By Case D Fischer
Summer is fast approaching, we are dusting off grills, meat purchases are at an all-time high, and we all need new ways to incorporate unique flavors into our meals. Grocery stores have seen an influx in meat and seafood sales these last couple of weeks. While storing these meats away and preparing for the upcoming summer holidays, let’s explore some ways we can inspire your culinary adventure by adding mouthwatering flavors into your dishes using inspiration from regions, cultures, and states all around us. Today’s recipe is a homestyle flavor that is sweet, tangy, and full of southern BBQ culture. We’re showing you how to make Barbecue Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Wings.
The essential part of these wings is the Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. This sauce was the base of a marinade that the chicken wings were soaked in for 1-2 hours. Marinating your meats or seafood for a few hours (or as short as 15 minutes), will create a tender, juicy, and flavor-filled entree. But how do you develop a marinade that does this?
The basic parts of a marinade are: acid (vinegar, wine, citrus juice, yogurt, buttermilk), high smoke point oils (peanut, canola, avocado, safflower, olive), flavor (spices, seasonings, herbs), and optional sauce-based flavors (barbecue sauce, mustard, hot sauce). Having the basic guidelines of a marinade allows you to explore great flavor combinations for your meals. We all cook according to our flavor preferences. With a marinade, whatever you may find appealing and appetizing can be thrown into the dishes you make. Embracing this aspect of cooking is easy, and it’s what makes your meals different from everyone else’s. If you love the sweetness of honey, create a honey garlic marinade. If you are addicted to the flavor of mangos, make a mango habanero-based marinade.
Marinades are also culture-based. Knowing what seasonings/spices/flavors come from different regions of the world, help you develop marinade recipes that represent flavorful dishes from countries like China, Mexico, Chile, Philippines, Thailand, and many more. But also consider the United States. Specific regions and states are famous for their flavorful dishes. Louisiana is known for their spicy Cajun seasonings like paprika and cayenne pepper. Hawaii infuses citrus fruits like pineapples/mangoes/papayas into their foods paired with honey. Tennessee has their award-winning Nashville-hot sauces that leave your mouth on fire. Using these countries, regions, and states helps guide you to creating marinades of many different backgrounds and flavors.
To get you started with a few ideas, here are some marinades that are inspired by parts of the world:
Sticky Soy:
● 1⁄4 cup rice vinegar
● 1⁄4 cup sesame oil
● 1⁄2 cup soy sauce
● 3 tbsp honey
● 2 tbsp chopped green onion
● 1 tbsp ginger
● 2 tsp garlic powder
● 1 tsp onion powder
● 1 tbsp sesame seeds (for topping)
Cilantro Lime:
● 1⁄4 distilled white vinegar
● 1⁄4 cup avocado oil
● 1⁄2 cup chopped cilantro
● Juice of 2 limes
● 1 tbsp cumin
● 1 tbsp oregano
● 2 tsp chili powder
● 2 tsp black pepper
● 1 tsp salt
Cajun:
● 1⁄3 cup distilled white vinegar
● 1⁄3 cup vegetable oil
● 2 tbsp smoked paprika
● 1 1⁄2 tbsp cayenne pepper
● 2 tsp garlic powder
● 1 tsp onion powder
● 1 tsp ground thyme
● 1 tsp salt
● 1 tsp black pepper
Today’s wing marinade is inspired by our best-selling The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. We created this sauce back in 1996, and little did we know that it would garner such a strong following. Sauces are the easiest way to introduce fast, reliable flavors into your marinades. Because this sauce was founded right here in Fredericksburg, we’d like to think of this as our very own version of Fredericksburg, Texas style BBQ. We’ve taken the blend of raspberries and smoky chipotle peppers in the Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and paired them with the tangy flavor of traditional BBQ sauce. These two in unison will create a novel flavor in BBQ wings that you’ve never tasted before. Enjoy!
BBQ Raspberry Chipotle Wings:
Marinade:
● 1⁄4 cup apple cider vinegar
● 1⁄4 cup canola oil
● 1⁄4 cup BBQ sauce (any sauce from your favorite brand)
● 1⁄2 cup Fischer & Wieser’s The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
● 2 tsp smoked paprika
● 1 tsp cayenne pepper
● 1 tsp garlic powder
● 1 tsp onion powder
● 1 tsp brown sugar
● 1⁄2 tsp salt & pepper
Directions:
1. Rinse chicken wings & pat dry with a paper napkin. Place drained wings into a 1 gallon plastic bag (containing a seal).
2. Mix all marinade ingredients together into a glass bowl.
3. Pour marinade over wings and mix around wings until evenly coated. Seal bag airtight and place in the fridge for 1 hour. (If the wings are not evenly coated in the marinade, at the 1⁄2 mark of the marinating time, mix around the wings in bag again, and place back into fridge)
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lay out wings on a non stick baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Bake the wings for 45 minutes.
5. For an additional dipping sauce or an extra coat of sauce, mix 1⁄2 raspberry chipotle sauce, 1⁄4 cup barbecue sauce, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1⁄2 tsp cayenne, 1⁄2 tsp garlic powder, 1⁄2 tsp onion powder together in a small dish. Serve on the side of wings.
6. Serve with sweet potato fries, celery, or carrots.
