Holy Voodoo Chicken Wings on the Big Green Egg

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With the Safer at Home guidelines in place, Alexis and I have missed dining at Knoxville's local restaurants.  I particularly miss our weekly happy hour at Big Kahuna Wings.  BKW does their wings similar to Memphis dry-style ribs, they serve them deep-fried and seasoned with their BKW Original or BKW Fire seasonings.  Your choice of sauce is on the side, so the wings stay extra crispy.

Instead of deep-frying mine, I fire-roasted them and then finished them over direct heat to make them crispy like BKW wings.

Crispy fire-roasted wings seasoned with Meat Church Holy Voodoo and served with an Alabama-style white BBQ sauce on the side.

Chicken Scratch and Whitebird Sauce Wings

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College basketball season is underway and we fire roasted these wings for last night's Carolina-Elon game.

I was craving these after having some made by Trace Scarborough, owner/operator of Thunderbird, just 2 weekends ago at the Scenic City Eggfest near Chattanooga.  They were the best thing I ate all day.

Trace slow smokes his wings with a healthy dose of pecan wood.  I was in a hurry, so I cooked mine hot and fast.  It's all good, I like cooking wings in several different ways.

Jerk Chicken Wings

I made some Jerk Chicken Wings this week.  The flavor of jerk chicken makes me weak in the knees.  

Like Cajun food, some mistakenly thick of jerk food as just "hot."  Instead, it is highly seasoned.  That powerful blending of earthy, spicy, sweet, acidic, and smoky tastes are a wild party on the palate.    The Jamison's refer to it as an "assertive combination" in their highly regarded book Smoke and Spice.

• Jerk food is typically seasoned with seasonings like allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme, onion, and Scotch bonnet chiles.  
• This seasoning can either be a dry seasoning or a wet paste/marinade.  
• Pork and chicken are used most often. 
• A favorite commercial jerk marinade that can be found in stores is Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning.  
• The marinade recipe that I have used and loved for years is Jamaican Jerk Chicken from the book Sugar Reef Caribbean Cooking [Amazon Affiliate link] by Devra Dedeaux.

I use the marinade recipe as written in the link above except for a few alterations.

• I use turbinado sugar instead of white sugar.
• I use Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of Soy Sauce
• I use habanero instead of Scotch bonnet chiles because they are more readily available.  But when I can get the Scotch bonnets, I use them.

Quick White Sauce Chicken Wings

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I have a lot of great wing recipes that I like to cook.

• My Cilantro Lime Wings with Habanero Butter always pleases a crowd. 
• My Naked Cajun Wings recipe packs a lot of flavor. 
• The Thai Sticky Wings recipe from my book is one of my all time favorites. 

Sometimes, though, I want wings but only want to put out a minimum effort.  Today was one of those days and I was craving wings for lunch.  So I used used a reliable commercial rub and sauce to make these easy but fantastic tasting wings.

Char-Broil Post: Honey BBQ Wings

[FTC Standard Disclaimer] Char-Broil is a sponsor of Nibble Me This and I receive compensation from them for developing recipes and other content.  However, any opinions offered are my own.

I am glad to have Char-Broil on board as a sponsor for 2017.  Most of my work with them will appear on their website but I want to link to it from here and give you a few behind the scenes shots.  Last month, I made these super easy and delicious Honey BBQ Wings.

I cooked these wings on Char-Broil's new and first (to my knowledge) kamado style grill - The Kamander.  

The Kamander is a budget priced kamado (~$350 neighborhood).  I have to be honest and tell you that I was surprised at it's performance.  I expected it to be "not great" because of it's price point but after several grilling and smoking sessions, it actually performs well.  As I would expect from a good kamado grill, I was able to both grill at high temps and steady, low temps. Obviously, there are many factors to consider, so I'll post a full review later.

Brown Sugar and Beer Brined Wings

College basketball is heating up and the bowl season for college football is going to be kicking off shortly.  These Brown Sugar and Beer Brined Wings give you something different from the usual buffalo style wings.  They are ideal for folks who want more sweet than heat in their game day wings.

I created these wings as part of my sponsorship package with Char-Broil and cooked them on my Char-Broil Kettleman grill. I've cooked on this specific grill for 2 years and it is still holding up to all of my abuse.  The Kettleman is inexpensive ($149), light in weight making it a great portable grill, and it has proven itself to me.  I have about 17 grills that make appearances on my deck but this is one that stays out there year round.

Here is the full recipe for Brown Sugar and Beer Brined Wings.

