5 Ingredient Sweet and Savory Wings

I’ve had a lot going on this week and really was feeling overwhelmed with deciding what I was going to be cooking/making for dinners and the blog. I decided to let Dan choose. I gave him the two latest Food Network and Rachael Ray Everyday magazines to start. We have very different likes and dislikes. I’m all over anything veggie and he goes straight for meat and potatoes. I knew the outcome would most likely be “out of my comfort zone” – but I was up for the challenge.

I was right, manly meat dishes were selected. I made a grocery list and off I went to purchase supplies. First up on Dan’s wish list – Sweet and Savory Chicken Wings, part of Rachael Ray’s take five ingredients recipes. This recipe was submitted by magazine reader Gail Jenner from Etna, CA.

The 5 Ingredients:

3 Pounds Chicken/Party Wings
1 Cup Pineapple Juice
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1.5 Ounces Lemon Flavored Jello – kind of weird, but just wait…
2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds

I cut the recipe in 1/2 and used just over a pound of wings. Let me take this opportunity to share that I have never cooked wings before. I am not a wing fan. I am not a dark chicken or dark turkey meat fan at all. So this was definitely a change for me.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the pineapple juice and soy sauce and stir.

Add the marinade to the wings and let sit for 15 minutes. I put my Ziploc of chicken/marinade in the fridge for a few hours while I ran errands.

On a foil lined (Don’t leave this step out) baking sheet, arrange the wings in a single layer. The recipe tells you to pour 1/2 of the marinade over the wings – I didn’t feel right about that step, so I whipped up a second smaller batch of soy sauce and pineapple – I don’t like using marinade after the meat has been removed from it. So I dumped that chicken marinade, mixed up the small second batch and poured it over each wing on the baking sheet.

The next step is to break out the lemon Jello. Sprinkle the chicken with half the amount and bake for 30 minutes.

Flip and sprinkle with the remaining Jello and the poppy seeds and then bake until browned – another 30 minutes. Mine actually only took about 20 additional minutes.

The Jello sugar and soy mixture really bakes into a sticky mess – no worries, I was able to remove the chicken with tongs. Trust me, it looked much prettier after plating.

I broke out the photo friendly dishes, some colored placemats and had my little photo shoot before dinner.

The entire house smelled delicious.

I am happy to report that they were a huge hit. Dan really liked them a lot. I was surprised at how much I liked the citrus/sweet combo. They were super juicy and I think I may be over my fear of wings. We both agreed that they would make the perfect party appetizer – so easy to make.

Dan’s choice worked out well for both of us. I can’t wait for the next few choices – they are definitely not what I would normally eat or cook, woohoo for trying something new!