Tracey's Chicken Wings

As Hailey noted - this is an old family favorite - and with me it goes back a lot longer than that. Tracey was a college roommate of mine and she got this recipe from her mother. When we were in college back in the dark ages (mid 1970's) - chicken wings had yet to be discovered as the favorite appetizer/stylish bar food that they would eventually become. They were basically toss outs, sold almost like soup bones, and pretty much only cash-challenged college students and Chinese restaurants bought them. We had a grocer down the street where we could get all of the chicken wings we wanted for something like ten cents a pound. We got a lot of them. There were many months that after paying the rent and the utilities we would have enough cash left over to buy a mess of wings, a 20 pound bag of potatoes, some fine red wine at $3.79 a gallon and a case of Rhinelander beer that sometimes went on sale for $2.99 a case but usually came in at an even four bucks. Oh yes - we were living high style to be sure - but were it not for this recipe I might have starved to death.

Of course you start with the wings - they were on sale today at $2.29 a pound - a long way from the dime a pound in the mid-70's.But then they do come in a pretty little meat tray now and not just stuffed into a plastic bag. Begin by cutting each wing into three pieces - cut at each of the two joints and you end up with the wing tip, the middle portion, and the thickest part of the wing, that part which is closest to the bird, literally the upper arm of the chicken. The upper arms make marvelous little drumsticks.

Now my original hand-written recipe just said "cut off wing tips and discard" but you can always toss them into a plastic bag and freeze them, using them the next time you make chicken stock (what? you don't make your own chicken stock? oh but you should!). Whatever you do with the wing tips - you don't need them for this recipe - we're only using the middle portion and the mini-drumsticks.  Place them in a non-reactive (plastic or glass) bowl.

Now we make the marinade - and here's most of the lineup - we'll need frozen orange juice, lemon juice, ground ginger, crushed garlic, soy sauce, granulated sugar, table salt, and Tabasco sauce.

Mix all together and pour over the chicken wings. Let these bad boys marinade for at least an hour but two or three hours is even better.

When ready to cook spray a glass baking dish with canola oil. Place the wings in a single layer and reserve the marinade.

Place the wings on the center shelf of an oven preheated to 325 degrees. Bake for one hour, basting with reserved marinade every 15-20 minutes. Now the one hour this is just a guideline - the meatier the wings are or the more you stuff into the pan - will all cause the cooking time to be extended. I knew from the outset that these would take a bit more than an hour but especially since Mrs. Hendo decided to make a batch of croutons at the same time which meant opening the oven door at least a half-dozen times to make sure they weren't burning, it ended up taking about an hour and a half. But no worries - bonus croutons from that French bread that was trying to go south on us.

Here they are after the second baste - and you need to be careful about how much of the marinade you're adding to the pan - you don't want too much liquid nor do you ever want them to dry out.  This is a good start, but there is still a lot of color to come.

At the third basting their getting close - but they still don't have the right color.

Okay - four bastes at 20 minute intervals and these bad boys are ready - the glaze is a dark brown and just  on the verge of burning.

What you're really going for is a golden "crust" of almost candy-like glaze, but the sweetness is tempered by the citrus juice.  Serve with plenty of napkins - this is finger food. They reheat well and they're good as cold leftovers too.

These babies are ready for the table - and note the fancy serving dish - hey, it was just us the three of us for dinner and we had waited in great anticipation for an old family favorite - I could have served these things off a garbage can lid and I'm not sure anyone would have noticed!

Thanks Tracey - wherever you are - who would have thought that over 35 years later I would still be cooking our college version of chicken wings? Now about those 20-pound bags of spuds - do you have any idea just how many ways there are to cook potatoes when you're a broke college student? A lot - but those recipes just don't seem to have the lasting allure of a good batch of wings.

Tracey's Chicken Wings

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup soy sauce
5 drops Tabasco

Combine all ingredients.
Cut off wing tips & discard.
Cut remaining wing into two pieces.
Marinate in mixture for 1 hour.
Bake at 325 for 1 hour, basting with mixture every 15 minutes.