A Game Day Decision

Now that word has traveled far and wide about Johnnycakes legendary Sunday backyard barbecuing, his services have created quite a demand. Somewhat comically, our neighbor showed up with a pound of scallops and a family pack of chicken wings for John to prepare without prior knowledge.

Johnnycakes was all prepared to make the honey mustard wings he prepared last week when I made a last minute request for good old fashioned hot wings! Johnnycakes claimed I was making an abrupt game day decision but I stood my ground.

To make chicken wings, you actually have to cut off the tips of the wings, and then cut the wing into the traditional top and bottom pieces you get in the restaurant.

With my assistance, Johnnycakes placed the wings into a freezer bag and topped the wings with the "Johnny Rub" as he likes to call it.

The "Johnny Rub" goes something like this:

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup of paprika

1 Tbsp. cumin

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 Tbsp. Salt

dust with pepper

Then you seal the freezer bag and "massage" all the ingredients together until well blended. We let the flavors marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge placing them on the grill to "smoke".

Johnnycakes has taken a liking to the smoking technique. He soaks wood chips in water for about an hour before placing them in a aluminum tray in the back of the grill. This slow cooking technique obviously lends a smoky flavor to the meat and makes the meat almost fall off the bone. The grill was definitely kicking out some smoke! The whole neighborhood could probably smell it:)

The final step is to toss the wings in hot pepper sauce and melted butter before serving with bleu cheese dressing and celery.

I'm sure you can tell how this story will end. We enjoyed some delicious hot wings while watching, in Johnnycakes case, hours of endless football. I'm glad I was able to make a play for the traditional hot wings opposed to the honey mustard wings. Sometimes you can't mess with tradition.