There are many appetisers, warm up snacks or ‘hors d'oeuvres’ when it comes to BBQing at parties and there are a variety of ‘fixings’ such as sliders, mini-kebabs and burnt ends to serve up. But it has to be said, chicken wings are hard to beat as a precursor to the main event.
Piled high on a platter, crisp and steaming hot after blast on the grill and with a good drizzle of hot sauce is an excellent kickstarter and if we had a pound for every chicken wing that we have wolfed down over the years, well, we’d have enough money to buy say…a very nice suit from Saville Row. Or maybe even charter a private jet to the Balearics. Or something…
It’s actually hard to quantify, now we’re thinking of it. But given that we are shifting tons of them right now at Turner & George, it suggests that we are not alone.
The whole world and methodology of BBQing chicken wings is huge too and we could go down one hell of a rabbit hole, looking at the multitude of ways of treating them. Marinades, rubs and breading are all de rigeur, plus we could start looking at boning the delicious things for an instant burst of flavour, with juice running down your chin.
However, for the sake of keeping things simple, we’re looking to smoke them here and apply a bowl of sauce for dunking afterwards.
Because dunking is very important when it comes to chicken wings.
(Although we do take a stand on double-dipping. So maybe think about providing those little dispenser cups you see in certain fast food stores.)
THE CHICKEN WINGS
Like we said, this is the easy part but in the preparation you might want them to give a little sprinkle of our Tasty Bird rub first. Then set up your BBQ for smoking at around 110°C and give them a gentle smoke for 2 hours, so they remain super succulent. When the internal temperature reaches 75°C they are good to go. Apple or cherry wood is very good in this instance, to impart some sweetness and flashing on the grill afterwards to crisp up, is very proper.
As for quantities, three per head is decent. But five is better.
WINSLADE WONDER
Everyone always thinks of blue cheese sauce when it comes to chicken wings (and OK, it’s not a bad shout) but there’s a plethora of amazing UK cheeses out there that also work really well. Winslade from Hamshire being one of them. The main aspect really is to provide a cooling, creamy counter to the hot wing and these rich, earthy cheese works very well. We also sell it in the shops!
Ingredients
1 round Winslade cheese, rind peeled and chopped
150ml sour cream
50ml buttermilk
Small bunch parsley, chopped
2 Spring onions, chopped
Sea salt and pepper
Dried crispy onion for garnish
Method
Place the cheese, sour cream and buttermilk into a blender and pulse briefly to combine. Then pour into a bowl and add the parsley and spring onion and taste for seasoning. Top with dried crispy onion.
COMEBACK SAUCE
This is what we call a ‘cupboard raid’ sauce and can be also used as a decent condiment for applying liberally to burgers, sausages and chops. The addition of crispy bacon also lifts everything due to the power of bacon.
Ingredients
400g mayonnaise
2tbs Franks Hot Sauce
2tbs tomato sauce
1tbs smoked paprika
1tsp English mustard
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 rashers streaky bacon
Black pepper
Method
First, fry up the bacon in a pan until it is nice and crispy and then place on some kitchen towel to soak up the excess fat, then chop finely. Blitz all the condiments together and taste for seasoning and serve in a bowl with the chopped bacon sprinkled on top.
NAM JIM
Fish sauce and chicken goes curiously well together and this variation on that famous Thai dip is one for those who like to up the Scoville factor. We have given quantities here but do taste as you go along. The main aim is to get a nice even balance of salt and sour and this works best in a pestle and mortar, rather than blending.
Ingredients
2 green chillies, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1tsp shrimp paste
1tbs tamarind sauce
5 limes, juiced
1tbs fish sauce
Small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
Method
First place the chilli, garlic, shrimp paste and tamarind sauce into a pestle and mortar and pound to create rough paste. Add the fish sauce and then the lime juice gradually, tasting as you go (you can also add a touch of water). Finish by adding the coriander and stirring through.
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