The beginning part of tailgating season is more fun, don't you think?  The weather is still beautiful all over the country, so people take advantage of that and party earlier and longer.  It's also early in the season and most fan bases still believe that this is OUR year, so more people come out to tailgate central.  

These wings are just the ticket for those warmer, early season tailgates because they have hints of Summer with the warm flavors of lime, cilantro, and habanero.  

Cilantro Lime Wings with Habanero Butter

I made this marinade with wings in mind but it works with any chicken, of course.

This recipe makes enough for a family pack of wings, about 4.5 pounds or 14 whole wings. The marinade itself is rather mild, I add heat with the rub and sauce.

Cilantro Lime Marinade for Wings

Published 08/25/2016

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup peanut oil
• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 1/2 ea jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup packed chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon season salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile

Instructions

1. Place oil, lime juice, jalapeno, and cilantro in a blender and pulse for 15-20 seconds until blended.
2. Stir in the pepper, season salt, chili powder, salt, cumin, and chipotle.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Marinate wings for 4-6 hours

Yield: 1 cup
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 00 mins.
Total time: 10 mins.

Marinate the wings for 4 - 6 hours, just the right amount of time to get loaded up and down to the stadium.

Take the wings out of the marinade and shake off the excess.  Then season them with your favorite rub.  I used a couple of tablespoons of my NMT All Purpose Chicken Rub.

I used my Grilla pellet cooker for this cook using applewood pellets.  I got my Grilla as a thank you for being on their Memphis in May team and I have used it a ton this Summer.  

I cooked them pretty much just like my 30-20-10 kamado wings - 30 minutes at 375-400f, flip.  Twenty more minutes, then sauce and put them back on just long enough to set the sauce, 5-10 more minutes.

Grilled wings have a flavor that you just can't get from frying.

They were pretty fantastic just like this - crispy and tangy.  About half of the family wanted them this way.

But my older son and l were in the mood for more heat so I had made a habanero butter sauce using 6 tablespoons of butter and about a third cup of Yucatan Sunshine Habanero Sauce.

Spicy, tangy, buttery, and....the game is starting?  I'll be there in a minute, I have a few more wings here.

If you want to shake your tailgate up with some extraordinary wings - break out these bad boys!

Thai Sticky Wings Two Ways

It's New Years Day 2016 which means there are a TON of college bowl games on today.  It also means there are TONS of chicken wings being consumed.  

These are our Naked Cajun Wings from a previous post.

If you are looking for some last minute game day recipes for today, here is our favorite chicken wing - Thai Sticky Wings done two different ways:

1. From Scratch - My BBQ teammate, John, demonstrates how to make these sweet, mildly spicy, Asian style wings and
2. Quickie Version - Using a store bought sauce, these wings are also good but let you focus a little more on the game.

From Scratch

Chris put this recipe in his excellent book “The Kamado Smoker & Grill Cookbook”, available from Amazon.  I first got to taste this recipe at our second KCBS competition in Franklin NC.  Chris’s sister Rhonda cooked it for the Anything But category, and took 3rd place with it.  I thought they were the best chicken wings I ever had and knew that this would become a staple cook for football season.  Great tailgating food.  

The sauce is what makes it; sweet creamy heat I call it.  The peanut butter, cashew butter or almond butter gives it that creaminess and lingering finish, The Mr Yoshida’s gourmet sauce gives it that unique Asian sweetness, the red pepper jelly adds to the sweetness and adds a small layer of heat to the sriracha sauce, creating the perfect heat.  Try it. You’ll be IMPRESSED.

First off trim the full wings down to pieces.  I learned this technique from Chris. Bend the knuckle and slice into it between the bones (watch your fingers) and then on the cutting board finish cutting the joint.

I learned this technique from Chris. Bend the knuckle and CAREFULLY slice into it between the bones (watch your fingers).

Then finish cutting through the joint on the cutting board.

Once you are done trimming, place the wings on a cooling rack in a sheet pan and air dry in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  This helps the skin to crisp up when cooked.  While you are waiting make the rub and sauce.

For the Rub:  (This recipe will work with up to 20 wing pieces)

1 tablespoon Kosher or Sea Salt

2/3 teaspoon Fresh Ground Black Pepper

2/3 teaspoon Granulated Garlic

1 teaspoon Corn Starch

1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger

For the Sauce: (This recipe will work with up to 20 wing pieces)

1/2 cup Red Pepper Jelly

1/4 cup Mr. Yoshida’s Original Gourmet Sauce

2 tablespoon Cashew or Peanut Butter*

2 tablespoon Sriracha Sauce**

* Chris prefers Cashew Butter and I can’t complain with that, but good ol peanut butter works as well too.

