Baked Jerk Chicken Wings

So here’s what I did for this recipe. I just made it up. Do not look here for authentic ratios of spices in a jerk spice blend. If you have Jamaican friends, send them the other direction – away from my inauthentic blog post! But if you’re not super-concerned about authenticity and want to test out some spicy hot baked wings… check out this recipe. I kept the wings whole and intact (mostly out of sheer laziness), but for more pieces and a more traditional wing look you can certainly portion them! A lot of time you can find them portioned in the store too. Here’s a nice breakdown on the chicken wing from The Kitchn. PS: The Kitchn is a great site for everything from recipes and how-tos to all sorts of tips & tricks of the trade.

Also, I am not joking about the spice level. Selim, who when asked in Indian or Thai restaurants for his preferred spice level answers, “However you would make it at home,” even thought these were spicy. I am way wimpier when it comes to spice, but I battled through. You can taste the other spices and even a hint of sweetness from the brown sugar despite the heat. It also helped that we paired this with cool and tangy Green Crema to keep our tongues from burning off. If you don’t want quite the five-alarm spice level, try cutting back on the crushed red pepper flakes in the recipe.

Baked Jerk Chicken Wings

Ingredients: 

• 3lbs of chicken wings
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine all of the spices in a small bowl or ramekin.
3. Toss wings with oil in a large bowl.
4. Sprinkle spice mixture over wings, tossing until all are well-coated.
5. Spread wings out on a foil-lined cookie sheet, skin side up.
6. Bake for 20 minutes and then flip to the other side. Bake 20 more minutes.
7. After the full 40 minutes, return the wings to the original side up. Turn the heat up to broil. Broil for just a minute or two, watching closely, so the skin crisps up. Areas of thick spice coverage may blacken a bit, which is fine, but don’t let the skin burn!