Dumb name. I've gotten kind of famous for this recipe among friends, by now I think it's worked it's way around much of Omaha. Actually I got it out of the Omaha World Herald from one of those weekly reader-submitted recipes columns, probably more than 30 years ago. It's really delicious, the chicken wings come out falling off the bone. It also smells terrific while cooking and tastes as good as it smells.
This makes 16 wings per batch. I typically make multiple batches at a time; I'll mix the sauce for each batch in a separate bowl using a different barbeque sauce for each, just for the heck of it.
This is NOT a "buffalo wings" kind of recipe. Preparation is very simple but they cook for TWO HOURS AND 15 MINUTES in a very low oven.
Ingredients
16 chicken wings (They're about 1-1/2 lbs per package of 8, 3 lbs total)
1 cup bottled barbeque sauce (any type you like, except don't use any sweet honey-based sauce)
3/4 to 1 cup honey (that's why you don't use a honey-based barbeque sauce)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil
Salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Whisk together the barbeque sauce, honey, soy sauce, garlic, and oil in a small bowl.
2. Chicken wings have three sections; the third section is the wingtip, the skinny one without any meat. Cut it off and discard (most recipes say to save it to make stock. Get real). The remaining wing forms a "V" shape.
3. It is fairly important to use the right sized baking pan for this dish. The best size is 13 x 9 x 2. In fact, what I found works best are these el-cheapo Ecko non-stick pans you can get at Target. The non-stick doesn't really matter, but they're dark gray and I've found the dark color absorbs heat better than aluminum and makes the sauce thicker .
Arrange the chicken wings in four columns running lengthwise along the pan, alternating the direction of the wings' "V" shape in each column like this:
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VAVA
VAVA
VAVA
VAVA
They should just barely fit. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour the sauce over the wings. If the pan is the right size, the thickest part of the wings should protrude slightly from the sauce.
4. Preheat the oven to a low 325 degrees and put the pan in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the pan and turn the wings over one at a time using tongs. Bake for another 45 minutes. Remove and flip over the wings again. Bake for ANOTHER 45 minutes. The total baking time is 2 hours 15 minutes, not counting the time needed to take them out and flip them. Remove and serve.
I probably bake 3 pans of wings at a time (48 wings), using three different types of barbeque sauce. When I remove them to flip them during baking, I'll rotate the pans in the oven. If I'm taking them to a gathering I'll keep them in a crockpot set at low, with a little bit of the sauce poured in. They reheat in the microwave quite well too. They're a mess to eat.