A dedication to the wing man

Today's blog is dedicated to Russ (the meat man)...you will always live on in our hearts!!!

About ten years ago my friend Russ invited me over to hang out and have a cookout...that day changed the way I cook drastically.   Many of you who follow my blog or have come to my super bowl parties have had the experience of enjoying my Franks Red Hot Sauce obsession.  Russ is the man who started it all.  He swore up and down about this Franks Red Hot Sauce stuff... I was a TABASCO® brand Original Red Sauce fanatic.  Russ grilled up some hot wings in this Franks stuff and I was forever changed for the better!  

Recently the world lost Russ, so today as a dedication to him I am posting one of my most requested recipes...the recipe for my hot wings...this is a modification from the original recipe Russ taught me and I hope that it is a fitting tribute to his memory.  So with tears in my eyes but a smile in my heart I bring to you...

Val's Hot Wings

What you need:

2 pounds of chicken wings sectioned (at least 2 lbs...after you try this you'll know why you may want to make more next time!) 

Frank's Red Hot Sauce (How much depends on how hot you want them,,,I usually use a whole bottle and then some)

     

Butter usually about 1/2 stick (sometimes more if I have a partial stick sitting in the fridge I just use that too)

garlic powder (enough to lightly season all the little wings)

What to do:

Soak wings in franks sauce over night (I use enough to cover wings). 

Next day pull wings out of sauce and set sauce aside for later.

Pre-heat oven to 400 or you can fire up the grill

Put wings on a cookie sheet lined with foil (They stick like crazy so I recommend using non stick foil or if grilling make sure your rack is well seasoned or you will have a lot of tribute to the grill gods.)

Sprinkle with garlic powder and place in the oven or on the grill

Take sauce and butter and cook to boiling in a small sauce pan (really important to do this so you cook away any bacteria and nasty things from the raw chicken).

Once boiling starts turn heat to medium and keep cooking and stirring until mixture thickens to a consistency similar to BBQ sauce (about 10 minutes but you can go longer if ya want...thicker is hotter).

Baste chicken with sauce every 10 - 15 minutes and turn chicken each time you baste.

Chicken needs to cook at least 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on your oven or grill and how much you cook. 

I like to serve these with ranch dressing or the traditional Blue Cheese as well as some additional Franks on the side.

So there you have it...enjoy!!!