Craving Hot Sauce

If Monday is healthy, Tuesday is about guilty pleasures. It's kind of ironic that an episode of Top Chef with the theme "vices" should be on right now. Although some chefs interpreted "vice" as "weakness", it is still thoroughly appropriate background music for my dinner of hot wings. There are worse ways I could have killed a craving for hot sauce. At least in the safety of my own kitchen I can control what goes into them and resist the urge to wash them down with a beer. I could have easily gone to the bar and eaten a hundred deep fried wings in buttery sauce, with about so many beers. Instead, I baked some wings at home and tossed them in Frank's Redhot and margarine. So tonight I'll enjoy my vices: hot wings and Flipping Out (on Bravo)- two things my husband disapproves of. Meanwhile, he's out enjoying Cuban cigars and 12 year old Scotch, which I find completely repulsive. To each his own on Fat Tuesdays. It's how we find balance in life.


Delicious hot wings: healthier than the bar and faster than delivery:
Chicken Wings (Party Wings), raw
Canola oil
Salt
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
Frank's Redhot sauce (1/4 cup to about a dozen small wings)
Margarine (about a tablespoon per 1/4 cup of Frank's)

Heat oven to 425F. Toss wings, oil, and a sprinkle each of salt, cayenne and garlic powder. Line a sheet pan with foil. I use a rack set on top to drain excess oil from the chicken. Lay chicken in a single layer on the rack. Bake for about 30 minutes, maybe longer up to 45 if the wings are large. Put the Frank's and butter in a bowl, cover, and microwave on medium for about 30 seconds until the butter melts. Toss the cooked wings in the sauce.