Right "Wing"ed

Before my husband and I got married people were more than willing to share their best marriage advice with us. We heard it all, from "respect each" other to "laugh everyday" and we even got our fair shares of "Don't do it"s. One suggestion that we heard over and over was "to make sure you are willing to compromise". Well compromise is not my most favorite activity. I normally prefer to flat out get my way. I know that this isn't going to always be an option so I decided to start practicing this thing called compromise in the kitchen. Forrest loves hot wings and if I never eat hot wings again it may be too soon. So when I saw Giada make these Balsamic Chicken Wings on her show, Everyday Italian, I knew it would be a great recipe to try that would hopefully satisfy Forrest's cravings for wings and turn out to be the right type of wings for me to enjoy. Well, Forrest loved them:


And I thought they were really appetizing as well. This little thing called compromise may not be so bad after all................


Balsamic Chicken Wings
Recipe courtesy of Giada DeLaurentiis

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
5 sprigs of rosemary
5 garlic cloves, halved
10 to 12 chicken wings
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Combine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves, in a large, re-sealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken wings to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Place the chicken wings on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.

Use a pastry brush to brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken. Place the chicken on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the chopped parsley.

Cook's note: I like the rosemary and garlic flavors in the background. Brushing the cooked wings with the reduced marinade helps the flavors along. Also, re-moistening helps the parsley and the seeds to adhere.

I used peanuts to sprinkle on top of the wings instead of sesame seeds because I couldn't find them at the grocery. I also marinated the wings all day instead of two hours and it gave them a lot of flavor.