My pal Beau's famous chicken wing recipe has never failed to leave mouths drooling in eager anticipation. Put Beau's wisdom to good use today and find out for yourself just why hordes flock to this grizzled foreman's ranch every Summer just to get a nibble of his legendary sweet-sour chook wings.

20 Chicken wings
7 1/2 ounces Tomato sauce (half can)
2 tablespoons Orange marmalade
1 tablespoon Honey
2 teaspoons Ginger -- minced
2 teaspoons Fermented chili sauce -- (Summit brand)
2 teaspoons Pepper vinegar
4 Garlic cloves -- peeled
1 teaspoon Salt (scant)
2 teaspoons MSG
1/2 cup Water (more as needed)

Douse in Tabasco to taste (or some other hot pepper sauce). Cut off spurs from chicken wing-tips and rinse chicken wings. Place in pressure cooker with water; bring to pressure and cook at high heat for up to five minutes. Remove from pressure cooker and place cooked-out fat in wide-mouthed, tapered jar for other uses.

Blend all ingredients except chicken and Tabasco (or an alternative hot sauce) until a fairly even consistency is achieved, with no large chunks of ginger or garlic.

Place 3/4 of sauce in pan. Roll wings in sauce; remove wings to broiler pan (with slotted top). Bake at 325 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and spoon about half of remaining sauce on top of each piece; broil for 5 minutes. Add Tabasco or other hot pepper sauces to taste and serve.

Beau's notes:

* Use vinegar which has been used to keep a supply of bird's-eye peppers.

* After discarding chicken spurs, wash hands with very warm water and Dial soap (and follow up with isopropyl alcohol rinse); wash all utensils with bleach. (One should always regard chickens, even if processed in USA or inspected by USDA, as unclean! USDA inspectors are notoriously less than thorough, and U.S. packing houses often neglect basic hygienic rules in working with chickens, especially in dealing with their entrails, waste products unexcreted, etc. And one should not expect much better from out-of-country chickens.)

This article was posted on November 28, 2005