Sunday. A day for most people for rest, chores, and sleeping in. For me growing up Sundays were often associated with two things: the Simpsons and NFL. While my mum preferred us watching one over the other (you guess which), it was a time to sit on the couch with my dad and really veg. For most girls, it was probably their literal nightmare. Hour after hour, game after game of a sport that just didn’t seem to end. Yet to me it was a perfect excuse to spend time with my dad. He was and is the epitome of a jock-playing sports his entire life and encouraging us to do the same. His first love was football, yet his story follows many. You know the whole lead quarterback in high school destined for greatness, only to fall to a knee injury before getting a chance to go to the CFL.
When he eventually had two daughters, he couldn’t quite have that prodigal son to toss the ball around with (enter in my sister spraining her finger trying to catch one of his spirals). Although we played other sports growing up, with him coaching various soccer teams, Sunday football seemed to be the time where we could connect about something that was his first real love. We didn’t have to talk much, partly because he would be “resting his eyelids” and partly because I didn’t mind simply being next to him.
All this led me to being quite the tom boy in school, with many boys being surprised when while other girls were only at the Superbowl party for the socializing- I actually wanted to watch the game and I knew what I was talking about! So as football season is now upon us, every Sunday I watch my fantasy team in eager anticipation and remember those relaxing Sunday’s with my dad. M is catching up on the football lingo..but he clearly still prefers the wings.
And now we get to the other reason many watch sports: the food! And what is more ubiquitous with football then wings? A Yahoo stat showed that for the 2019 Superbowl it was predicted 1.3 billion wings would be consumed in America. 1.3 Billion. Just let that sink in for a second.
For me a good chicken wing is about the skin. There is nothing worse than biting into a wing and it being gummy. Rather, having a firm and crispy coating yet still being most and juicy on the inside is perfection. Over the years along with my football knowledge I’ve also gained how to make a damn fine wing. I am not saying these have to be eaten while watching football, but for those of you NFL skeptics, you won’t even notice the game with these on the table. Or maybe it’ll just give you an excuse to cuddle up to the man or woman in your life who are football lovers.
Crispy Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- ~20 (850g) chicken wings
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 tbsp grapeseed oil
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 425F
- Step 2 Using paper towel, pat dry the wings
- Step 3 Combine flour, salt and pepper and paprika into a large mixing bowl. Add in wings and stir to coat
- Step 4 Pour the oil on a large baking tray and put in the oven to warm up. Once warm, shake off the excess flour from the wings and place on the tray. Make sure to leave enough room between each so they aren’t touching.
- Step 5 Bake for 20 minutes, flip over and bake for a final 15 min.
- Step 6 Serve with Chipotle Mayo
Another great post with some fantastic photos. Keep them coming!
Thanks! Will try 🙂