Rival Chicken Wings

For years, I wouldn't go NEAR a chicken wing ... it was actually pathetic ... I'd get wide eyed and wave my hands in front of me "no, no, I don't want any, thank you very much" ...

Then Hubby got his turkey fryer out one night and made about 100 lbs of wings. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but it was more than 5 lbs ... it was A LOT.  And they came out so crispy and yummy, that I tentatively bit a small piece off a flat and that was the end of my anti-wing days.

To this day, though, I'm fairly picky about them. I don't like them fatty, super moist inside, chewy or overly sauced. I prefer NO breading, just cook them naked ...

Yes. I can be difficult, I know.

So when we had the wings at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza all those years ago when Sonny Boy graduated from high school, I thought I died and went to heaven ... not sure what sold me more, the focaccia and caramelized onions, or the super crisp chicken wings that were not fried.  However, being frugal, these have not made that much of an appearance in my life as they aren't cheap ... 

So when the local paper had a recipe, you better believe I gave it a try!

I'm so glad I did ... and you will be too!

NOTE: Next time, Hubby wants to try and do them on the charcoal grill ... I agree, I think that might just set these over the top!

Here's how I did it (original recipe can be found here)

8 lbs (2 4 lb bags) of wings, cut in sections
1/4 cup chopped garlic (you are prepping your garlic in mass quantities, right?)
4 tbs Italian seasoning (dried)
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons total)
generous dash of black pepper

Rinse wings and pat a little dry to remove excess liquid. Toss them all into a LARGE glass or plastic bowl.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.

Dump marinade over the wings.

Grab a rubber glove, put on you dominant hand (try not to snap it so those around don't give you that funny look).

Mix up the wings with your gloved hand. It's just way easier than trying to stir them up and honestly, the raw chicken and oily marinade was too much for my bare hand ;-)

Grab a showercap.

Cover with your showercap and stick in the fridge for 24 hours.

Make sure you visit the wings occasionally and give them a toss so the ones swimming on the bottom can come up for some air occasionally.

After 24 hours have gone by (but really, no longer than that), spray a large baking tray (you will need 2 total to cook all these) with pam (I skipped this part and was so very sad I did) and lay out the wings in a single layer.

Preheat the oven to 475 while the wings warm up a little. Bake them for 30 minutes and flip them and cook for another 20 minutes.

My wings were large ... and we like them well done. Therefore, 50 minutes was good as opposed to the original time of 25 minutes. Either that, or my oven is way off, which I don't think so!

And yes, next time, I will make the caramelized onions to go along side ...

Looking forward to linking up with some great blog hops ... make sure you check them out! In and Out of the Kitchen, Memories, Tuesdays At Our Home, How To Tuesday, Handmade Tuesday, Making a Home, Show Me The Goods, Talking Tuesday Over the Fence, Totally Tasty Tuesday, All My Bloggie Friends, Frugal Tip Tuesday,  Tuesday Talent Show, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Penny Pinching Party, The Gathering Spot, Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays, Kitchen Tip Tuesdays, Frugal Tuesday Tip, Show Me What Ya Got, What's Cooking Wednesday, Its a Party!, Recipe Swap, Works For Me Wednesday, Sugar and Spice, Wake Up Wednesday, Wonderfully Creative Wednesdays,  Whatever Goes Wednesday, Wednesday Whatsits, Real Fun, What I Whipped Up, Work It Wednesday, Lovely Ladies, Weekly Creative, Domestic Superhero, All Things Thursday, The Weekly Creative, Tasty Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Create It Thursday, Crafty Thursday Obsessions, Frugal Food Thursday, Showcase Your Talent, Thrifty Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Foodie Friday, Get Real Frugal Friday, Frugal Fridays, Food on Friday, Freakin Did It Friday, Feature Friday, The Pin Junkie, Freedom Friday, Friday Favorite, Foodie Friday, A peek into my paradise, Foodie Friends Friday, Fun Friday blog hop, TGIF BLOG HOP, Weekend Retreat, What’s Shakin, Weekend Wonders, Weekend Potluck, Get Him Feed Anything Goes, Dwell on Fridays, Friday Foodfight, Lil Luna Link Party, Foodie Friday, Friday with Friends, Simple Living Foodie Friday, The Party Bunch,  Inspirations, Weekend Wander, Weekly Roundup, Feature Yourself Saturday, I Gotta Create, Show and Tell Saturday, Show Off Weekend, Show Stopper Saturday, Sweet and Savory, The Weekend Creative, Weekend Potluck, Will Cook For Smiles, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Super Saturday Show & Tell, Say G'day Saturday, Not Bad Sunday, Potluck Party, Sunday Showcase, Savory Sunday, Sundae Scoop, Super Sunday, Mop It Up Monday, Creative Monday, The Scoop, Melt In Your Mouth Monday, Dinner Time Recipes, Show Me What You Got, Made By You Monday, Hunk of Meat Monday, Sweet Sharing Monday, What’d You Do This Weekend, Marvelous Mess, Making It Cuter, Motivated Monday, Time To Sparkle, Mealtime Monday, Whats In The Gunny Sack, Makin You Crave Monday, Clever Chick, Creative Corner Blog Hop, Make Your Own Monday, Mix it Up Monday,  Save Money Monday, Simple Supper Sunday