Chicken Wing Taste Test

When Pam recently posted the recipe for Lemon Garlic Chicken Wings on her “For The Love Of Cooking” blog I knew I wanted to give it a try to use the wings we had in the freezer.  The recipe calls for baking them and I debated whether to do that or deep fry them then it dawned on me that this was a taste test opportunity so I decided to cook some both ways.  I followed Pam’s recipe except I had 3½ pounds of wings so I doubled everything to get the recipe below then baked some and deep-fried some before saucing them.  Click on the link to go to her site for the recipe and wings that look better than mine.

Lemon Garlic Chicken Wings– Adapted from For The Love Of Cooking

Ingredients:

Wings:

3½ lbs. chicken wings

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 cup flour

1 tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

½ tsp. salt,

Lemon Garlic Butter:

8 tbsp. butter

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped

Zest & juice of 2 small lemon, to taste (1/3 cup juice)

For Serving:

Parmesan, finely grated, optional

Ranch dressing, optional

Instructions:

1. Prep the wings by separating into sections and season with S&P.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the oil on the baking sheet and spread it evenly over its surface.  Heat the deep fry oil to 350F.

3. Combine the flour, garlic powder, black pepper, and sea salt, to taste in a large zip lock bag; seal and mix until well combined (I used my ole favorite paper bag for this – I grew up before plastic bags).

4. Add a large handful of wings to the flour mixture and toss until evenly coated.

5. Remove from the flour shaking excess off; place skin side UP on the prepared baking sheet without crowding them. Repeat with the remaining wings. Discard any leftover flour.

6. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake the wings undisturbed for 30 minutes.

7. After 30 minutes, carefully flip the wings over and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. (mine stuck and couldn’t be flipped)

8. After flipping the baked wings, deep fry the others in 350F oil for 8-10 minutes.

9. Remove from the oven and oil and place on paper towels or a rack to drain grease.  The baked ones are on the pan.

10. Make the lemon garlic butter by combining the hot melted butter, garlic, and parsley in a small bowl; whisk until well combined.

11. Place the wings in a large bowl then drizzle the well-whisked lemon garlic butter on the wings then toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately with fresh parmesan sprinkled on top (darn, I forgot the parmesan).

The Verdict:

The coating made both versions very tasty but we gave the nod to the fried ones for a little extra crispiness plus it was easier to control the cooking process in the hot oil - I overcooked the baked ones a little.  We loved the sauce and it would work on lots of things.  The wings must have been good as Bev and I ate them all - 7 full wings each.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

03/19/23 meal date