Published in Carolina Country Mag August 2019
Happy Chicken Wing Day y’all!
Who doesn’t love a good, lightly saucy and juicy-on-the-inside chicken wing with with a little crunch on the skin? I don’t know about you, but if the skin on a wing is soft and doesn’t have a little “crispy” to it… I’ll pass.
I try to plan ahead when cooking wings so I can give them a good soak in a brine. Brining makes all the difference in a good wing and an incredibly moist, plump and meaty one. This sweet tea brine does just that! You can do a short brine, but letting your wings sleep in it overnight will make them SO much better!
If you’re a winger, I hope you will give my recipe a try.
Doesn’t sweet tea make everything more better?
Arnold Palmer Chicken Wings
Arnold Palmers are a refreshing treat on a hot summer’s day. The lemon and tea pairs so well, I created a version for my wings. Tailgate friendly, too!
Servings: 2 dozen wings
Ingredients
- 2 dozen chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 quart sweet tea
- 2 12 ounce cans frozen lemonade concentrate
- ¼ cup coarse ground mustard
- 3-4 lemons
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- Put wings into a container with lid. Sprinkle salt over wings and add the tea. Cover and shake to mix in the salt. Refrigerate up to one hour, but best if brined overnight.
- In a small saucepan, combine lemonade concentrate, mustard, zest and juice of one lemon, red pepper and rosemary. Bring to a low boil and simmer until sauce reduces and thickens, about 25 minutes.
- Grill wings as usual. Thinly slice and seed remaining lemons, dip in sauce and grill alongside the wings.
- Toss cooked wings with sauce, dust with salt and garnish with grilled lemons.
