Grilled Hot Wings with a Habanero Honey Mustard Sauce

Location: Jeremy's back yard.

Website: Sorry, none.

Steve-O, getting down to business.

Needing to get together for some Wingmen business, Jeremy decided to have a barbecue at his place. Jody, his family and myself (my wife was attending a shower for her sister's wedding) joined Jeremy and his wife at their home. I called Jeremy to see if he needed anything and to ask if he would be ok if I brought over some wings in a new honey mustard sauce I had been working on. He was stoked at the idea.

I got to work on my sauce. I grabbed an already prepared habanero mustard that I use on sandwiches at home. It is super spicy and tastes great. I poured that into a glass jar and added some pure honey. For honey mustard, I read online that about 3 parts mustard to 1 part honey is a good ratio, but I feel that it is up to you. If you like it thick, less honey is good. If you like it thinner, use a bit more. Taste and texture rule this game, so what you like is where it should be. I also added some black pepper, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Not a lot, but enough to give it a little extra flavor.

The problem I was having was that the habanero was super hot and this honey mustard was kicking my ass. Every time I tried it, my mouth would be on fire. I needed to cut the spice with something, but I was not sure what would work. I read some recipes online that used sour cream in their honey mustard, but we were fresh out of sour cream (gotta love Taco Tuesdays!). The next best thing I could find was some mayonnaise. I was not sure how this would work, so I went slow, adding just a little at a time. I would say that I ended up putting 3 or 4 table spoons of mayo in and it cut the heat, as well as gave the honey mustard a lighter color. I tasted it and was very happy with the flavor and consistency.

I then combined the uncooked chicken winglets with about 1/2 of the habanero honey mustard and let them sit for over an hour. The grill, already being hot from the Italian sausage and garlic bread that Jeremy and Diane had served as an appetizer (which was amazing), was ready for the wings, and they cooked in about 10 minutes to a perfect charred outside and juicy interior. I took them off the grill, placed them in a large bowl that can be covered and poured the rest of the honey mustard over them. I covered the bowl and shook them up until they had a fresh coat of honey mustard on them. It is very important to both cook the flavor in and then re-introduce the flavor by shaking the sauce over the wings again.

Mmmm, nice grill marks.

At this point, I will leave the review of the Barbecued Habanero Honey Mustard Wings to my fellow Wingmen. Jody, Jeremy... the post is yours.

Jeremy:

Long and short of it was they were fantastic. So good, that it kept us from eating the other stuff that was prepared for the BBQ. The wings had a good meat to bone ratio and the sauce was excellent. The sauce had a zing to it that kept you craving more. I had to even give the credit in that the wings were cooked to perfection. Somewhat crispy on the outside and moist in the middle. Always good when its moist in the middle....gigidity. The best part was the next day. Ever have that moment where you hope something magically appears in your refridgerator......well, it did. I was not aware that everyone was given a little doggy bag of leftover wings. There they were..........ah like winning a scratch off.

Jody:

The best part of homemade wings is that you can come up with unique flavors that might not be too common at your local pub. Steve is really good at that and it's exactly what he did for his habañero honey mustard wings. It certainly wasn't your average honey mustard flavor, this was hot... and that's after he added mayo to cut the heat. I wonder what they tasted like before that. The heat wasn't over powering though, there was a nice balance. The flavors still came through. As Jeremy said above, they had a good char from the grill but the meat was still tender. If I had to think of one thing to criticize, it would be that there could have been more sauce. I don't feel bad saying that because I'm pretty sure that's what Steve said when we sat down to eat them. We're both big fans of the dipping reservoir. But hey, that's what happens when you prepare something at home and bring it to your friends to cook. You can't just whip up some more. All-in-all, these were solid wings... well done Steve. I think you've earned the seal of approval. And I'm with Jeremy, the doggy bag was a nice surprise - Thanks Diane! I'm looking forward to the next time we get to sit down to some home made wings.

The finished product. Nice work!

Baked Wings- Aunt Jan Style

Fourth of July is synonymous with barbecues and if you are lucky, some of those barbecues will be amazing enough to serve hot wings. I mean, how can you go wrong with a spicy appetizer that is cooled off with a creamy, rich bleu cheese on a hot American holiday? I argue that you can not!

My Aunt Jan and Uncle Steve hosted a family barbecue this 4th (and many other 4th's before it) and my Aunt Jan, a Wingmen supporter, baked a huge tray of her secret buffalo wings. As I went in to grab some dinner, my cousin, her husband, my sister, brother and many other members of my family jokingly (in a super serious way) suggested that I review the wings for the site. I think they doubt me, as if I had no intention of reviewing them, c'mon family!

Before I give my opinion, here is Aunt Jan's explanation of her cooking process:

List of ingredients: Chicken wings with tips removed, Butter, Lemon Juice, (Secret Ingredients, sorry folks) and Hot Sauce.

