Homemade Garlic Parmesan Wings

These homemade Garlic Parmesan Wings make a nice hot lunch, or an appetizer, or make them in quantity and share with friends. I make this is batches of 5 wings, because it’s just me.  So if you want more - scale up the ingredients. 

5 Wings – fresh, or thawed fully. I like the bigger ones if you can get them. 

Dry mix - Put together in a bowl 1 cup of flour and about a tsp or so of Italian dried herbs. I use something called McCormick’s Perfect pinch Italian seasoning but you could make your own blend easy enough. Add about two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese… either the stuff that comes in the green canister or if you’re using fresh you’ll want it grated very fine, like tiny breadcrumbs. Some folks would add a shake of salt to this, but that’s up to you.

Wet mix – crack either one extra large or two regular eggs into a separate bowl. I use two. Add a tsp or more garlic – fresh, or the stuff that comes in a jar from the store.  Add a few drops of olive oil.  Beat that all up til frothy.

I heat up a little marinara or spaghetti sauce to dip in, and add a little more Parmesan to it.

Take the wings, roll them quickly in the dry mix, and then let them sit for a bit – at least 15 minutes.  This helps the chicken dry so the crust will form better.   While they are sitting, mix up the wet mix. 

Take your wings that have been sitting resting and dip into the wet mix to coat them.  Then dip them again into the dry mix fully covering them. Lay them out on a small rack or plate that will fit in the fridge.  This works best if one hand coats with the wet mix, and another coats with the dry mix.  The wings now sit either overnight or for at least a hour or so in the fridge. Don’t stack them up, lay them flat. This seems like a silly thing but I’ve discovered that this resting cold with the dry-wet-dry coating really makes a difference in how crunchy they are.

I deep fry these wings in Crisco. I’m lucky enough to have a secondhand deep fryer (a Presto – Granpappy fryer), but you could do it in a cast iron Dutch oven on the stove. You’ll want about three inches of Crisco, so get yourself a couple of big cans, and just commit that fat to deep frying*.  Heat the fat up to 350 degrees before you start.  Make sure there’s plenty of room for them to fit – I add one at a time, and sometimes if they are bigger only do three at a time, In a Dutch oven, probably 5 at a time is fine. The wings should reach an internal temp of 165 degrees. In the Fryer this takes 7-8 minutes, but your time may vary.



* Once you’re done cooking the wings in the cast iron pan, let the whole thing go cold. The Crisco can be used again for a number of times.

M & M Popcorn Treat

This is so simple to do, and I'll confess I saw it on Pinterest and just had to share.

Either pop a batch of popcorn in your popcorn maker, or make 2 microwave bags of popcorn - no flavoring. Add a dash of sea salt or two. Then, add a bag of M&M's. They could be whatever the holiday color is or just regular. a bag of mini-M&M's would be fine too.   Then melt either a pound bag of Wilton white chocolate candy melts or a package of almond bark. Mix together thoroughly, and then spread on a cookie sheet to dry. Once dry, package up in airtight bags or containers to eat.  Simple, Easy and Delicious.

Soft Pretzels

1 pkg. active dry yeast
3and 1/2 to 4 c. all-purpose flour
½ cup . warm water (105° to 115°)
2 qt. water
1 c. milk, scalded, cooled to Lukewarm
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1 ½  tsp. salt Coarse salt (kosher salt)

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir in milk, sugar, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up and cover. Let rise in warm place until double, about 1 hour.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Roll into rectangle, 18 x 10 inches. Cut lengthwise into 10 strips, 1 inch wide. Roll strip of dough on lightly floured board with palms of hands until rounded and about 20 inches long. Holding ends of strip, form loop. Twist dough twice at top of loop. Bring ends down and fasten at opposite sides to form pretzel shape. Repeat with all strips. Let rise uncovered on floured board 30 minutes.

Heat water in 4 quart Dutch oven to boiling last 10 minutes or rising process. Add baking soda. Transfer pretzels, one at a time, into boiling water solution using large slotted spoon. Boil until dough feels firm but sticky about 1 minute. Lift out with slotted spoon, allowing water to drain off. Place on well greased foil-covered baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels.

Heat oven to 400°. Mix beaten egg and water. Brush pretzels lightly with egg mixture; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Bake until crust is golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer immediately to wire rack.