Tsunami Wings

Super Bowl Recipe #3:  This great alternative to the classic buffalo chicken wing will astonish you with its flavor and spice.  Essentially a joining together of garlic butter, lemon pepper, and cajun spices, it’s a combination that the local Cajun seafood places have used to attract foodies from all over southern California.  This is our recipe for this delicious sauce, only in honor of the upcoming Super Bowl, applied to chicken wings.  We like to grill the wings, because, well, grilled chicken wings taste awesome, and I like to play with fire.  Of course, you can easily fry, sauté, or bake your wings, and they’ll work just as well.

Ingredients 
1 ½ lbs chicken wings
½ cup unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
7 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
zest and juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Spice Mix
1 1/8 cup chicken broth
4 green onions, chopped

Spice Mix:
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
¾ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground thyme
½ teaspoon oregano

Instructions
In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and spices together.

Place chicken wings in a plastic bag with 1 cup chicken broth.  Let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Sauté shallots until soft, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and sauté for a minute, until the garlic is fragrant.  Take off heat and add salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Spice Mix, and chicken broth.  Any remaining Spicy Mix can be saved for another time.

If grilling, preheat grill to around 350 degrees.  Brush canola oil over grates, to prevent sticking, and immediately place chicken wings on grill and close the lid.  Come back in a few minutes to check; once the bottoms of the wings are nice and crispy, move them aside, brush a little more canola oil on grates, and flip them over.  Once both sides are a little crispy, put wings in a bowl and toss with your sauce.  Place them back on the grill for about a minute to let the sauce thicken and stick to the wings, and then remove from heat and toss again with more sauce.

Serve wings with chopped green onions sprinkled on top.