** To control heat add less or more sriracha sauce and even crushed red pepper to really kick it up

Technique

1. Set up your Grill Dome Kamado cooker for indirect cooking and a target dome temperature of 400.
2. After the wings are done air drying, lightly sprinkle the rub on each wing.
3. We are using the 30-20-10 cooking method that Chris has explained on this site in the past.
4. Place wings on grate making sure to have a drip pan under the wings. After 30 minutes flip the wings and cook for 20 more minutes.
5. Pull the wings and place in a heat proof bowl and pour about 3/4 of the sauce over and mix well.
6. Place the wings back on the grill for 10 minutes to let the glaze/sauce set up.
7. Remove wings and add the additional sauce if desired.
8. Enjoy with your favorite beverages.

Wings are rubbed and ready to go on the Grill Dome.

Grill Dome preheated to 400f.

Wings getting happy on the grill.  This was after the flip and right before saucing.

Saucing the wings, before putting them back on for the final 10 minutes. It's just to cook on the sauce so it might not take the full 10 minutes, check after 5.

Bowl of finished wings.

Observations

This was my third cook of the day and I lost focus a bit and did cook longer than the 30-20 minutes, as a result the wings were overdone, still very good but overdone.  I suggest keeping a very close eye on the 30-20-10 times.  In Chris’ book he calls for 375 degrees for the dome temperature.  I have tried it there but felt the skin was a bit more rubbery at this temp so I cook at 400 which means you better stick very close to the 30-20 or risk over done like mine were.  Chris also reports very good results going raised direct at 375 dome but I have not tried this.  If you try this make sure your cooking grid is as high in the dome as you can get it to avoid flare ups and burnt glaze.  Chris also uses cilantro as a finishing garnish which you certainly can do, but there will be no cilantro on my wings.  These are the best wings I have ever had and most people agree after they try them too.

Quickie Version aka Cheating

We cooked a tailgate for the Tennessee-South Carolina game this year for our older son and his friends.  We did a full spread with barbecue pork, smoked brisket, sides, and I added these short cut wings to the menu at the last minute.  The wings are quicker due to using a store bought sauce and direct grilling instead of indirect.

It was a rainy, cold, miserable day but we still had a great time.  I cooked the wings on one of our Pit Barrel Cookers - our tailgating smoker/grills.

While the sauce given in the full version has more depth of flavor by far, people still loved the easy version.  The secret was using Frank's RedHot Sweet Chili Sauce.  We stumbled on it at Gordon Food Services and I took a gamble since I'm a fan of Frank's. 

Yeah, I actually bought a half gallon of the stuff.

The sauce is thick and visibly full of chiles and seasonings.  If it is too thick for your preferences, you can thin it out with a little bit of rice wine vinegar but it works either way. 

Mix together a quick rub (for 20 wing pieces):

• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Meat Church Season All or other seasoned salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

Season the wings with the rub.  Spread them on a plate or tray and place them in the fridge for an hour to dry (if you have time).  

Preheat your grill to 375f-400f.  Set the grill up for "raised direct" which just means you will use an elevated grill grate.  This could be just the upper rack of a gas grill.  If you are using a charcoal grill with an adjustable charcoal tray, lower it down to the bottom half of your settings.  For a kamado grill like my shiny blue Grill Dome, just use Grill Extender or home made raised grid.

Put them on the raised grid, close the dome, and cook them for 15 minutes.  Flip and cook until they reach an internal temperature of at least 180f, about 10 more minutes.

Notice the raised grate. This helps you cook the wings directly without having to flip them every 5 minutes or so.

As soon as the wings are done and still very hot, toss them with about 1/4 cup of the Franks RedHot Sweet Chile Sauce to coat.  Garnish with some green onion if you like and serve with additional sauce for dipping.

So there you go - two delicious versions of our Thai Sticky Wings.  Thanks to John for his write up of the from scratch version!

PS: Speaking of John and New Years - if you live in Knoxville and made that New Year's resolution to get into shape, get in touch with John at Snap Fitness on Middlebrook Pike. 

They will get you set up with no hassle, low fees, and their gym is really friendly and welcoming.  He didn't ask me to add that but I just thought I would throw it in.

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I received no compensation for this post.  Grill Dome is our official kamado sponsor.  Pit Barrel Cooker is a tailgating sponsor.  I paid full price for the Frank's and Meat Church products.