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WINGS
Is there anybody that doesn’t like chicken wings? Maybe. But why would we want to know them? Think of the mindset of a person who doesn’t like wings: she’d have to be an extremely picky eater. She’d have to be someone who’s afraid to get her fingers a little greasy and her face a little messy.? Probably easily upset and controlling, not wanting to appear the least bit unkempt in front of people. The word prissy comes to mind when trying to imagine someone who doesn’t like wings. We say she because, well THERE’S NOT A GUY ON THE PLANET THAT DOESN’T LIKE WINGS!

A MAJOR FOOD GROUP
You can toss chicken into the “meat” category, but wings are in a class all by themselves. They go with almost everything, or can be served as a stand alone meal. Who among us hasn’t sat down with a plate of wings and a beer (or three) and called it dinner? Who among us won’t do it again? And again? And again? Let’s face it, as long as chickens have wings, and man has hot sauce, we’ll be happy.

NO ONE’S EVER SEEN A BUFFALO WITH WINGS
Legend has it that wings were invented in Buffalo, New York, in 1964. Really? Just because chickens can’t fly doesn’t mean they never had wings until ‘64. And no one outside of Buffalo ever threw a bunch of wings on the grill and basted ‘em with sauce? Well, before there was Cookin’ With Roscoe, there was Cookin’ With Roscoe’s Dad. And Roscoe’s dad used to grill everything year round – in Detroit (that’s right, year round, rain or shine or snow, just lift up the garage door and fire up the grill – and that grilling included chicken wings. Long before 1964. It happened because all the kids in the family – Roscoe’s brothers and sister and cousins – all wanted the wings whenever someone cooked a chicken. Why?

WINGS ARE THE BEST PART OF THE CHICKEN
Tender, juicy, succulent, tasty, much better than any breast or thigh.?Or leg, for that matter. Where’s the proof, you ask? Anyone ever hear of Buffalo Wild Thighs? Or Buffalo Wild Breasts? (Not to be confused with Girls Gone Wild, which, to anyone’s knowledge, never happened in Buffalo).

WHY COOK YOUR OWN?
It’s certainly true that you can get wings almost anywhere. Domino’s Pizza claims to sell 10 million a week, so you know it’s gotta be easier to order them delivered than to make them yourself. But when you’re Cookin’ With Roscoe, it’s not about easy.?It’s about good. Let’s face it, there’s nothing wrong with Hooters except their wings. As with most places that serve wings, the love is focused somewhere else. Not so when you’re Cookin’ With Roscoe.

BUY A BAG OF WINGS
Most local butchers sell chicken wings by the pound, and depending on the size, you’ll get 4 or 5 to the pound, usually around $1.79 per lb. If your butcher will take the tips off, fine, if not, you can do it yourself, just use a sharp knife and cut ‘em off. Then use that same sharp knife and trim some of the skin (we don’t need all that chicken fat) – you don’t have to get compulsive, just do what you can without cutting your fingers off.

THE RUB
You can rub almost anything you want on your wigs, and they’ll taste good, from salt and pepper to garlic (fresh or powdered) to herbs, mustard, or corn flakes. The Cookin With Roscoe test kithens have found that a combination of powdered Cholula, smoked garlic, and smoked paprika works pretty darn good. Rub this mixture all over the wings, then put ‘em in a plastic bag. Now you’re ready for?

THE MARIDADE
Again, just about any combination of liquid flavors will work. We start with olive oil, then of course Worcesstershire, hot sauce, any chile sauce you’ve got. There are any number of bottled marinades on the market, and a lot of them are good. Do the taste test: find out what you like best. Then seal up the bag, massage those wings until they’re well coated, and put the bag in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

THE SECRET TO GRILLED WINGS
You can stand by with your water bottle, trying to squirt the flames away and trying to keep your chicken from burning and turning out dry and tasteless, or you can employ the simple secret to moist, tender chicken:

USE THE TOP GRATE OVER LOW HEAT
That’s right, the grate you usually use to warm stuff like buns or buns.?The top grate will keep the wings far enough away from the flame to cook evenly without charring. They’ll get crisp and stay juicy because you’re using LOW HEAT. Sure, this method takes a little longer, but it’s worth it. Keep turning the wings over every 10 minutes or so, probably for about an hour (every grill is different, so we can’t be definite here). When the wings are all uniformly golden and crisp (you might get a little char here and there, but that’s okay, it’ll taste good), baste them with

YOUR SAUCE
Hey, you can buy a bottle of barbeque sauce in any super market. And a lot of them are good. But buying a bottle of something is never as much fun as making it yourself. And it’s easy. Just empty your fridge of all the fun stuff you’ve put in it over the last couple of months. Think we’re kidding? No way!

LOTS OF SECRET INGREDIENTS
Put a sauce pan on the stove top, set the heat to medium. Pull out a bottle of ketchup. Nothing hard about that, is there? Then start looking in your fridge. You’ve got Worcestershire, you’ve got steak sauce, you’ve got wine, you’ve got mustard. You’ve probably got some kind of jelly or preserves. Any kind will do. Apricot is a favorite of ours, and any kind of pepper jelly. Get it all out on the counter, then pour a little of each into the sauce pan. Stir it up, taste it after it starts to get warm. Your palate will tell you what it needs. Maybe a little more mustard – fruit mustards work especially well here – or maybe a little more ketchup, or honey, or molasses. Of course, you can have a perfectly food barbeque sauce without bourbon in it, but who’d want to? Or beer, or any other kind of booze (tequila comes to mind right away). Just keep tasting and adding till you get it right. If it takes a while, that’s okay too, just be sure to have a couple of beers nearby to cleanse the palate. If you make the sauce ahead of time, you can keep it in the fridge till you need it. Serve it warm or cold, however you like it. Slather it on your wings and watch everyone smile through the sauce on their face.

YOU’LL NEVER GO TO HOOTERS FOR WINGS AGAIN
Hey, we’re not saying you’ll never go to Hooters again. You just won’t order the wings.