Bobby Flay's Hot Wings With Blue Cheese-Yogurt Sauce

Crafty Lady 13's Note:

Bobby made a surprise visit to Buffalo's Anchor Bar, the legendary birthplace of Buffalo wings in 2007. He was armed with this recipe and ready for a throwdown. His opponent, Buffalo's "Wing King" Drew Cerza, kept his title, but Bobby's smoky chipotle wings gave Cerza a run for his money. This recipe is from the January/February 2010 Food Network Magazine.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3 pounds

For the sauce

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons finely grated red onions
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the wings

• peanut oil, for frying
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• kosher sald and fresh ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons dried ancho chile powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3 lbs chicken wings, split at the joint, tip removed
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 -2 tablespoon pureed chipotle chile in adobo
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 -2 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, quartered

Directions:

1. Make the sauce: Combine the yogurt, blue cheese, red onion, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
2. Make the wings: Heat 2 inches of peanut oil in a large high-sided pan until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375°.
3. Stir together the flour, salt and pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder and he garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Season the wings with salt an pepper and add in batches to the flour mixture to lightly coat. Tap off the excess flour, add the wings to the oil in batches and fry until golden brown and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate.
4. Bring the vinegar, chipotle puree, the remaining 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder and the chili powder to a simmer in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, the honey and butter until smooth. Add the wings and toss to coat.

Reviews

[gailanng]

Bobby Flay, marry me and let's have lots of hot wing babies. Made for A-NZ #43 Recipe Tag.

[TasteTester]

Oh boy, were these ever good. The guys are used to a standard hot sauce, so I was interested in seeing how they would like Bobby Flay's version. I made mine separately, adding quite a bit of blue cheese, and made theirs with the proportion of blue cheese listed in the recipe. They really liked it -- we especially liked the taste that the grated red onions gave to the sauce. I couldn't find ancho chile powder at my store and was going to sub regular chili powder, but then I tried a different supermarket and they had the ancho chile powder. There is a HUGE difference in taste between the two (yes, I tasted a little bit of each); the ancho chile powder really makes the taste of the sauce stand out. Thank you for sharing this delicious version of chicken wings.