Crispy Old Bay Wings

By Paul Briand

This is the recipe I settled on for the tailgate chicken I brought to a family reunion last weekend at the Air Force-Army football game.

It was a three-part event: the gathering/buffet Friday night at the hotel in Newburgh, N.Y., the tailgate before the game itself at West Point, and the tailgate after the game. There was a fourth part - the gathering Saturday night back at the hotel - but by then the chicken, all six pounds of it, was gone.

I needed something that was portable, whose flavor would stand up when served cold, and wasn’t messy. This recipe, which I found on the Old Bay seasoning home site, did the trick.

Some notes on the recipe: I didn’t serve it with the optional dressing, though that certainly would have added an element of flavor and it would have cooled down the heat that some people taste with Old Bay. Also, I made six pounds of boneless/skinless tenders: I didn’t double the recipe, I made two separate batches.

After I rinsed the tenders, I patted them dry with paper towel, then tossed them with about a teaspoon of canola oil before then tossing them with the breadcrumb mixture. Lacking skin, it helped crisp up the tenders once they got into the oven.

Ingredients
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
3 pounds chicken wing pieces
Blue cheese or ranch dressing (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, mix bread crumbs and Old Bay in large resealable plastic bag;
2. Add chicken wings in batches; shake to coat well;
3. Arrange chicken wings in single layer on large foil-lined shallow baking pan sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Discard any remaining bread crumb mixture;
4. Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through;
5. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing, if desired.

Click here for recipe card.