I love wings. Honestly, there is nothing more I’d rather eat when watching a sporting event than a plate of deliciously spicy chicken. But let’s face it, a lot of places make subpar wings. Many bars offer 25-cent wing night, and often they’re soggy, mushy and pretty unappealing, but we eat them anyway, and sadly start to think that’s what they’re supposed to taste like. They really give wings a bad name. That’s when I started making my own.

Five years ago for the Super Bowl, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make wings that were not only spicy, but actually paired well with the booze my friends and I planned on drinking. Sure it’s fun once in a while to try to be all “Man Vs. Food” and see how many of the hottest wings you can possibly eat, but in real life, I actually like to taste both my food and the beverages I’m drinking. I started playing around with a few recipes I found online and what I came up with are wings that go perfectly with sweeter wines like Riesling – you could also try bubbly or a light red such as Pinot, for tempering the heat, crisp pilsners and ales, and of course bourbon, because everything goes well with bourbon.

The Best Damn Wings You’ll Ever Eat:

What You’ll Need:

A Deep Stock Pot

1 Gallon Of Canola Oil

16 Whole Wings Separated Into Drumettes And Wings

½ Cup Franks Red Hot Sauce – You can substitute, but why would you? This is the original.

A Dash Of Worcestershire

½ Tablespoon Of Minced Garlic

3 Tablespoons Of Butter

Tabasco To Taste – The more you add, the hotter it is.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels. Put the baking sheet in the oven – this is where you’ll place the wings after you have fried them, as you continue to fry the remaining pieces.

Heat the oil in the stock pot until a pinch of flour dropped in instantly sizzles. Begin frying, working in batches, until your wings are golden brown. As you remove them from the oil and transfer to the paper-towel lined baking sheet in the oven, sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

After you have fried all your chicken, leave them in the warm oven and make the sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat simmer together the hot sauce, Worcestershire, garlic, butter and Tabasco. Remove from heat once butter is melted and everything is combined.

Take wings out of oven, place in a large bowl and cover in sauce, tossing to fully coat every piece. Serve warm on a platter. Pour your booze of choice and enjoy.