Super What?

Today was one of the great food holidays of the year: The Super Bowl.

Even though we really could not care less about American football, the Super Bowl is a great event in the Traveling Roths hold. It's the one day a year we make Buffalo Wings.

Here's the play by play.

First, set the TiVo to record the game. This will be important later.

Then make sure you have obtained a hearty supply of chicken wings. We got ours a week ago and then froze and thawed them. Once thawed, the wings have to be separated into their component pieces. A chicken wing from the store is like a disembodied human arm, conceptually, so picture that when I describe the dissection. First, cut off the wingtips (hands) and save for stock-making. Then separate the wingette (forearm) from the drumette (upper arm). After performing all the surgery, I brined the wings for the first time, since I figured it couldn't hurt.

Next, assemble the rig.
In my case, I used the small pot that came with my turkey fryer, along with the propane tank and a gallon of oil.

The wings had been rinsed and dried, and brought to room temperature.

Next, heat the oil (carefully) to 375F. Add the wing parts as many as will fit without

• causing the oil to boil over, and

• causing the oil temperature to drop too much below 350. "Cold" oil leads to greasy food.

In my case, my setup can handle about 20 wing pieces at a time. When I do this inside on the stove, I can do maybe eight at a time, which is way less efficient, and way more time consuming. We are hungry, after all.

Fry the chicken for eight minutes, adjusting the burner as necessary to maintain 350-375 as closely as possible. You absolutely need a thermometer for this. Eyeballing it will only end in heartache. (There are two thermometers in this picture, plus another in my pocket. Overkill, admittedly) Now would also be a good time to enjoy a lovely beverage. Though not visible in the above picture, a bottle of Yuengling Lager was nearby.

Remove the chicken from the oil to a draining rig. Fry the remaining wings in appropriate batches.

Coat the wing parts in the magic sauce, move to a baking pan, and roast at 350 for 20 minutes.Now would be a good time to enjoy another lovely beverage.

This time, a mojito, which Jennifer and I found out goes excellently with wings.

Remove the wings from the oven, serve with bleu cheese dressing and veggies.

Enjoy.

Then onto the game. Since we TiVo'd it, we didn't have to pay any attention to when the thing actually started, plus we'd built up some buffer time, allowing us to do the coolest thing you can with TiVo: Fast forward through the game, and stop at the commercials, and the halftime show.

After "The-artist-formerly-know-as 'The-artist-formerly-known-as-Prince'" finished his set, we turned off the TV and called it a night.

Recipe Follows:

Authentic Buffalo Chicken Wings with Maytag Blue Cheese Dressing

12 chicken wings (or more), halved
canola or peanut oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
4 T butter
1 bottle (5 oz.) Frank's Original Louisiana Hot Sauce (this is the big secret)

Maytag Blue Cheese Dressing
1 cup mayo (225 g)
3T minced onion (39 g)
1.5 t minced garlic (7 g)
1/3 cup minced parsley (15 g)
1/2 cup sour cream (130 g)
1 T lemon juice
1 T white vinegar
1/3 cup Maytag blue cheese, crumbled (50 g)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F and oil to 375F
Reserve wingtips for stock
Fry wings for eight minutes in small batches. Transfer to a cooling rack and let drain. Season with salt and pepper. In a saucepan melt butter, add hot sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper. tos wings in sauce. Roast 15 to 20 minutes

In a bowl mix together mayo, onion, garlic, parley, sour cream, lemon juice, vinegar, and blue cheese. Transfer to a serving bowl. Arrange wings on a serving platter. Garnish with flat-leaf parsley. Serve with dressing.