Good morning folks.

Good to be back after a lovely week off. Thanks again to Game Time Decision for stepping in and for also showing some truly impressive creativity. As for me, I’m rested, ready and fired up to keep the Sunday Gravy Train rolling.

Guess we could consider today’s episode a tribute to Senor Weaselo, our resident fire breathing musician. 

/ takes deep breath 

Oh boy.

Here we go kids.

I’ve been catching up on episodes of “Hot Ones” on Hulu and YouTube lately and I’ll be goddamned if it didn’t inspire me.

If you’re not familiar with the show, Sean Evans the host goes wing for wing with a special guest in a 10 wing challenge where the wings start out mild and progressively get hotter to a straight up insane level. This all happens while the guest star is being interviewed and honestly, the interview questions are perfectly on target.

Pretty much EVERY fucking body has been on this show too. I would recommend the episodes with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Halle Berry, Scarlet Johansson or Viola Davis to start. Just great shit there.

For me the fascinating part is once they get to about wing 6 or 7, the hot sauce begins to act as a kind of truth serum and it essentially breaks down both host and guest to their primal level, creating almost an hallucinatory state. 

Pretty hard to bullshit when you’re tearing up, your nose is a fire hydrant and you’re tongue is on fire. 

It’s an incredible idea for an interview format, seriously.

Fans of this here blog know that I’ve also got a real taste for the fire myself. Maybe not “Eat an entire raw ghost pepper” level of insanity but I’ve brought you some real legitimate spicy fucking meals up in here.

Including wings. Many, many times.

Definitely not scared or nervous about this challenge today. More curious than anything.

Let’s get this fucker started! Equal opportunity chicken consumption means wings and chicken strips today.

Brother TAJ joined me on our spiritual wing journey as well.

As we did with our fried chicken from the chicken biscuit episode, we’re going to brine the chicken in buttermilk. Again we will be making our own “butter” milk.

Rinse the chicken first and always be on the alert for little bone bits.

Make the “buttermilk” by adding vinegar and a little dollop of hot sauce to a cup of milk then let it curdle for a few minutes.

Get the chicken and the milk into a gallon zip top bag.

Seal it up and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, remove the chicken from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature.

You want to make sure that the chicken is thoroughly dry so put the chicken on a rack and allow it to drip dry.

I started with the wings first since they were oven baked. A good 40 minute venture in a 425 degree oven.

Dry them again prior to the dredge just to be certain.

Dry the chicken strips too.

We begin by preparing the wings for baking. This will be a dry wing when finished. 

For the wing dredge we will use 2 tablespoons of baking powder. Make sure it is this kind.

Since the baking powder is the main ingredient we don’t want the bitter metallic taste that the aluminum brings. Check your baking powder. It’s amazing how many brands use aluminum sulfate.

To the baking powder we will also add:

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Some paprika.

Mix together.

Toss the wings with the “dredge” and fully coat.

These will cook in the oven for 20 minutes with the skin side down. Then turn the wings over and back into the oven they go for another 20 minutes.

When finished? We have this.

A rock solid option for any wing sauce application.

The strips cook quickly on the stovetop in a mix of equal parts butter and olive oil. You can use a dredge of a couple of eggs mixed with a light pour of milk, followed by a flour and seasoning blend. You know the drill; egg bath then flour mix then into the pan they go.

For a side dish we cooked the leftover tots from a couple of weeks back.

For the wing lineup I fucked around with a few ideas. You regulars know I’m a connoisseur of the heat. I knew I had a few sauces that I could fuck with already and I wanted to stage them similar to the way they do on the “Hot Ones” show. From tamest to “flame-ist.” I also knew that if I wanted to get fully fucking nuts I would need to order a couple of sauces to bring the unknown element in to play.

I ordered two sauces.

Here’s the first.

This is “Pain is Good” habanero hot sauce brought to you by Spicinfoods.

I’ll let them break down the details:

“We’ve added carrots, mustard and garlic to balance the flavor of the spicy and slightly fruity Habanero peppers in this classic hot sauce, The result is a delicious, fiery hot sauce that you’ll want to serve with every meal.

More Information
Brand/Collection Pain Is Good
Size – 7 oz
Heat – Hot
Scoville Units – 9,410 Scoville Units
Dietary Summary – All Natural, Vegan”

This sauce was actually featured on the first few seasons of “Hot Ones” so I had a chance to witness its effect of the guests. I love a good habanero heat. After today’s challenge I used a pour of this in some Popeyes red beans and rice. That? That’s the fucking SHIT I’m talking about. Perfect combination.

Maybe one more higher level of heat though.

The next challenger.

Black Garlic Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce by Bravadospice.com.

Here’s the description: “The world’s hottest pepper, savory black garlic, and a hint of sweet maple, Black Garlic Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce will shake you to your core. Brace yourself.”

