Servings: 3 or 4
Preheat: 450
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman
These are not bar chicken wings. They’re not fried until crisp, bathed in butter and hot sauce, and served with blue-cheese dressing, although you can deliver those here any day and we will not leave a single one behind. These are weeknight wings, which, if they’re not a thing yet, I think should be, because, at some point after having kids, I discovered that oven-roasted wings deserved more credit in the Weeknight Greatness category. They’re perfectly sized for small hands. They take on the flavor of whatever you pour over them without requiring brining or an overnight marinade. They’re often done in 35 minutes, but they have enough natural fat in them so they’re forgiving if you distractedly leave them in almost twice as long—they just get more browned and crisp. I love them as lemony as possible, and here, I add the lemon in three ways: in zest, in slices that caramelize in the pan (even the almost black, crispy lemon slices are wildly good here), and in juice at the end. Dijon mustard adds more punch, as do garlic and a lot of black pepper. The sticky juices that collect on the foil are my favorite part. We find these inhalable.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp (45 g) unsalted butter, melted
1½ tsp smooth Dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp (6 g) kosher salt, plus more to finish
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons (1 whole, for zesting, and 1 thinly sliced)
2 lbs (905 g) chicken wings, cut in half at the joint (wing tips saved for stock), or 1½ lbs (680 g) wingettes, already jointed and wing-tip-free (sometimes sold as “party wings”)
Directions:
Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking sheet with nonstick spray. Combine the butter, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper. Finely grate the zest of the whole lemon, and add it to the butter mixture. Add the chicken and lemon slices and toss to coat; then spread them evenly in the prepared pan. Season with additional salt and pepper, and roast for 35 minutes, flipping the wings and lemon slices once, at the 20-minute mark, and then back to the first side for the last 5 minutes, or until the wings are a deep golden brown and some of the lemon slices look worrisomely dark. (Do not worry. They are not burned.) You can move the pieces around a bit as you flip them if the edge pieces are picking up color much faster than those in the center.
To serve: Slice the zested lemon in half, and squeeze the juice of one half over the tray; cut the second half into wedges for serving. Eat right away.