With the oven at 400 Degrees, bake wings in roasting pan sprayed with PAM... single layer for 1hr turning wings every 20 minutes to crisp slightly. Transfer to clean roasting pan... throw away is great... also spray with PAM. Add the hot sauce to the sauce mixture....reheat til warm... mix well. Pour over wings and bake at 400 degrees for about 1/2 or til bubbley.

Aunt Jan, you wing-making culinary genius! These wings were amazing. Baked to a crispy outside, juicy inside, coated in an amazing buffalo sauce that is not a very thick, super spicy, reddish-orange mess. They had a decent kick, I usually like them a bit hotter, but they tasted so good, the lack of spice didn't matter (plus it is a family party, so you don't want to make something that people who don't like spicy food won't eat). There was also a huge reservoir of the tasty sauce at the bottom of the aluminum tray.

Thumbs up Aunt Jan! The Wingmen approve! Thanks for the support!

Grilled Hot Wings with Wingredient Sauce

Grilled Hot Wings on the Barbecue

Featuring: Wingredient Hot and Mild Sauces

Award Winning Sauce for Buffalo Wings

It's Memorial Day and I am going to a BBQ later in the day, so I decided to make my own wings for lunch. I surfed the internet for a few recipes, but then remembered that Bryan Deats, the maker of Wingredient Sauces and fellow Wingman, sent some samples of his Hot and Mild sauces a few months back. I have been sitting on them for a while now and decided that I would give his sauces a try. What can be better than hot wings fresh off the barbecue and a beer on Memorial Day? Not much, I tell you, not much.

I grabbed some raw wings, a bit of flour, some celery and Bryan's sauces and headed out to the barbecue. I started by putting two small trays on the grill and put the hot sauce in one of them and the mild in the other. Once they were simmering, I added 7 raw, floured wings to each tray. After they simmered in the sauce for about 10 minutes, I transferred them to the grill at medium heat. I cooked them for a while on each side and dipped them again into the sauce trays. I put them back on the grill until they were crispy and a bit charred on the outside, then I plated them.

They were smoking hot, so I added the celery, opened a beer and gave them a minute to cool off a bit. They smelled delicious. The smell of spice coming off them actually made me tear a bit when the smoke from the barbecue got in my eyes and when I sat in front of my plate and took a sniff, my nose began to run. I couldn't wait to dig in and see what Wingredient Sauce tasted like.

Wingredient has to be one of the tastiest sauces I have ever tried. I will be honest, other than a bit of red pepper, cayenne, and a few other easily recognizable spices, I am not sure what Bryan uses to make his sauces. They were samples, so they did not have ingredient labels on them. But I really don't care, the careful mixture of flavors and spices are very well done. The sauce has the perfect consistency, stuck to the wing perfectly and coated your fingers quite well. Finger licking good is an understatement. After eating a few hot wings, I did not have any idea if I were eating the hot or mild sauce because my mouth was burning and nose was running. I also didn't care, they both were good enough for it to not matter. They weren't prohibitively hot, so finishing all fourteen wings was no problem.

I suggest becoming a fan or someone who "likes" Wingredient on Facebook. Bryan makes a few batches of his wing sauce a year and sends them out to interested wing enthusiasts. Thank you Bryan Deats for the amazing sauce! I can see why you have won awards for your hard work. Delicious.

I also have to say thank you to everyone who has or is currently serving our country! Come home safe and Happy Memorial Day! The Wingmen salute you!

Lauren's* Adirondack Red Wing Burgers

My beautiful wife texted me asking when I was coming home from work. I tend to work late, but I was able to escape a bit early and she told me that she was going to make Adirondack Red Wing Burgers for dinner. Knowing my love for buffalo wings, and being a huge supporter of The Wingmen, she knew this would get me to come home even faster. It worked. I am nothing but predictable.

My whole drive home I was completely intrigued. I had no idea what to expect other than a buffalo wing inspired burger. I kind of thought they would be beef, then said to myself, "don't be an idiot, it will be a chicken pattie," and then thought, does it really matter, it will be a burger of some sort with hot sauce. How can it be anything but brilliant?

When I got home, she had just began making them, so I was able see the whole process. She started with ground chicken meat and added sauteed onions, carrots and celery to the meat. She made them into patties and pan fried them in olive oil. When they were just about ready, she removed them from the pan and then melted butter in the pan and poured in some hot sauce. When the hot sauce and butter blended together, she put the burgers back in the pan and cooked them a bit longer on each side. They absorbed the hot sauce and then she covered them with crumpled bleu cheese and a slice of cheddar. When the cheeses were melted, she put them on large toasted English muffins. The bottom half of the English muffin was lined with shredded lettuce and the burger was placed on top of it. She then finished the meal off with corn and French fries.

This was an amazing burger. First of all, chicken meat is just juicier than turkey meat and the blended tastes of the sauteed veggies, cheeses, chicken and butter hot sauce were perfect together. I have not eaten a burger like that in my life and really feel that I have been deprived. If I could think of any way to improve the burger, it would be to make it hotter (I know, shocker right?). The butter hot sauce did not absorb into the burger as much as I would have liked, but a solution was found that night. The hot sauce left in the pan was collected and poured over the burger and the English muffin. This gave the meal a much better kick. So if you try to make these yourself, do not toss the Hot Sauce!

