Buffalo Wings

Ingredients for  4  Servings

• 1Kg

  Chicken wings, tips removed and split into “drumettes” and “flats”
• -

  Vegetable oil, for deep frying
• A few

  Celery sticks
• -

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• For the Hot Sauce

• 50g

  Butter
• 2

  Garlic cloves, crushed
• 125ml

  Hot sauce
• 1 tbsp

  Cider vinegar
• 1 tsp

  Caster sugar
• For the Blue Cheese Dressing

• 100g

  Creamy blue cheese
• 1

  Small onion, very finely chopped
• 100ml

  Buttermilk
• 150ml

  Crème fraîche
• 1 tsp

  Cider vinegar

Approximate Times

• Preparation :

  Over-night
• Cooking :

  30 minutes to 1 hour

Method

1. If you have time, prepare the wings by sprinkling generously with salt. Lay out, on a rack in the fridge, cover and chill overnight – this will help them crisp when you fry them. An hour before you want to cook them, remove from the fridge to bring to room temperature and pat dry.
2. For the hot sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the garlic. Cook gently for a minute or two, then whisk in the hot sauce, vinegar and sugar. Season with salt and pepper.
3. To make the blue cheese sauce, mash the cheese with the onion, buttermilk, crème fraîche and vinegar.
4. Pour enough oil in a deep-fat fryer or large saucepan, to fill it no more than halfway. Heat the oil to 160°C. Cook the wings in batches for around 10 minutes, then drain them of any excess oil. Raise the temperature of the oil to 190°C and fry again, cooking for a further 2 minutes, until cooked through, very crisp and deep brown. Turn out on to kitchen paper.
5. Put the wings in a bowl and smother them in the hot sauce. Serve them with the blue cheese sauce and celery sticks.