I can’t believe they’re not chicken wings

I can’t believe they’re not chicken wings

Kinda ugly, aren’t they? Despite their somewhat dubious looks, these are a tasty and unexpected compromise for the chicken wing battle that wages in our house. My husband loves chicken wings. Their high-fat, low-meat ratio makes them a less than healthy snack. He likes the spicy sauce and finger-lickin’ properties of wings. I don’t care about the mess, I just want him to live long enough to shovel snow well into retirement. We seemed deadlocked on this issue. Then fate intervened.

I was making what would turn out to be a disappointing batch of butter chicken. Being out of chicken breast I was forced to debone thighs for the curry. I’m not very good at this fiddley task and produced half a dozen thigh bones with too much meat to throw out. I would normally use them for soup stock, but noticed that they looked a bit like drumettes. So, I tossed them in Andrew’s favourite Buffalo wing sauce and baked them up.

Can skinless, badly butchered chicken thighs make a suitable substitute for wings? “They were deee-lish,” Andrew says. “A little more meaty than wings, but slightly more manageable.” Did he feel cheated? “No. I would have put a little more sauce on them, but that’s a difference of opinion.”

I was thrilled with our new agreement until I read the ingredient list on his wing sauce. It’s got enough salt to de-ice the roads. When I mentioned this, Andrew protested. He likes salty, fatty things and says if I keep fiddling with his treats, he’ll end up with the equivalent of a tofu hotdog.

He should be so lucky.

No Comments
  • jodi
    Posted at 01:06h, 07 February

    Smart plan with the thighs…now, as for the sauce, what about making your own? What does he like (hot, spicy, sweet, etc)? The Podleski sisters have a couple of sauce recipes in their latest, but I haven’t tried them yet because we don’t cook wings. There’s too much Scot in me (not to be confused with Scotch IN me) to purchase wings, but I will buy drumsticks if they’re on sale, and either barbecue them or bake them in something interesting.
    Tofu hotdog? That would just be plain cruel. (I happen to be one of those who is not enthralled by tofu unless it’s disgusing itself as something else, or sneaked into pad thai, etc.)

  • Christie's Corner
    Posted at 11:03h, 07 February

    I keep hearing good things about the Podleski sisters. If they’ve got a sauce, I’ll give it a try.

    As for tofu — I was vegetarian for 15-years and couldn’t get my head around tofu. Like you, I eat in in pad thai or hot and sour soup, but can live a happy and fulfilled life without fermented soy curds.