4th of July Vibes: Grilled Lemon Pepper Wings
Bae Rating: 3.5/5 LEMON PEPPER MY WANGS *Rick Ross voice* I mean, who doesn't love chicken wings especially when they're Lemon Pepper. The wings alone won't get you wifed unless bae is a wing connoisseur, but hey, these are damn delicious!
Vibes: Grilling and summer time go together just right. Grab a drink, grill out and turn up to these tunes.
Ingredients
Brine
2 quarts cold water
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
For the Chicken
1 LB Chicken Wings
Zest of 3 large Lemons
1.5 tbs of sea salt
2 tbs of coarse ground black pepper
1 tbs of garlic powder
Lemon Pepper Sauce
2 tbs of coarse ground black pepper
Zest of 2 large lemons
The juice of 2 large lemons
3 tbs of olive oil
1/2 tbs of sea salt
Instructions
- Bring water, sugar, and salt to a boil in a large pot, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Let the brine cool completely, then add chicken and let it soak covered in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
- Take the chicken wings out of the brine, and pat dry. Really dry the wings out, it helps keep the skin extra crispy as it cooks
- Mix the lemon zest, sea salt, garlic powder and coarse ground pepper together in a small bowl. If you have a mortar and pestle, USE IT! It helps release the oils from the lemon zest and flavor the salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the seasoning over the thoroughly dried chicken wings, and let them sit on wire racks, or at least on a plate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Dry skin, remember?
- In another bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside until later
- Heat half of your oiled grill to medium-high heat, and leave the other side cool. Let the grill come to about 350 degrees.
- Place the wings skin side up on the "cool" side of the grill, and grill over indirect heat for about 10-15 minutes. You'll notice that the skin will look very dry and taut. Good, that's what it should look like.
- Transfer the wings to the hot side of the grill and cook until the wings are beautiful and brown, about another 10-15 minutes. Watch them carefully, burnt wings are jokes.
- Toss the wings with the lemon-pepper sauce to taste (there's a little extra leftover if you like your wings saucy), and serve hot.