Pickle-brined buffalo wings with blue caesar
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Pickle-brined buffalo wings with blue caesar
Pickle brine is the key to these juicy, tender chicken wings, which are tossed in a simple buffalo sauce. The blue cheese dressing can be used both as a wing dip and as a salad dressing
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
742Kcal
Fat
58gr
Saturates
16gr
Carbs
15gr
Sugars
3gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
41gr
Salt
2.7gr
Spencer Lengsfield
Our Senior Food Producer Spencer was born in Los Angeles, so has an inherent love for all things Mexican, Japanese, and Korean but is also heavily influenced by her family’s Louisiana heritage. She loves spice, bright flavours, and fusion food, and she has a soft spot for a chocolate chip cookie.
See more of Spencer Lengsfield’s recipes
Spencer Lengsfield
Our Senior Food Producer Spencer was born in Los Angeles, so has an inherent love for all things Mexican, Japanese, and Korean but is also heavily influenced by her family’s Louisiana heritage. She loves spice, bright flavours, and fusion food, and she has a soft spot for a chocolate chip cookie.
See more of Spencer Lengsfield’s recipes
Ingredients
For the wings
- 1kg chicken wings
- 1 x 340g jar crinkle-cut gherkins
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 75ml hot sauce (we used Cholula Original)
- 30g unsalted butter, melted
For the salad
- 2 thick slices sourdough, torn into chunks
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 50g creamy blue cheese
- 5 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 anchovy fillets
- 30g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra shavings to serve
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- juice of 2 lemons
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 Romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, sliced diagonally
Step by step
- Divide the chicken wings into flats and drums by using a sharp knife to cut between the joints, then put in a shallow non-metallic dish. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the pickling brine from the jar of gherkins, then pour the rest of the pickling brine over the chicken. Cover, then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours (and up to 24 hours).
- Remove the wings from the pickling brine and pat dry with kitchen paper. Transfer to a clean bowl and add the paprika, garlic and oil. Season with salt and toss together.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6 and heat the barbecue for direct cooking. For the salad, toss the sourdough chunks in olive oil, spread out on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crunchy. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, make the dressing: put the blue cheese, mayonnaise, anchovies, parmesan, mustard, lemon juice and garlic in a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth; taste for seasoning, adding a pinch of salt if needed.
- Grill the chicken wings on the barbecue until cooked through and nicely charred; about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and pour over the hot sauce, melted butter and reserved pickle brine. Stir together until coated and emulsified. In a separate bowl, toss the lettuce, celery, any celery leaves and the croutons in half of the dressing.
- Arrange the wings on a platter with the crinkle-cut gherkins and a small bowl of the remaining dressing on the side. Serve with the salad, scattered with shaved parmesan.
