On Superbowl Sunday, Jack had a hankering for hot-wings. So did I. So we set about trying a new way to make them. Inspired by my oven fried chicken strips, Jack made a buttermilk-based marinade for the drummettes. The marinade was spicy...
Seriously hot...3 canned chipotles plus a couple tablespoons of the adobo sauce they came in, along with about 2 tablespoons of Habanero Tabasco sauce were pureed together and added to about 2 cups of buttermilk. We filled a dish with 2 dozen chicken drummettes and the marinade, and let them sit for about half an hour.
The wings were then taken out of the marinade, sprinkled with garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt, then dredged in flour and deep fried in vegetable oil.
They were good. Perfectly fried, crispy on the outside, tender meat, good flavor. The thing that stumps us, though, is that they weren't at all spicy hot. You could taste the flavor of the habanero, but the heat was not there. We are not complaining...the outcome made us happy, and they will be made again for those occasions when guests aren't equipped with the tongues of steel we both have.
We do like the spicy, though, and are wondering why these lost that. The buttermilk seems the obvious culprit...as dairy does tone down the burn. However, we both tasted the marinade, buttermilk and all before adding the wings, and agreed that it was smokin'. Any ideas?
