Blackberry Chipotle Chicken Wings

These were about the yummiest chicken wings I have ever cooked! The sauce called for two ingredients that I have never cooked with ... balsamic vinegar (which is available in the new Maxi-Bodega in Santa Elena) and chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (that I hadn't even heard of until recently so I went looking for ... totally sure that I would never find them in Peten ... but Enrique found them at the Selecta!!). Those two ingredients were married together with a blackberry jelly (the recipe called for raspberry jelly, but alas, it was not to be found, and the blackberry seemed a close fit). The baking process melded the flavors perfectly, creating a tangy sweet sauce with deep smoky undertones.

Recipe:
Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Wings

These chicken wings are easy to make, but very tender and flavorful. As an added bonus, you'll end up with some awesome leftover chicken stock to use later in soups, stews, or sauces. The chipotle chiles lend a unique flavor to the sauce, so do use them, even if you cut back on the amount. If you've never tried them, they are described as having a spicy raisin flavor.

Ingredients

5 pounds large chicken wings ; separated at the joint (add the wing tips to the pot if you hav
1 -3/4 cups chicken broth ; (1 can or homemade)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 large cloves garlic ; cut in fourths
2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 bay leaf
Water

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 sweet onion ; minced
3 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons ; (canned) chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam or jelly (I used blackberry jelly and it was fantastic!)
Kosher ; salt

Instructions:

Place chicken wings in a large stockpot along with chicken broth, onion, celery, garlic, sage, thyme, and bay leaf.
Add water to just barely cover contents. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir and skim off any foam midway through cooking. Remove cover and let cool at least 10 minutes.

While chicken wings are cooking, make the sauce. Heat a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add butter and sweet onion. Reduce heat to medium and saute until onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and chipotle chiles. Stir-fry 2 minutes. Deglaze pan with the balsamic vinegar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom into the sauce. Add raspberry jam and salt. Stir until smooth. Let cool until chicken wings are done.

Strain wings (discard wing tips, if any) and retain strained stock for other purposes. Toss chicken wings with raspberry chipotle sauce. (May refrigerate for one day at this point.)

Position baking rack in the highest position. Preheat oven to 450. Line a 15 x 10-inch baking pan with non-stick foil.

Arrange chicken wings fattest-side up on prepared baking pan. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.

Bake 25 minutes (30 to 40 minutes if refrigerated) in preheated oven until lightly browned. Serve hot.

Yield: about 8 to 10 appetizer servings.

The Verdict:

I served the Blackberry Chipotle Chicken Wings for dinner with creamy mashed potatoes, fresh steamed green beans, and dill pickles. The dill pickles were the perfect final touch. We both agreed that the flavor was deliciously addictive, and would have liked more sauce.

What I will do differently next time:

is to at least DOUBLE the quantity of sauce. By the time they had baked, most of the sauce had evaporated leaving delicious moist wings, but almost no extra sauce.