BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS WITH BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

Buffalo Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing image

This is an iconic dish. It's Americana. It never gets old. No matter how much you make, there is rarely much leftover. There is no game day without these types of wings. The important thing for me is the fresh and powdered garlic combination in the dressing. You definitely need both. Make the dressing the night before for even better flavors. I like to serve this with sliced cucumbers, carrots and whole romaine spears to dunk in the dressing. I often double this dressing recipe, too, because you need more than you think...

Provided by Alex Guarnaschelli

Categories appetizer

Time 40m

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 19

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Ingredients

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
8 ounces Cabrales blue cheese, crumbled
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large clove garlic, grated
1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's
1 1/2 quarts canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
3 1/2 pounds chicken wings split into drumettes and flats (about 18 each)
Kosher salt
Sliced cucumbers, carrots and whole romaine spears, for serving (optional)

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk with the blue cheese, minced garlic, Worcestershire, the 1 tablespoon vinegar, hot sauce, garlic powder and a generous pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning. Add more vinegar if it needs additional acidity. Add more salt, if necessary. Add a splash of water, if necessary, to loosen the dressing or if the flavors are too intense. Set aside.
Make the Buffalo sauce: Melt the butter with the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the hot sauce. Keep warm.
Prepare the wings: Pour the oil into a deep, heavy-bottomed pot. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F over medium heat. Prepare 2 rimmed baking sheets, one lined with a wire rack. In a large bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch. Separate the larger wings from the smaller ones. Season all of them with salt and toss in the flour mix. Shake off the excess.
Fry the wings: Lower half of the larger wings into the oil and gently "swirl" the oil with a slotted spoon as they fry. This swirling will assure the wings fry more evenly on all sides. When they are light to medium brown, 5 to 7 minutes, remove them with the slotted spoon and lay them out on the wire rack. Season with salt. Cook the rest of the wings in batches, keeping the fried wings warm on the second baking sheet in the oven until all are cooked. Leave the wings in the oven for at least 10 minutes to assure all are cooked through.
Toss the wings in a large bowl with all of the Buffalo sauce. Serve on a large platter with the blue cheese dressing and vegetables on the side.