Home Cooked Goodness

I'm usually not the type to like home made wings. My reason is because they never quite come out as well as they do when a knowledgeable chef prepares them in a deep fryer. Also, as much as I would like to have my very own deep fryer, I wouldn't use it often enough to justify the purchase and would end up throwing away the under utilized oil.

Well, being the innovator and stubborn foodie that I am, I cook wings from time to time and I do believe I've mastered cooking wings on the grill.

I start them on a medium heat to make sure they cook thoroughly. When I feel like they're almost cooked, I turn the heat up so they will sizzle and the skin will get nice and crispy. I generally like to see some char on my grilled chicken anyway so, as long as you pay attention it's pretty hard to over do it.

While the wings are cooking over medium heat, I start my sauce prep. For the latest batch I melted grass-fed butter and added hot sauce as it melted. The hot sauce I used was Crystal, which is a cayenne/vinegar blend and has a great medium heat flavor. If you like a good spice but, don't want to sweat into your food, I recommend Crystal. Anyway, add the sauce into the butter until it passes the taste test. I also added in some locally harvested, Brooklyn honey. The honey helps with the thickness and adds a splash of sweetness to the sauce.

When you get close to the taste you're looking for, you may need to increase the thickness. I added a little bit of Salt Lick BBQ sauce to accomplish this. The Salt Lick is some of the best BBQ sauce around, check it out if you can. You can use any type of BBQ sauce you like but take into consideration the recipe of the sauce and the effect it may have on your spice. Too much ketchup or sugar and you'll dilute the heat. I think a nice grainy mustard would also help the cause and go well with the vinegar and cayenne pepper.

Ultimately you can get creative with your sauce but, only add small amounts of ingredients at a time so you leave room for error. After your sauce is good to go, turn the heat down and just let it simmer. Go back to the grill and turn up the heat. Keep an eye and turn the wings until they're charred to your liking.

You can start pulling off individual wings as soon as they are ready. Put them in a bowl and as more become ready, throw them into the bowl on top. This will help keep the wings at the bottom warm. When you're ready, pour the sauce on the wings and toss.


Grab some tongs and divvy up the wings. Get your favorite blue cheese and don't even think about using ranch dressing on these babies. Crack another beer and enjoy some home cooked goodness.

In other news, this can be a fairly healthy option to your traditional chicken wing and probably just as easy, if not easier to make.

First of all, you choose the chicken......Organic, grass-fed, pastured, family pet, store bought, industrial farmed, locally sourced, farmers market, etc. I mean, Whole Foods sells humanely raised, organic chicken that is pre-packaged and ready to go.

I bet you can buy a 30 pack of only wings that meets your criteria, whether that be the local corner grocery option or your 21st century foodie fare.

The butter can be the same....organic, raw milk, non-homogenized, home made, etc. As far as the seasoning, add what you know and like.

Home made blue cheese is as simple as sourcing some real blue cheese, adding your choice of sour cream, some salt and pepper and then boom.

Grilling chicken wings has got to be the easiest thing to do. They cook quick and you can see and taste exactly what you're cooking at any given time.