Super Bowl Snacks 2.5: Eli's Baked Wings

Feeling super confident about our first round of fried wings we headed into round 2 a few hours later: the baked hot wing! We used Alton Brown's method of steaming and then baking. We bought a little steamer basket which was actually lots of fun and we just followed directions to a t.

Original Buffalo Hot Sauce:

Ingredients:
2/3 cup Frank’s Louisiana hot sauce
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce (Sriracha is awesome) Pretty sure he used Sriracha...
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste

Directions

Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint.
Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry.
Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

Even though there were a lot of steps, these wings were easy to do. They were super tender and the sauce wasn't overly hot.

 I don't think we had a winner between the fried and baked wing. Frying took less time, but the baked are probably healthier?  I would do both again, and once you master the cooking technique you can try whatever sauces you can dream of which is always lots of fun!