Football season started last week, but this was the first weekend I could actually enjoy some games. I made nachos yesterday, and I decided to do something I did a while back: Monday Night Mash-up, where I take two of the team’s iconic dishes and combine them into a Super Dish! Everyone loves wings, but I (brace yourselves) absolutely can’t stand Buffalo Wings. The sauce is so vinegary, acidic, and disgusting. Then you dip it into some bleu cheese gnarliness that came out of a plastic container from who knows where. It’s just not delicious.
But, I do love fried chicken and Nashville Hot Chicken has depth to its spices. So I made hot sauce buttermilk brine, a fully seasoned dredge, and an addictively lip-tingling hot oil. Now, if you just eat these wings, it’s gonna be too much on your palate. So, I whipped up a dilly bleu cheese dressing that is heads-and-above anything you can buy in a bottle and an absolutely essential pairing ingredient for this meal. This was so good we didn’t reach for our drinks until the wings were gone, but we couldn’t stop dipping into the dressing…we even ate all of the vegetables!
Nashville Hot Wings with Bleu Cheese Dressing
Brine
12 wings
2 cups buttermilk
3 tbsp hot sauce
2 tsp Kosher salt
Dredge
1.5 cups AP flour
1.5 tbsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
Hot Oil
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp garlic powder
Bleu Cheese Dressing
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
Few leaves of parsley and dill, minced
1.5 oz bleu cheese, crumbled
Lemon juice from 1 wedge
Pinch of sea salt
4-8 hours prior to frying, segment the wings. Whisk the buttermilk, hot sauce, Kosher salt and some black pepper together in a bowl until well combined. Add in the wings, cover, and place in the refrigerator.
When ready to fry up the wings, bring plenty of oil to 350 degrees in a large pot or deep fryer. Meanwhile, wish together the dredge ingredients, adding in 2 tbsp of the brine liquid. Then drain the wings and dredge in the flour, placing them on a rack-lined baking sheet.
Drop the wings (in batches if necessary) into the oil and fry for six minutes. Remove to the lined baking sheet and increase the oil temperature to 375 degrees.
While wings fry, prepare the hot oil by heating the oil in a saucepan over medium-heat. When the oil begins to ripple, whisk in the seasonings and continue whisking for about a minute, until fragrant. Set aside.
When the frying oil reaches 375 degrees, fry the wings once more for about 5-8 minutes, until fully browned. Remove and drain on the rack for a few minutes. Then brush with the hot oil. Let rest for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by whisking the ingredients together and place in a small bowl.
To serve, portion out the wings, brush with more hot oil and serve with teh bleu cheese and some veggies.
______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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