Spicy BBQ Chicken Wings Recipe
"And can I get that on the fly?"  Dreaded words in the kitchen, but so common that there is no point in having any reaction except, "Coming right up!"  Technically, when cooking on the line, everything you make is "on the fly."  It simply means you are doing things quickly "in midair or in flight."  In many of the places I've worked, BBQ sauce is not an item we would keep in stock. So when the infrequent request came in for it, I would have to organize the meat on my grill to buy myself a minute or two, grab a container, then scramble to the walk-in fridge, bolt to dry storage, clamber over to the spice shelf, collect all my ingredients in the blender, then make a mad dash back to the line to save that medium rare steak from becoming coal. Good times. That was how my favorite BBQ sauce was born... on the fly.

Ingredients

  • Half gallon of fryer oil
Breading
  • 2 Cups white flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 T milk
Hot sauce
  • ½ cup Franks Red Hot
  • 2 cup ketchup
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 5 T brown sugar
  • 3 T molasses
  • 1 T garlic powder
  • 1 T onion powder
  • 1 T smoked paprika
  • ½ T mustard
  • 1 ½ tsp cayenne
  • Cracked black pepper to taste
  • Ghost chili sauce optional

Directions

  1. Melt butter in a large pan on medium heat.  Stir in all other hot sauce ingredients.  Simmer for about 30 minutes on low, stirring frequently.  When thickened, remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Preheat and maintain fry oil at 375° in a large pot or fryer.
  3. Add flour to a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and milk to combine them.  Dip wing or leg into the flour mixture and place on a plate.  Once a batch has been floured, dip each into egg/milk and place on second plate.  After all have been "egg'd", dip each back into flour and return to first plate.
  4. Fry first batch for about 12 minutes. Do not overload fryer.  Allow oil to return to 375°.  Continue frying in batches.
  5. Transfer chicken to a metal bowl.  Add some hot sauce to coat (not too much or it will make breading soggy) and toss.  Serve with celery and carrot sticks, and ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce.