Buffalo Wings

Kind of randomly, buffalo wings were one of the first recipes I ever learned to make.  When I was a teenager, my parents finished the basement and in late high school and college breaks, I used to love having people over. My group of friends is heavy on the men, so buffalo wings were a staple.

My mom taught me using the recipe she's used for years, the "original" one, supposedly, that she clipped from an issue of Good Housekeeping from before I was born.

This is one of those recipes that's best kept simple; doctoring it up with too much junk doesn't do you any favors. 

Classic Buffalo Wings
Serves 6 as an appetizer

3 lbs wings
2 tbsp oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt
Paprika
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot (must be Frank's)
1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
Celery sticks
Carrot sticks
Ranch or blue cheese dressing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the wings into 3 pieces- the flat, the drumstick, and the wing tip. I find it's easiest to bend the joints in the wrong direction to loosen them, and then to just chop through with a scissor. Or, you can ask your butcher to handle this for you. Discard wing tips or reserve for stock.

Arrange wing pieces on a foil lined baking sheet. Coat with oil, then sprinkle over with the salt, pepper, garlic salt, and paprika. I don't measure this, I just eyeball it- it's not rocket science.

Bake for one hour, turning over halfway through.

Just before wings are done, combine butter, hot sauce, and white vinegar in a saucepan.  Heat through to melt butter. Stir to combine, then add wings and toss to coat.

Arrange wings on platter with dressing of choice and carrot and celery sticks.

These will be gone before you can blink.