It's Friday, it's been a long week, and, to be honest, we're bushed. Tonight, at a loss of any sort of idea for a recipe, we asked the lovely ladies in the accounting department what they would ideally like for dinner. "Hot wings." Easy enough. But to class it up a bit, we're calling the wings, "drumettes." That should make it easier to justify going through 15 moist towelettes.
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Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced
1 cup bourbon, divided
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Crystal)
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
30 chicken drumettes (about 4 pounds)
Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
Preparation
Melt butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup bourbon; boil until most of the liquid is absorbed, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk in 1/4 cup bourbon, ketchup, hot pepper sauce, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Season marinade with salt and pepper. Remove marinade from heat; cool to room temperature.
Place chicken drumettes in a 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Pour marinade over and turn drumettes to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Place a cooling rack atop a prepared baking sheet. Arrange drumettes on the rack, spacing slightly apart. Spread any remaining marinade from the dish over drumettes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake drumettes (still on a cooling rack) until cooked through and brown in spots, about 45 minutes. Transfer drumettes to a serving platter. Serve Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce alongside.