Ingredients:

Distilled Vinegar
Red Serrano Pepper Mash (Red Serrano Peppers, Salt)
Carolina Reaper Pepper Puree (Carolina Reaper Peppers, Salt, Acetic Acid)
Pure Maple Syrup
Roasted Garlic (Garlic, Water)
Black Garlic
Black Pepper

Tale of the tape: 70,000 Scoville units.

Now we’re fucking talking over here. This sauce also made an appearance on the show.

Enough fucking around already!

Nothing left to do but get after this shit.

Line ’em up!

Sauce #1!

Red Rooster hot sauce from “Louisiana Brand Hot Sauces.

Most of you should know this sauce. A basic Louisiana style hot sauce that’s used on damn near everything. Vinegary and tart with a very slight tongue burning heat and an almost buttery finish. This ranks 1000-2,500 Scoville units.

Damn tasty and a good way to get the challenge going.

Contestant #2! C’mon down!

Sriracha! Or “Tương Ớt Sriracha” from Huy Fong Foods right here in Southern California out in Irwindale. There’s still something of a shortage of this shit right now due to an off season for jalapeno production. Entire grocery store sections are empty and have been for months now. I got lucky to find this one which is why I bought the big fucking bottle.

Sriracha clocks in at a relatively tame estimated 450 Scoville units but anyone who is a regular consumer knows that this changes by the batch. This shit is dynamite on anything fried. Exceptional on an eggroll.

Or so I heard.

Fucking delicious. I could eat about 10 of these fuckers but most definitely not too hot.

Contestant #3! Whatchoo Got?

Sambal Oelek chili paste! The hotter, older sister to Sriracha. This baby clocks in at a steady 2.000 Scoville.

Slow simmering heat and more of a kick to the sinuses. Little lip or tongue burn with an almost “tea” like flavor on the back end. Damn good and still not hot enough.

I really need to kick this shit into high gear.

Contestant #4?

I think you know this one.

That’s my bad motherfucker right there. My very own chile tepin. AKA the subject of the very first Sunday Gravy.

While my sauce uses fresh garlic and tomato sauce to tame things down a bit, your basic chile tepin or “Chiltepin” chile blasts the goddamn furnace at 100,000 to 250,000 Scoville units.

I told you I don’t fuck around.

This shit is dynamite. I’ve been preaching its gospel for 9 seasons now but you know what?

I’ve never had it on a wing before. I’ve wasted so much of my life, man! This shit is brilliant. A no-nonsense bring the fucking heat burn to tongue and sinuses. The punch of the raw garlic is right there too. This will bring some pain as well as a bit of swelling to the tongue in addition to bringing life to your tear ducts and turning on the sinus faucet.

Sounds like fun doesn’t it.

This shit is AWESOME! I can still go to another level or two. One thing about this sauce is it’s not a “lingerer.” This one lets you off the hook after just a couple of minutes.

 

Contestant #4! Step the fuck up to the plate!

See the breakdown of the heat and ingredients up there. The carrot brings a little sweet element and you get more of a hit to the lips and tongue from the habanero. Shit is getting serious now.

Tears, snot, sinus burn and a good mean heat. This shit would work on ANYTHING Cajun and I sure as shit kept the goddamn bottle for future tasting. I would buy this again in a heartbeat. My tongue is starting to swell up a bit at this point and the lips are all tingly and shit. I’m also starting to giggle and feel a bit on the goofy side.

Endorphins engaged.

Finally! Sauce #6. Light that shit up!

Pay attention to the extra dab on top of the wing. 

Oh there we go now. That’s the Carolina Reaper come calling. This shit is fucking tasty! The little bit of maple syrup in there tames this down a good bit and that black garlic is just a fantastic flavor.

Wait a second, I have to go blow my nose. Tear ducts fully activated. I am definitely tripping off of this shit.

Wheeew! Fuck me that is killer! I went back for more of this shit too.

My tongue is swollen to twice its normal size and my nose will not stop running. I am under its power. This baby does indeed linger. It’s come to hang out and play for awhile.

I am INTO this shit now.

But?

That was the last sauce!

The fucking fuck, man?!? I could easily go TWO more levels up. No bullshit. I was in the perfect state to move on but I didn’t have any more sauces.

SHIT! Cockblocked my own hot sauce high.

I’ll remember that for next time.

This was seriously fun as fuck to do. Had a blast and plan on doing it again another time.

To answer the question that everyone is thinking right now…No, there were no digestive issues, assaults or surprises right after or even the next day.

I was fine.

And there we are!

If you’re insane like Senor and I appear to be and you ain’t afraid of a little heat you might want to run your own wing gauntlet sometime. It was serious stupid fun.

That’s all I’ve got for today. Hope the rest of your Sunday is enjoyable.

Stop by next week where I’ve got another entertaining bit of Sunday Gravy for you.

Be well folks.

PEACE!