Celebrity chef and Food Network personalities Alex Guarnaschelli and Jeff Mauro cooked up their twists on one of the classic Super Bowl foods -- chicken wings.
The "Chopped" judge dished her sweet and sour wings with quick cucumber "pickles" like that of a deli half sour, while "The Kitchen" host and sandwich king opted for the controversial "boneless" variety with pretzel coating and beer cheese sauce.
The chefs demonstrated how to put it all together on "Good Morning America" today -- get the full recipes below.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
Cucumber "pickles":
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
6 sprigs dill
8 smallish cucumbers, each cut lengthwise into 4 “spears"
Ranch dressing:
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon chopped dill
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
Sweet and sour sauce:
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce
4 large cloves garlic, minced
Zest from 1 lime
Chicken:
24 chicken wings (about 41/2 pounds), each wing into three pieces. Set aside the wing tips for stock.
Kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup corn starch
1 large lemon, cut into very thin slices
Directions:
To make the pickles, simmer the sea salt and apple cider vinegar in a medium pot with eight cups water until salt dissolves. Add the dill and cool 15 minutes. Arrange the cucumbers upright in a container and cover with brine. The cucumbers should fit tightly and come within half-inch of the top of the container. Cover. Refrigerate 45 minutes and up to two days.
To make the dressing, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk in a large bowl with the Worcestershire, garlic powder, hot sauce, 2 teaspoons salt, dill and blue cheese. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
(Note: If too thick, add more buttermilk or water to adjust)
To make the sweet and sour sauce, bring the honey to a simmer in a medium pot over medium heat and cook until golden brown, three to five minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully add the vinegar, hot sauce, a pinch salt and the garlic and simmer gently, three to five minutes. Stir in zest. Keep warm.
To fry the chicken, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the oil into a deep, heavy-bottomed pot. Heat the oil to 350 degrees over medium heat. Prepare a baking sheet fitted with a kitchen towel and a slotted spoon.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch. Season the chicken wings with salt and toss in the flour mix. Shake off excess. Drop about a quarter of the chicken into the oil and gently “swirl” the oil as they fry. This swirling will assure they fry more evenly on all sides.
When they are light to medium brown, five to seven minutes, remove them with the spoon and lay them out on the kitchen towel to cool. Season with salt. Repeat until all are cooked. Fry the lemon slices until crispy. Finish cooking in the oven 10 minutes.
To finish, drizzle the honey sauce over the chicken and top with the fried lemon. Serve with the cucumbers and Ranch dressing on the side.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound chicken tenders or breasts cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups pulverized salted pretzels
3 eggs, whisked
Chopped parsley
Directions:
Place chicken in a zipper-top bag with about a half cup of Liquid Gold Mustard sauce. Marinate for at least two hours or up to eight hours.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees or preheat fryer to 350 degrees.
Take chicken out of mustard. Dip into flour, then dip into egg, then coat entirely in pulverized pretzels. Place on wire-racked sheet pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until internal temp registers 165 degrees.
If frying, place chicken gently into oil and fry in two to three batches for four to five minutes or until golden and internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
Top with chopped parsley and Serve with Liquid Gold Sauce and a side of Beer Cheese Sauce.
Beer Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
2 12 ounce cans of evaporated milk
1/2 cup lager
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, freshly grated
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions:
Set a medium sauce pan to low heat. Add in evaporated milk, Beer and Dijon and whisk together until uniform and smooth.
Toss grated cheese and cornstarch together in a bowl until totally coated.
Whisk in cheese and heat, stirring constantly, for about five minutes until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is silky and smooth.
Liquid Gold Honey Mustard Sauce
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
Add ingredients into a small pot and bring to a simmer while constantly whisking. Lightly simmer for five minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
