The Superbowl is this weekend! This means a Sunday filled with football, food, and commercials! Odds are you will be watching the big game at your home or a friends party. There will be plates of appetizers, dips, and of course wings! Chicken wings are perfect football watching food. They can feed a large crowd, serve as a main meal or an appetizer, and can be eaten with one hand! Don’t have a recipe for this weekend’s game? Try these team themed wings.

This Sunday you will find the Baltimore Ravens and San Fransisco 49ers taking the field. Here are two wing sauces inspired by each team. The Baltimore Ravens are known for their purple uniforms and ferocious defense. If you are cheering for Baltimore, coat your wings in this Purple Pain Wing Sauce. The purple comes from the grape jelly and the pain is from the peppers. Don’t worry though, the heat of the sauce won’t leave you crying like if Ray Lewis Sacked you.

On the 49ers side we have the Gold Rush wings. These wings are inspired by the Forty-Niners who mad their way to California in search of gold and the rushing attack of Frank Gore and the scrambling threat of Colin Kaepernick. The golden sauced wings are coated in crushed honey roasted peanuts for a wing with both some sweet an heat to it. If you don’t know who to cheer for make both! You can’t go wrong with either.

 

Purple Pain Wing Sauce

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup of seeded chopped jalapeno pepper

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup poblano pepper

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 (12 ounce) jar chili sauce

1 1/2 cups Welch’s Grape Jelly

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon unsulphered molasses

1 tablespoon chipotle Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon McCormick coarse ground black pepper

Sliced scallions and additional chopped poblano for garnish

 

In a medium sauce pan add the butter, peppers, onion and garlic. Bring heat to low. When butter melts, raise heat to medium. Cook stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Add chili sauce, grape jelly, vinegar, molasses, and chipotle sauce. Stir. Add salt and pepper. Stir. Once jelly has melted, reduce heat to a low simmer and cook sauce for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Reserve until ready to coat wings. Extra Sauce can be refrigerated and served on burgers or grilled chicken sandwiches.

 

Gold Rush Wing Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 1/3 cups clover honey

1 stick unsalted butter

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 teaspoons fiery sesame oil

1 tablespoon ginger soy sauce

1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup honey roasted peanut

In a medium sauce pan, add all of the ingredients. Stir on low heat until mixture is well blended. Bring to a low simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve. Add peanuts to food processor and pulse until ground into small crumbles.

 

Fried Chicken Wings

Makes about 60 wing pieces.

6 pounds chicken wings

Oil for frying

Remove chicken wings from packaging. Prepare wings by cutting off tips and separating into wing and drumette portion. Rinse and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry in about 1 1/2 inches of oil for 10 minutes at 360F until skin turns golden brown. Drain on paper bags and hold in a 350F oven until ready for service. You will need to fry your wings in batches, cooked wings can be held in the oven while remaining wings are frying. To ensure wings have cooked through allow final batch to hold in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Toss wings in either the Purple Pain Sauce or the Gold Rush Wing Sauce. Gold Rush wings should be tossed in the sauce and then coated with the crumbled honey roasted peanuts.

Photography ©Taylor Mathis

Recipes ©Sally James