Wing Weekend

As food lovers go, each of us have our obsessions with specific foods.  Mine: cilantro, pumpkin, pesto, cheesecake (I am sure there are others).  Drew's: wings, buffalo sauce, pickles, Dr. Pepper (I think this pretty much sums him up).  I strive to be a good wife to my husband.  I attempt to provide him with the things he loves on a regular basis.  I try to make sure we are always stocked with pickles (I am currently failing in that area - must take a trip to the grocery store soon), we have 3-4 different types of buffalo sauce in the fridge/pantry, and this weekend, was an unofficial wing weekend.  I intended it to be a wing night on Saturday night, but I inadvertantly got started too late on one wing recipe.  It turned out to be a blessing, because we are trying to eat out only once on weekends for lunch. 
So last night I made one of Drew's favorites:  PC Smoky Buffalo Chicken Wings  (they have published this recipe in a few of their recent Season's Best cookbooks).   This is a favorite for both of us for different reasons.  Drew loves the flavor of the BBQ and buffalo.  I love the recipe because it is SO EASY to make.  This involves microwaving the chicken in PC's covered baker (A wonderful tool for your kitchen) and then throwing the wings in a pan with a little oil for a few minutes to give them a little brown.  Toss with the rub and sauce to finish them off and you are done.  Easy, Easy - less than 30 minutes.  I served this with a bag salad and we enjoyed the rest of the evening with popcorn and cokes while catching up on old episodes of House. 
Today, I made wings again for lunch from another PC cookbook: Spicy Chicken Wings from Stoneware Inspirations.  These are a completely different flavor, based on Indian chicken tikka.  We are lovers of Indian food in a big way, so I enjoy making Indian flavored foods.  This involved marinating the wings overnight in yougurt and spices a la any Indian cooking method you can think of.  This afternoon, I threw them in the oven for 45 minutes and then we had lunch.  Another incredibly simple recipe with good flavor results.  Drew still prefers the Buffalo wings, but I think he enjoyed these as well.  I did make the sauce for the wings, despite my hesitations to do so.  I did not like it because it is an apricot based thing.  I don't really prefer mixing sweet with savory flavors as a rule.  Drew wouldn't even try it - I don't blame him. 

As a side note, my husband, the love of my life, one of the funniest people I know has started his own blog and here is his review on the latest "new" pickle to enter our lives: http://thereliquiarium.blogspot.com/2009/09/pickles-pickles-pickles-and-gods-love.html
Read and enjoy!