Alex Guarnaschelli Wild Card Wings Sweet and Spicy, as seen on Food Network Kitchen Live.
Recipe courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli

Fried Chicken Wings with Ranch

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  • Level: Intermediate
  • Total: 50 min
  • Active: 50 min
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings
The dressing here is all about the garlic. The garlic and onion powders are important for that true ranch flavor we know from childhood. I serve these wings with lots of sliced carrots and cucumbers on the side for dunking in the dressing. I also just put out homemade or jarred pickle spears too. It's nice to take a break every few wings and eat your vegetables.

Ingredients

Ranch Dressing:

Wings:

Directions

Special equipment:
deep-fry thermometer
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, buttermilk and pickle juice with the grated garlic, dill, hot sauce, garlic powder and onion powder. Taste for seasoning.
  3. 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 and the smaller ones. Season all of them with salt and toss in the flour mix. Shake off the excess.
  4. 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 they 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 to cool. Season with salt. Cook the rest of the wings in batches, keeping the cooked wings warm in the second baking sheet in the oven until all are fried. Leave the wings in the oven for at least 10 minutes to assure all are cooked through.
  5. Arrange the wings on a serving platter with the ranch dressing alongside for dunking. Serve with the lemon, carrots, cucumbers and pickles.