Alitas de Pollo Marinadas en Cerveza con Salsa Brava (Fried Beer-Marinated Chicken Wings)

Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.

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Ingredients:

Marinade

1-1/4 cups beer
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 bay leaves
kosher sea salt
freshly ground blacl pepper

Wings:

18-24 chicken wings, in 2 pieces, tips discarded
mild olive oil for frying
flour for dredging

Salsa Brava:

12 oz. jar piquillo peppers or pimientos
2 Tbsp. grated onion
2 cloves garlic, mashed to a paste or passed through a garlic press
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
4 teaspoons imported paprika, preferably Spanish smoked bittersweet
1/2 tsp. hot paprika, preferably Spanish smoked
1 chipotle chile, chopped with1 tsp. of adobo sauce
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 tsp. white wine vinegar
kosher or sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

To prepare the marinade:

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, then add the wings, cover, and refrigerate overnight or longer.

To make the salsa brava:

Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree as smooth as possible. Reserve (this will keep for weeks refrigerated).

To prepare the wings:

Heat the oil to 350F, preferably in a deep fryer. (Otherwise pour oil to a depth of at least 1″ in a skillet, and heat until the oil quickly browns a cube of bread.) Remove the wings from the marinade and drain them on paper towels, then dredge the wings in the flour. Fry the wings in several batches until golden brown for 6-10 minutes, depending on the size of the wings, turning once. Drain the fried wings on some paper towels. [The wings may be kept warm in a 200F oven for up to 30 minutes.] Serve the fried wings with a bowl of the sauce to dip them in.

Recipe from “Tapas” by Penelope Casas, ISBN-10: 0307265528.