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Wing and a Prayer: Lemon Ginger Wings

It’s fall and that means it is tailgating time again! It’s not that I’m an enthusiastic football fan, but anytime food is involved, sports are better. Whether it’s Friday nights at the high school, Saturday afternoon college games, or hovering at the TV on Sunday afternoons for the pro teams, you gotta have the right eats to make it all better.

I actually played with this recipe over the summer, and Don has been harping at me to get it up on the site ever since (he really just wants me to make it again). He’s a hot wings freak. I’m not a big fan of the hot sauce based kind, but I enjoy these because they have a more complex flavor.

I also roasted these wings instead of deep frying them. I’m certainly not averse to deep fried goodness; I’m just too lazy to clean up the mess when it’s over. Besides, I can lie to myself and call them healthy this way.

It’s a simple marinade – both in ingredients and assembly. There’s something about the combination of lemon and ginger that I love. I didn’t want an overt Asian bent to the flavor, but you could also switch out the salt for soy sauce and add a little toasted sesame oil to get yourself there.

And it’s a total do-ahead too. I mixed it up the night before and made them for lunch on a weekend. The best part is that the reduced marinade makes a phenomenal glaze on the roasted wings – a frugal bonus.

This will also translate very well to other chicken pieces if you don’t want to make wings. And have you noticed how expensive chicken wings are? They are just as expensive as boneless chicken breasts at the local mega-store! Once in a blue moon they’ll go on sale for about 99 cents per pound, which is the only time I buy them. I just can’t bring myself to pay almost three bucks a pound for what used to be throw-away parts (damn the rising popularity of Buffalo wings).

If you’re going to use other chicken parts, I’d recommend using the skin-on variety. You need that crunch factor you get from the roasted skin – my test of skinless chicken breasts felt like it was missing something. Besides, you aren’t deep-frying, so you need something to keep the chicken moist. I didn’t try these on the grill, but I think they’d do just fine. If you do decide to grill them, let me know how they turn out.

So whether you’re a true-blue tailgater, a weekend fanatic, or a once-in-awhile enthusiast, add these wings, and you should be all set.

Lemon Ginger Wings

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Easy wings for your next tailgate party

  • 2 lemons (zested and juiced)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (grated)
  • 1 T grated fresh ginger
  • ½ t ground red pepper
  • 2 t salt
  • 1 t ground black pepper
  • ½ C honey
  • 2-3 lbs. chicken wings
  1. Cut each chicken wing into 3 pieces: the drummette, the flat, and the tip. Discard the tips (or save them for stock).
  2. Place the drummettes and flats into a gallon-size, resealable plastic bag.
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, ground red pepper, salt, black pepper, and honey.
  4. Whisk to combine.
  5. Pour over chicken wings and ensure the marinade is thoroughly distributed.
  6. Seal the plastic bag, and place chicken into refrigerator for at least two hours (and up to overnight).
  7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  8. Line a lipped sheet tray with heavy-duty foil.
  9. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.
  10. Lightly shake off excess marinade and place chicken parts in a single layer on foil-lined baking sheet.
  11. Pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan.
  12. Roast chicken wings for 15 minutes.
  13. As the chicken wings roast, reduce marinade in saucepan over medium heat.
  14. Let marinade reduce by ¾, until it become a thick glaze.
  15. Remove from heat when it reaches desired consistency.
  16. After 15 minutes, turn wings over and return to oven for 10 minutes.
  17. At the end of the 10 minutes, brush wings with glaze and roast for 5 more minutes. (This will make a total cooking time of 30 minutes.)
  18. Serve with plenty of napkins.

 This post is reblogged from my earlier blog, “Inexpensive Eating”.

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