There are some things that should not be eaten in public.
Corn-on-the-cob is one; it’s hard to eat corn-on-the-cob without looking like a horse. Another is the Sticky Chicken Wings in today’s recipe. Eaten at your own table, with family members or close friends, you can deal with the dripping corn and sticky fingers – but you probably won’t want to eat this chicken at a table set with your best linens.
Whenever and wherever you eat Sticky Chicken Wings, they will be good, and we thank Pat Couch Harris for sharing the recipe with us. Pat contributed to an earlier column.
She and her husband Ray are from Hillview Baptist Church in Graniteville, where they are both members of the same Sunday school class and Ray is a deacon. Ray, a retired construction contractor, often helps with the building and grounds needs at the church. Tim Smart is pastor at Hillview.
Pat is from the area, but was working in California at Lockheed and later at LSI Logic as a secretary when she and Ray, who was from that area, met and married. When he retired, they moved back to Graniteville because of family responsibilities with her parents. After the death of both parents within a year of each other and dealing several months with a knee replacement herself, Pat was caught up with retirement and looked about for a new job. She found what she thinks is the perfect job for her: a five-day, part-time job as secretary eight miles away at Levels Baptist in Aiken. Larry Scales is the pastor there.
Pat and Ray Harris
She found today’s recipe in Gourmet magazine, but changed it by omitting some things and adding others. In the notes following her recipe, Pat gives some suggestions. This is a mild-flavored chicken, so if you like your wings spicier, then add more cayenne or a pepper sauce.
Three pounds is a lot of chicken, but she says that Sticky Chicken Wings freeze well, so you can get more than one meal from the recipe.
Pat says she and Ray have this for a meal with a vegetable and salad or two vegetables. They prefer their vegetables steamed or cooked to the crisp-tender stage. She suggests it also for a potluck supper. As we enter the season for eating out-of-doors, Sticky Chicken Wings would be a good choice for a casual dinner on the porch, deck, or patio. Maybe you can toss in some corn-on-the-cob, too. And lots of napkins.
To quote Pat, “This recipe can be made on Saturday and is better the next day after it is warmed for …. Sunday Dinner.”
Spicy Chicken Wings
1 large garlic clove
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Pinch of cayenne
3 pounds chicken wingettes or chicken wings
1 scallion (green part only), or a green onion – finely chopped
Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large, shallow baking pan (12×17 inches) with foil and lightly oil the foil.
Mince garlic and mash to a paste with the salt, using a large, heavy knife. Transfer garlic paste to a large bowl and stir in soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey and cayenne.
Add the wingettes to sauce, stirring to coat, and arrange wingettes in one layer in the prepared baking pan. Roast, turning the wings once, until cooked through – about 35 minutes or longer. Transfer wingettes to a large serving bowl and toss or sprinkle with the green onion if desired.
Cook’s notes: a) I use prepared garlic from a small jar instead of the fresh garlic and salt; b) I make twice the amount of sauce called for, and think the wings would be better if marinated in the sauce overnight in the refrigerator; c) I never turn mine while they are baking, and they are still good; d) If using the whole three-part chicken wings instead of wingettes, cut off the tips of the wings with kitchen shears; then halve the wings at the joint. Boil the tips to make chicken broth for later use.