Honey Maple Buffalo Sauce

My husband and I have a deep and unsettling love for buffalo wings. Bad day? Buffalo wings. Hangover? Buffalo wings. Great day? Celebratory buffalo wings. It’s a problem. Not one of those problems that you’re really mad about, just a delicious mess maker of a problem that you’re kind of annoyed about because it depletes your bank account.

Rob is a purist and likes his standard buffalo hot flavor, while I’m obsessed with honey hot. Blue cheese offends him, and I would drink it through a straw if it were socially acceptable. We agree that celery and carrots are a must, especially now that I can eat them again, and in our opinion a good rule of thumb is if your eyelids aren’t sweating you’re doing it wrong.

I’ve attempted my own sauce on a couple of occasions and it’s never been anything to write home about. Today I had some new ideas and did a test on some homemade chicken tenders, and the result was Rob looking at me and saying, “If you put this sauce on wings I wouldn’t be mad.” Bag it, tag it, we have a winner.

Ingredients:

1C Franks Red Hot
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
2 – 4 TBS maple syrup (the real stuff. I use Grade B), or just omit this and use more honey.
Couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce (Thanks Google, for the spelling help)
2 – 4 habanero peppers halved (seeds and ribs optional)
1 stick of butter
1 TBS honey
2 cloves of garlic, smashed but NOT chopped or diced
½ tsp Essence

in a bowl combine the Franks, vinegar, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, and Essence.

In a saucepan, melt the butter with the smashed garlic, habaneros, and honey. I like to let the butter brown just a bit for deeper flavor. Letting everything melt together infuses the butter to be spicy and sweet with a very low and slow burn. It’s amazing and probably the best idea I’ve ever had. For more spice, add more habaneros as you’re going to take them out and discard them later.

Once butter has melted and infused nicely, remove the smashed garlic. Leave the hot peppers in. Add the Franks mixture to the saucepan and let come to simmer over med-low heat, then simmer until slightly thickened. You’ll need to whisk this occasionally.

When you feel like the sauce has developed the flavor you want, remove the hot peppers and give a final whisk, then douse your wings, tenders, or use as a dipping sauce. I made homemade chicken tenders using the recipe on the Bisquick box.

Rob and I will be having buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Tomorrow’s lunch will be salad with buffalo chicken topping. I MEAN REALLY. I just can’t get sick of it.