A college friend who hailed from Buffalo, New York, introduced me to Buffalo Wings in 1982. We were two of 11 girls sharing “the Mansion,” a dilapidated, but enchanting house near Marquette University in Milwaukee.

We always needed an excuse to throw a party, and Lizzy knew of this crazy, great wing recipe. Lizzy said it was created by a lady in her Buffalo Bar and that those wings were in great demand there.  Lizzy’s dad told us we “would be smart if we opened a stand and started selling these wings.”  And I, well, I had a Polish grandma named Bernice that was beloved by butchers at Kissinger Meats, who usually tossed unwanted wings away. So, grandma could get me 5 pounds of wings for a song.

Now there are so many recipes, and I’ll be sure pass on a few other favorites along with an uptake on the blue cheese dip. (But, of course, ~Lizzy’s recipe for the original blue cheese dip follows her wing recipe in this post.) Those other wings will post in coming days, but Lizzy’s is the first recipe, and the best.

Original Buffalo Wings
4 lbs. chicken wings
vegetable oil
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. Franks Red Hot Pepper Sauce
6 celery stalks, cut into sticks
blue cheese dip (recipe follows)

Cut chicken wings at the joints. Pour ½” layer of oil into a large skillet; heat over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add as many chicken wings as will fit without crowding. Fry until golden, about 10 min.; turning once. Heat oven to 250° F. Drain the cooked chicken wings on paper towel-lined baking sheets.  Remove paper towel and keep chicken wings warm in oven while you fry the remaining wings.

When all the wings are cooked, pour off all the fat from the skillet. Add butter to the skillet and melt over low heat. Stir in Franks Hot  Pepper sauce. (The more butter the milder the wings; the less butter, the hotter the wings. ~ We like it HOT and so we skip the butter entirely.) Coat the wings with the Franks Hot Pepper Butter. Arrange on a plate and serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing (recipe follows).  6 servings.

Original Blue Cheese Dressing for Wings
½ c. Hellman’s Mayonnaise
½ c. sour cream
½ c. crumbled blue cheese
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Makes about 1½ cups.