Saffron Chicken Wings

Saffron Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are synonymous with football. The “Buffalo Wing” as we know it, was invented in the late 1960’s, according to legend a mother had to make a late night snack for her son and his college friends. She had some frozen wings in her freezer, she thought deep frying them and covering them hot sauce would do the trick. And boy did they ever. Buffalo wings are a certifiable power house in the food industry. I mean a restaurant has based its entire name around them!

Since then chicken wings have grown in popularity and variations have popped up all over the world. I’ve written about chicken wings before and the awesomeness of Korean style chicken wings.

It’s Super Bowl week, so you definitely want to cook up some wings for your Super Bowl party. I’m a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan, so I am regularly disappointed and rarely get to enjoy my team in the Super Bowl. Fun story, when I was a little kid I would base my fan allegiance on which team had the prettiest uniform in the football video games I would play. So obviously that was the San Diego Chargers and their awesome 90’s uniform. Because what little kid doesn’t like dueling lightning bolts on one’s helmet?

While I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Chargers, my allegiances have been firmly with the Eagles for over a decade and a half now, so I think I have atoned for my sins. Regardless, my Dad was and still is a die-hard Eagles fans, the Eagles have been something we have been able to bond over for years. So even though they regularly disappoint me, I still love them.

So back to chicken wings! I did a Persian take on chicken wings and decided to bake them rather than fry them. Why? Because it’s healthier. My trick was boiling the wings first, this allowed the skin to crisp up nicely. This also makes the wings delicate and not chewy.

By baking them it’s not as bad for you and you can build a more complex flavor in the wings themselves.

If Persian Food interests you click here for more awesome recipes.

If you want to learn about the history and backstory of Persian Food click here.

 

Ingredients

1 lb. of Chicken Wings

1/4 Cup of Saffron Water

1 Tsp. Lemon Juice

2 Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Cumin

1 Tsp. Garlic Powder

Glaze

2 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tsp. Sugar

3 Tbsp. Saffron Water

Method

Soak the chicken in all of the ingredients other than the glaze ingredients for three hours or overnight. Now boil water in a large pot, and place your chicken wings in there.

After about 15 to 20 minutes remove the wings from the pot, just enough to cook the wings through.

Now remove the wings from the water and place on a foil covered baking sheet. Heat them in the oven at 375F so the skin crisps up for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven and then cover the wings in the glaze.

Enjoy!

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