe courtesy of CUTCO Culinary Advisory Board Member Robert Yamarone