Speaking of photography, if you want to grow your food blog fast, there is no better way out there right now than getting your photos accepted by Foodgawker and/or Tastespotting. If you have tried and been rejected, don’t give up! And don’t be bitter – get better! Nobody wants to hear you whine (on your blog, twitter, or to anyone else who will listen) repeatedly about how they only accept a certain type of photo, or from certain blogs, or whatever it is you tell yourself to soften the blow of their rejection! I’ve been rejected so many times I’ve lost count!!! I STILL get rejected way more often than I get accepted – especially by Tastespotting!! But when I do make the cut, my blog traffic spikes dramatically. We have a love/hate relationship (love to get accepted, HATE to get rejected!), and I credit their exposure for getting me to this point so quickly. Though I have cussed them out mentally many, many (many many many many many…a LOT ok?) times, I’m grateful to them both! So work harder, learn the basics of lighting and exposure (again, Plate to Pixel people!) and keep submitting! Oh and do yourself a favor and pore over the submission guidelines and do your research! Sarah G. over at Tastespotting finds photos of half eaten food gross, hates cilantro, and won’t accept your photo (even if it’s amazing) if your post is boring or too personal (Uh oh, this post is toast! ha ha!!) (see Sarah, I have been paying attention!) Keep abreast of what’s trendy or popular and blog about it – it will raise your chances of getting accepted by a lot!
And so I’m finally moving on to the food which is why most of you are here! Sorry it took so long, guess I had a lot to say today! If this is your first time here I swear I’m not usually quite this wordy! But cut a girl some slack, it’s a big day for me! So, the chicken wings! Who doesn’t love them?? Nobody I’ve ever met that’s for sure! And since it’s playoff season and no Superbowl party worth attending is without a big platter of wings, this seemed like as good a time as any for this recipe! There are a million delicious variations on chicken wings but since I’m doing low carb this week I kept it simple and sugar free – though a sticky, sweet, teriyaki chicken wing is hard to beat! The classic buffalo wing (at least in CT where I’m from) is generally Frank’s red hot sauce and butter. I added a quartered habanero for more heat but that was my only flavor enhancement. One thing I don’t do is deep fry my wings. It’s completely unnecessary in my opinion. There is enough fat in the skin and wing to fry itself when you bake it in the oven.
The trick is to bake them with no sauce first until they are crispy and cooked through. Then a bath in the sauce and back in the oven where they will get nice and crisp and the sauce bakes on – yum!. There isn’t much worse than a soggy chicken wing. But if you put the sauce on while they are raw and then try to bake them, by the time they get crisp (if ever) the meat will be completely dried out and barely palatable. So bake first, then sauce, then bake – repeat if you like them really saucy! And another thing – do yourself a favor and don’t pay extra for the bags of frozen winglets! Fresh wings are cheaper and all you have to do is make two cuts per wing to get the same product! Cut off the tips (I use them to make stock) and then cut through the joint to separate the “wing” from the “drumette.” It’s cheaper and better quality than those freezer burned thingy’s they sell in a bag!
Classic Buffalo Wings
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 lbs of fresh chicken wings
- 1 lrg bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1 habanero, seeded & quartered (optional)
Instructions
- After you trim the chicken put the pieces onto a cookie sheet (preferably foil covered, it took me forever to scrub mine clean last time!). Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes until golden and crisp – longer if you like them really crispy.*
- Meanwhile in a medium saucepan melt the butter and add the entire bottle of hot sauce as well as the habanero, if using. Simmer over low heat while the wings are in the oven.
- Remove wings from the oven and dump into the sauce, toss until well coated. Take them out and put them back on the cookie sheet – back in the oven for another 30 minutes or more.
- If you love them really saucy you can repeat this step. Or if you are cooking them for a party later, refrigerate the sauce and wings and then re-dunk and blast for 20 minutes in the oven right (375 F) before your guests arrive.
- Serve with lots of celery sticks and good quality blue cheese dressing! Nom, nom, nom!
Notes
*I seasoned mine with salt and pepper before baking and the finished product turned out a bit too salty. I didn’t use unsalted butter which may have been the problem. So if you season them before baking, use a light hand with the salt and make sure you use unsalted butter in the sauce!
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Chicken
Alicia says
Hey guys!
Here is the Nutrition Info relating to carbs I found off of the labels:
chicken wings: 0 carbs
Franks Red Hot Original: 0 carbs
Unsalted Butter: 0 carbs
I made Hot Lemon Pepper, so 1 tbsp lemon is 2 carbs, and black pepper is .1 carbs per tsp.
Loved this recipe, I could never figure out what I wasn’t getting right when trying to sauce without using a recipe, BUTTER – it makes a world of difference!!
Maureen says
I made these last night and they were great. I added 10 minutes at the end and they came out crispy.
Sara says
Hi! LOVING all the recipes I’ve tried. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us!
I noticed there’s no nutritional value on this recipe. Can you post what the serving size is and the calorie count etc? Otherwise I may just eat the entire batch and call it ok?
Thank you!
Camille Dufour says
I would love to know the answer to that question!!! Did you get an answer, Sara?
Carrie says
I just found this site as I have only been dabbling in Keto for a while now. I tried another cleanse, but oh boy. Gross and it had tons of carbs and didn’t seem to do a thing for me other than make me sick. So here I am back to Keto and wanted to some sort of “cleanse”. Anyhow, I do not like hot. Can you suggest some kind of barbecue sauce type substitution or something not so hot that is keto friendly. Thank you!!!!
Cammi says
I’m not Melissa, LOL, but I recommend G. Hughes Sugar Free BBQ Sauce (Hickory flavored is my favorite)!
Mary Prather says
Where can you find the sugar free bbq source? I don’t like hot stuff
Lonna says
I have fund it at Wal Mart
Carol says
I don’t like hot sauce either, so after melting the butter I just add enough frank’s to give it some taste and a little bit of kick. Hope this helps!
Cammi says
We’re stationed overseas so I have to order my SF BBQ sauce online. I get mine at Amazon or Vitacost. Usually Vitacost as it’s almost always cheaper. I’ve also discovered at Vitacost if I put things in my cart, but don’t purchase right away, usually by the next day they send me a % off coupon, LOL. It’s worked the last 3 time, so great for me, LOL.
Susan Johnson says
We toss with olive oil, bake at 425 for 45 minutes or until desired doneness. Melt butter, and in a generous amount of quality lemon pepper, baste each wing twice. These are our go to not hot wings. Soo good
Kay says
Love these buffalo wings. They will go on my menu to have regularly. My husband and I chowed down….at first I could see he was skeptical at being fed chicken wings for dinner. After the first bite, his face lit up! For zero carbs on the wings, these are a no-brainer for a low carb eater. I followed the recipe exactly – when I took the wings out, I wanted a bit more crispiness – I set the broiler and left in for 90 seconds. Perfection! Just a bit crispy, the meat was moist and flavorful. The sauce was a bit spicy, but not too much. Thank you for this recipe!
terri says
what is the serving size and nutrition info for these
Olivia says
What are the nutrition facts for this meal?
Lori Barton says
I made these tonight for dinner. They were wonderful. I wanted to keep eating them till they were gone, but I finally had to put them away so I would have some left for this week. Thank you for this great recipe.
Lisa says
We don’t eat meat on the bone. Can I use chicken breast?
AKM says
I was hoping someone else would say this! Maybe even boneless thighs for more fat content over breasts?
Cheryl says
could use chicken legs instead of chicken wings? how many legs can i eat?