Sticky Chicken Wings When You Feel Like A Headless Chook

You can tell that I am having trouble getting organised by the way this week is all about serving up superfast meals. I keep telling myself that one day, my life will be sufficiently organised to elegantly float from one activity to the next rather than constantly feeling I need to catch my breath, or my mind. Here's hoping....

These chicken wings are a great dinner for those nights when the 75 things that require you outside the kitchen can no longer be ignored. For the time poor and disorganised (like me), there is no requirement for soaking the wings in a marinade in advance of cooking. They also cook in the oven for an hour with only one turn in the middle, so you can leave them alone to do their thing while you are tackling the rest of the house. Coleslaw is also a fast and easy side to serve with it, and would probably go down even better at the height of summer.

This recipe comes from Belinda Jeffrey's 100 Favourite Recipes. Belinda was the cook on Better Homes and Gardens, as well as running a cafe, and this cookbook offers the sort of simple but delicious recipes that you would expect. I would also recommend another of her books called Belinda Jeffrey's Tried and True Recipes. She has also written for Delicious magazine in Australia, and published another cookbook last year called Mix & Bake.

The Simplest and Best Sticky Chicken Wings

adapted from Belinda Jeffrey's 100 favourite Recipes

12 large chicken wings, wing tips removed

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tsps finely chopped fresh ginger

Preheat the oven to 200C. Sit the wings in a single layer in a large baking tin. Put the soy sauce, red wine, sugar and ginger in a small saucepan. Stir them together over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then pour the mixture evenly over the wings.

Put the wings in the oven (bottom side up) and bake for 35 mins, then turn them over and continue cooking them for another 25 minutes, or until they are deep brown and glossy. Small wings will cook faster, so check them sooner.

Serve with coleslaw. Belinda suggests mixing a tablespoon of sesame oil into the mayonnaise dressing for the slaw, and finishing with a sprinkle of toasted seame seeds (depending of course on how hectic your day was and whether you are more inclined to sit with a glass of wine and the paper....)