Baked Chicken Wings

Simple things yield true pleasures, well, at least in the world of baked chicken wings that is. Our family members, and you probably know or have them in your family as well, love chicken wings. My wife is not a fan, and we never poke fun at her because of it, but my son and the guys in the extended family, love chicken wings.

I’ve grilled chicken wings low and slow, I’ve smoked them in my drum, and I’ve deep fried them, and I even make a killer blue cheese sauce for them, but there is something to be said about a really good baked wing. Sure the texture might not have that crunchy exterior from the deep fry, or the smoke from the smoker or grill, but let me tell you, if you bake a wing just right, well, let’s just say the rest of them just met their match.

As we were getting ready for a party last week, I decided to make some chicken wings. Heck, why not right?

Ingredients:

• 4o chicken wing pieces (wings and drummies), cleaned and patted dry
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 1 cup of light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper

You can tell by my picture that I like to leave the wing tip on. Some people chop that off, but me, I personally like that part, as do others.

Begin by mixing all ingredients, excluding the chicken, in a mixing bowl. Mix until your sugar gets as best dissolved as it can. Add the chicken into a large, sealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade into the bag, seal, and move that marinade throughout all of the chicken pieces. Place in the refrigerator for at least four hours, but preferably overnight.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Use two baking sheets if you have to. place the chicken onto the baking sheet, and place in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Turn once around 60 minutes. After 1 1/2 hours, turn off the oven, and let them sit in there for another 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and plate.

I plated these for the party, then went back to the kitchen to finish up some shrimp egg rolls. I returned minutes later to nothing but a bowl of bones!

These chicken wings do end up with a bit of a caramelized exterior which lends itself well to a nice crunch, but shortly after, they just fall off the bone. Sweet and garlicky with a candy like texture is how I can describe them, and when they disappear within minutes, well, you know they are good. Hope you enjoy.