Buffalo Chicken Does Not Make You Buff

When I’m not craving tacos and enchiladas, my stomach is usually telling me “time for hot wings! time for hot wings!” I can’t get enough. And I like them really spicy. Like, burn your lips off and you know you shouldn’t eat it because its going to hurt, but its too good not to eat. And typically you end up with a hot wing hangover the next day (if you know what I mean). But its so worth it. I truly think I have an addiction to hot wings because my cravings are very much irresistible. Some day I hope to travel to Buffalo, NY for their annual hot wing festival. I just haven’t found the right way to convince Brad Pitt, yet.

I would guess that we eat hot wings about once a week. Which is probably the reason I had to buy a swimsuit with a skirt to cover my ham hocks earlier this week. (A skirted swimsuit. Oh my. I’m officially a fat old lady. Actually not really, its a pretty cute bikini and the bottoms are more like boy shorts with a ruffly like skirt around them. So I guess it doesn’t technically count. At least that is what I’m telling myself.)

So every now and then I try making hot wings at home, thinking it will be a “healthier version” but they never turn out right. Baked chicken wings just turn out gross. Even if you bake at really high temps. And even if you try setting them under the broiler the last five minutes. They are just gross. Frying them at home isn’t going to happen because (1) I don’t have one of those deep fryer contraptions and (2) I’ve tried frying chicken before in the skillet and its hard. And super messy. Plus its not exactly a healthier version so you might as well just order them from your favorite restaurant.*

Last night, though, I tried something new. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts, peppered them on each side, dipped them in a buffalo+butter sauce and then coated them in panko crumbs. I flipped them over a couple times to get as much panko coating as possible which left some clumps of saucy panko on the mixing plate. So I took those clumps and mashed them on the top of each chicken breast. Popped them in the oven for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees and voila! They were ready to go. And they were actually pretty good! I don’t know if mashing the extra panko-sauce mixture made them spicy or if it was just the sauce bath in the beginning, but they were hot. And it was so easy to make AND to clean up. They aren’t as much fun to eat this way but they would cure a hot wing craving for at least a day or two. And you should be able to avoid the dreaded hot wing hangover.

*Someday I will post a list of my favorite hot wing places. You will have to stay tuned for that!