New Experiences in Cooking – Wings!

Well, after being suspicious of air fryers since their popularity came into our line of sight, I finally broke down and purchased one. Here I thought I was the last one to buy one, but I’m still seeing folks who have yet to jump into the pool.

I didn’t go fancy. Some of my friends show off their Ninja Foodis or their Cuisinart [insert model here]. I took the alternate route and bought a Gourmia air fryer, but it was the 7 quart one, which is bigger than the usual less than 6 quart one. I figured, if I didn’t like it, then, I wouldn’t feel so bad for spending 3 figures on what may be a fad. Well, thus far, it’s going quite well and it’s been worth the $75 (after coupon).

First of all, I must say to owners and not owners thinking of buying that YouTube is your friend. Well, any Google search result for “air fryer recipes” can be your friend. And you can either follow them or make changes to your liking along the way. The key is to get a good idea about temperature and time to cook. The rest is all about prepping to your liking.

My first trek was a batch of wings I had been dreaming of since I’ve been avoiding restaurants. After buying and nuking and eating the pre-flavored, over-salted and over-sugared frozen hot wings for so long, I was in the mood for something closer to my favorite wings place. Unfortunately, my grocery store only had the huge bag of frozen wings and not fresh ones. So, I settled for the frozen ones. The result was pretty awesome.

Tacho’s Come Fly With Me Hot Wings

• Thaw the wings (I made 12)
  • Wash and pat dry the wings
• Prepare the seasoning
  • Salt/Pepper
  • Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning
  • Trader Joe’s 21-Seasoning Salute (any multi-seasoning)
• Combine wings and seasoning ensuring wings are fully covered
  • Let the seasoned wings rest in fridge for an hour
• Spray air fryer pan/crisper with canola oil
• Pre-heat air fryer at 390 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Spray the wings with canola oil (helps them crisp on the outside).
• Place wings in the air fryer–leave space in between them to ensure air circulates around them.
• Set at 400 degrees and cook for 15 minutes.
  • At 10 minutes, using silicone tongs, turn them over
  • After the next 5 minutes, check the temperature with a meat thermometer which should be at 165 degrees. If not, a little more time will do.
  • Are they crispy enough? If not, another 2 to 3 minutes will do the trick for that.

Of course, naked wings can be boring. So, I put together a hot sauce that you can use as a dip or to make an entire batch of hot wings.

• In a ramekin or saucepan, melt some butter (a pat or two, respectively).
• Add your favorite hot sauce, generously
• Salt/Tony Chachere’s to taste
• Mix It!
• Nuke it for 30 seconds to a minute or heat in sauce pan
• Use as a dip or slather the wings in it–your choice
  • Others slather then put them back in the fryer for a few minutes. Your choice!

Side Dish:  Slice a Russet potato (chip slices). Put them in water and drain to clean off starch. Season with TJs 21-Seasoning Salute, Salt/Pepper. Spray air fryer pan with canola oil. Spray potatoes with canola oil. Place potatoes in the air fryer. 400 degrees for 5 minutes, then shake the pan or flip the chips on the other side and fry for another 3 to 5 minutes. A mix of crispy outside, soft inside chips that you can also dip in the wing sauce! Or ketchup. Or ketchup mixed with hot sauce.

That’s my quick recipe for wings.  They go great with reruns of NBA and MLB on ESPN.