Bob's Buffalo Chicken Wings

Boneless Buffalo-Style Chicken Wings

Back-story One

I first made these wings for Super Bowl XLV (that’s 45 for you non-Romans). In that game the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. The second time I made them was on September 3, 2011 when BYU beat Ole Miss. The team I was cheering for won both times that I have made them. Keep that in mind when you are considering whether or not to make them. I don’t want you spoiling their perfect record.

Back-story 2

I always preferred Buffalo wings on the bone; you know the way they are made in nature. However, after getting married I learned that boneless wings can be just as good, if not better. They are a lot less work to eat.

Acknowledgement

I stole this recipe from some guy named Matt Swick on cooks.com. Very little has been changed (except the funny parts...that's all me).

Equipment

- 9x11 inch baking pan

- Medium-sized sauce pan

- Frying pan

- 1 gallon Ziploc® bag (generic equivalent is fine)

- Bowl (large, but not too big)

- Bowl (large, but not too big)*

- Tongs

- Paper Towels

- Platter

- Sufficient aluminum foil to cover the top of the 9x11 baking pan.

* You can either use 2 bowls or you can use the same bowl twice and clean it out between steps (see step 6 in Procedure section below)

Ingredients

- 2.5 pounds (40 ounces) of chicken tenderloins**

- 2 cups (1 pint) of Buffalo wing sauce (I use Frank's)

- 1.5 cups (72 teaspoons) of butter

- 2 cups (32 tablespoons) of flour

- 1 tablespoon (1/16^th cup) pepper

- 4 large chicken eggs***

- Oil sufficient for frying

- Blue Cheese dressing (optional)

- Celery sticks (optional)

** You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead, but tenderloins are the perfect size. If you choose to use boneless skinless chicken breasts, please consider cutting them to the approximate size of a standard chicken tenderloin, because as we have established, that is the perfect size. You should get about 3 tenderloin-sized pieces per chicken breast. I have never used chicken breasts, so this knowledge (3 tenderloin-sized pieces per chicken breast) comes from Matt Swick, who if you remember, is the guy from whom I stole this recipe (see Acknowledgment above).

*** If you don’t have chicken eggs at your disposal, quail eggs will also work. Keep in mind that it takes 4 or 5 quail eggs to equal the volume of 1 chicken egg.

Procedure

1. Crack eggs into the bowl (the large, but not too big one) and beat them
2. Place the 2.5 pounds of chicken tenderloins into the beaten eggs and allow the chicken to soak for 10 minutes.
3. Dump the 32 tablespoons of flour and the 1/16^th cup of pepper into the 1 gallon Ziploc® bag (or generic equivalent). Seal the bag and shake it so the pepper is blended into the flour.
4. Pour 13 mm (about 1/2 inch) of oil into the frying pan and heat it until it is hot, like 300-350 degrees or something (maybe hotter, I am not an expert)
5. After the chicken tenderloins have soaked for 10 minutes in the beaten eggs, place the chicken tenderloins (now covered with egg) into the 1 gallon Ziploc® bag (or generic equivalent). Seal the Ziploc® bag (or generic equivalent) and while doing so, allow as much air into the bag with the flour, pepper, and egg-covered chicken as possile. Shake the Ziploc® bag (or generic equivalent) until the chicken tenderloins are coated with the flour/pepper mixture. According to Matt Swick, the air in the bag provides space for the flour/pepper mixture to coat the egg-soaked chicken.
6. This step varies depending on your decision to use 1 or 2 bowls (see Equipment above)
1. If you have selected to use 2 different bowls: Pour the flour/pepper-coated chicken tenderloins into the second bowl (not the one with the egg-mixture in it).
2. If you selected to use only 1 bowl you will need to wash the bowl in which the chicken tenderloins soaked in the egg mixture. After washing and drying that bowl, pour the flour/pepper-coated chicken tenderloins into that bowl.
7. Check to make sure that your oil is hot. Warning: DO NOT dip your finger into the oil to see if it is hot. Although this is an effective means to determine whether or not the oil is hot, it is not smart.
8. Lay 2 to 3 layers of paper towel down on the top of your platter.
9. Using tongs, place the flour/pepper-coated chicken tenderloins into the oil. Please note: the quantity that you will be able to fry at one time will depend greatly on how large your frying pan is. Fry the chicken tenderloins for about 240 seconds (1/15^th hour) per side or until a nice golden-brown. Do not be concerned too much about cooking the chicken at this point; that comes later (see step 16 below).
10. Place the golden-brown, fried chicken tenderloins onto the paper towel-coated platter (see step 8 above) to cool. The paper towel will magically absorb any excess oil.
11. In a medium sauce pan, melt the 72 teaspoons of butter.
12. Preheat oven to 450 Kelvin (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
13. Once the butter is melted, pour in the pint of Buffalo wing sauce. You just want to heat it up a bit; the sauce does not need to boil or anything like that.
14. Take all of the fried chicken tenderloins and place them in the 9x11 inch baking pan. Arrange them in a manner that will allow for even coverage with sauce. No distinct pattern is required, but you just don’t want them in a big pile.
15. Pour the butter/wing sauce sauce over the fried chicken tenderloins.
16. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil
17. Once the oven has reached the specified temperature (see step 12 above), place the aluminum foil-covered pan in the oven for 1/24^th of a day (3600 seconds). This is why you didn’t have to worry about fully cooking the chicken during the frying process; you are baking them too…genius!
18. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks (optional)
19. Enjoy! (mandatory)