All in all, this is a Wingmen approved recipe! Thanks for the great dinner baby!

* My wife wants me to mention that she found this recipe on the Racheal Ray website.

Tommy's Place

109 Main St.

Port Jefferson, NY 11777

http://www.tommysplace.com/

Last Monday was a beautiful day and Steve and I both had off from work. We wanted to grab some wings while still enjoying the weather. Since we were around the Eastern Suffolk area, we decided to head to Port Jeff. We used to spend a lot of time there in high school - 14 years ago (holy crap!) - but I haven't really hung out there too much since. It's still a collection of quaint shops, restaurants and bars down by the water - and you can still get a burger at Tara's for a buck, so I guess not much has changed in the decade-plus since I've been there.

We ended up in Tommy's Place, which is basically at the very end of Main St. (Rt. 112) just before you get to the ferry docks. We put in an order for two plates of wings, Homemade Buffalo and Teriyaki. At $6.99 for about 10 wings, they were decently priced.

Overall, the wings were meaty and cooked well. I prefer a little more crisp, but they were still moist and tender. The Buffalo were pretty standard, not too hot but a nice flavor. I'm not sure what "homemade" means in this case - did they just mix some hot sauce with butter, or did they make the sauce from scratch using actual peppers? Steve's sister, Meredith, works there so maybe she can get us some answers (can you?).

If you're like me and love teriyaki wings, this is definitely a place to add to your list. The sauce was really thick and coated the wing very well. It was kind of, um, gooey... in a good way of course. I've been trying this flavor pretty much every chance I get and this is one of my favorites.

Other notes - The service was good. The bartender was friendly even though we accidentally rubbed it in her face that we had off and she didn't. Parking can be tough though. I found some two hour spots a few blocks away but Steve parked right in front of the bar in a 1/2 hr spot (what can you do in PJ in a half-an-hour?). The bartender said the local police were pretty strict on enforcing the rules. I think they're only in effect until 7 pm though.

And now for something completely different...

We've spent the last few weeks critiquing buffalo wings made by various cooks in and around the greater NY area.  I kind of feel like a New York sports/talk radio guy, like Chris "Mad Dog" Russo.  You know, those irritating guys that flap their gums all morning about football when they've never touched an actual football in their lives.  

It's kind of the same for me.  I had never actually cooked a chicken wing before (even though I got a deep fryer for my wedding over 2 years ago that's still in the box), yet I've been giving my 2¢ about how professionals are doing their job.  I don't necessarily think you need to be a good cook to be a good eater, but it can't hurt.  And since I'm not totally lost in the kitchen I figured I'd try my hand at cooking my own wings.

Being that this was my first attempt, I decided to play it simple.  I'd go with the classic wing sauce mix (equal parts Frank's Red Hot + butter) as well as BBQ (store bought).  I figured it was more important to focus on the chicken.  Besides, if this hot sauce mixture is good enough for Anchor Bar in Buffalo then it's certainly good enough for me.  As for cooking method, this was the perfect opportunity to christen my deep fryer...but of course I didn't do it.  Instead, I opted for the dual cooking method of baking then grilling.  My goal was to get nice moist meat with crispy, even charred, skin - a la Mike's Place.

I started by brushing the wings with a light coat of vegetable oil and a pinch or two of salt and pepper.  I put them on a baking sheet and threw them in the oven at 350 until they started to get a nice golden brown color.  In the meantime, I was making the hot wing sauce in a frying pan on the range.  First I melted the butter, then added the Frank's sauce until I was happy with the color (I think I use color as a measuring stick way more than time or other actual measurements).  I took the wings out of the oven and brushed on a thin coat of the sauce, which I was hoping would burn just a little, then tossed them on the grill.  When I was happy with the look, I took them off and tossed half of them in hot sauce and the other half in BBQ sauce.  Then, time to chow down.

First, the important part, the meat.  I was half successful in my goal.  I got the meat perfectly moist and tender, but I wasn't happy with the skin.  I really wanted more crisp, but it wasn't there.  The sauce was tasty but basic.  I do wish it was a little thicker though, it ran off the wings a little.  The BBQ was what it was.  Just a store bought brand so not much to report.  I think I'd give myself a C+.  They were flavorful, tender wings but had plenty of room for improvement.  And I do plan to give it another go...I already bought the wings.  This time I think I'm going to try a more complex buffalo sauce.  For the second option, I'm going to ditch the BBQ and go for a Thai Peanut sauce - I think that could catch on!  Also, I have to finally take that deep fryer out of the box and do this right.

So, does anyone else have a recipe for buffalo wings that I can try out?  I know the other guys are into trying some recipes themselves and it could be fun to expand this blog into a place to get/give/trade recipes for wings and sauces.  I know Steve's dad has a kick-ass wing recipe.  He made them for Steve's surprise 30th Bday party, and they were good.  REALLY good.  Let's see if we can get him to give us a tutorial.