Think I used a grill to make these perfectly charred wings? Think again!
Sometimes, you have to improvise a little -- like when you don't have a grill and you really want something that would normally be made on a grill, namely BBQ chicken.
I took a recipe for tangy barbecue chicken from Food Network Magazine and tweaked it a little to make bbq wings. You can check out the original recipe here.
Slightly Tangy Barbecue Chicken Wings (adapted from Food Network Magazine)
Printable version
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons molasses
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 cup water
20-25 frozen chicken wings and drumettes (I bought a huge bag at Costco and used about half of it)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients except chicken in medium saucepan and simmer for about 30 minutes. (You can start the next step when you have 15 minutes of simmering left.)
Take frozen wings and drumettes and place in foil-lined roasting pan. Heat in 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Flip wings over, pour barbecue sauce on top, making sure chicken is well coated, and return pan to oven for another 15 minutes. At this point, chicken should be cooked, but check to make sure, as oven times vary.
Then, pop that pan under the broiler. Trust me.
I was looking at the wings thinking they looked good but wishing they were a little more crisp and wondering why I didn't deep-fry them instead when I thought about how the broiler on our gas stove has actual flames coming out of it. Flames also come out of a grill... so I went out on a limb and thought maybe I could get a grill-like effect from broiling. And it worked.
Just keep them under there until they start to blacken in spots. I had to turn the pan and reposition it a few times to make sure all of the wings were getting direct broiling action.
Serve with whatever you want. We had ours with cornbread. I usually make a box of Jiffy, but I was out, so I tried a recipe from The Professional Chef instead. It was very similar to Jiffy but a bit sweeter and fluffier.
I call my wings slightly tangy because I added extra ketchup and brown sugar to the original recipe. I thought the sauce was too tangy when I taste-tested it while it was simmering. My improvised, sweetened version is above, but if you like tangy, you can always go on the Food Network's Web site and get the original recipe there.
This is a great warm weather dinner. It sure had us wishing we were outside picnicking! The only thing that would make it better is some fresh corn on the cob -- I keep waiting for it to appear at the local farmers market!