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!