I’m into football.

I love a good game (like that Saints Patriots one on Sunday!) and I love the whole football culture- you know Sunday lazily loafing on the couch that really isn’t you being a lump because, you know, you’re watching the game. And let’s face it, Football snacks are the best.

One food that I think is inextricably linked with football has got to be wings.

Heck there was a wing shortage during the Superbowl not too long ago!

But here’s the thing. I hate Buffalo wings. I don’t what it is. There’s something in Buffalo sauce that just makes me wrinkle my nose and say no thanks. Me saying no thanks to food is rare.

So when I make wings, this is the recipe I use. It puts Buffalo sauce to shame. Sorry Buffalo.

And the flavors are so interesting and complex that it feels a little more … I don’t know… sophisticated? You know, so you can break out the china while you wear your jersey and scream at the TV.

Anyway. The sauce.

The sauce requires a bit of a history lesson.

It sounds really, really weird at first.

So I’m going to preface it by saying that this sauce won a contest in Delaware for best chicken recipe. My dad’s from Delaware. The chicken is the state bird (University of Delaware’s mascot is the blue hen). Delaware ran a contest where people submitted their best chicken recipes. This was the winner.

My great aunt Jane made the recipe for the family and we’ve continued to make it since.

SO here it is. Chopped garlic, spicy mustard, soy sauce and white wine.

I have no idea the amounts. I totally go by taste. But I tend to go fairly equal on the soy sauce and the wine and a little more on the mustard. It depends on your taste and the flavor you want to be the most prominent.

(As a side note, I didn’t have white wine and didn’t know that until I had already started mixing oops! I used red instead this time and it may actually be better. But I wanted to give you the recipe the right way. Try both, see which you prefer!)

So mix, the ingredients up in a large bowl. You’re going to have to rely on your tongue here. Add an mix until you like the flavor.

Next, dunk your cleaned and dried wings into the bowl and get those hands in there and mix them all around. You want them thoroughly coated.

Spread them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet and back at 400 for 45 minutes to an hour.

I promise you these are better than any wings in any sports bar. You won’t believe we didn’t fry them. The soy sauce gives you such a rich savory flavor and the spicy mustard is reminiscent of the spice in buffalo wings. And the wine is a nice hint of complexity.

I made these for Superbowl last year and we just nommed on wings and chips.

If you want to turn this into a well-balanced meal, add some greens and potatoes.

Here were our sides:

Sauteed escarole with garlic and prosciutto and roasted potatoes with garlic and thyme.

For the escarole, blanch your washed and chopped escarole in a large pot of oiling water. Drain, the sautee with olive oil, salt, pepper and prosciutto. The prosciutto does the same for escarole as say bacon would do for collard greens.

For the potatoes, we used these little red and white and purple guys.

Slice them in half and toss them in a baking dish with some sliced onions, garlic, olive oil and thyme. Bake alongside the wings for about 40 minutes.