Buffalo Chicken Wings

 

This is an item made famous by Calvin Trillin in a New Yorker article describing its history.  It seems that some gentlemen stayed late at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo discussing a business deal and asked for something to eat.  Given the few ingredients available in the kitchen at the time, this was the result.  They were an immediate hit.  This recipe (provided directly by the inventor) subsequently appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

The quantity of wings per person is based on extensive research and takes into account the severe agony of running out of wings before appetites are sated.

 

• 5 1/2 chicken wings per person, cut at the joints, wingtips discarded

 

Hot Sauce:

• 1 part butter
• 2 parts Frank's Louisiana Red Hot Sauce (Durkee)
• 1 part white vinegar

 

Blue Cheese Dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
• salt, pepper
• cayenne pepper (optional)

 

• celery stalks, chilled

 

1. Heat the combined hot sauce ingredients in a saucepan.
2. Deep fry the wings until brown and crisp.  Pour a little sauce over the wings as they are finished.
3. Serve the wings and sauce with crisp celery sticks and blue cheese dressing (combine all dressing ingredients).  The dressing is actually intended for the celery but is also good with the wings.