Hockey and Chicken Wings

I remember the first time I ever made wings. It was a Sunday in February back in 2002, I believe it was the 24th. My roommates were watching a hockey game that afternoon, and I was trying to take a nap to avoid watching the hockey game. It's not that I don't like hockey, but the team I was hoping to win didn't play all that well leading up to this important game, and I didn't want to see them get embarrassed. But the noise from downstairs and my own curiosity made me go down to the living room midway through the first. The score was 2-1 for the good guys. At the end of the first, I decided it was time to add some food to the beer we were drinking and decided that wings would hit the spot. While waiting for the wings to defrost in the microwave, I noticed a package of Shake N Bake in the pantry, and the deep fryer that was on the counter, and had a "Eureka!" moment. After cutting the tips off the wings, I coated the wings with the Shake N Bake, and dropped them into the hot oil. The results were I got some tasty, but gritty chicken wings. In hindsight, it wasn't the Shake N Bake that was the problem, it was the quality of the oil in the deep fryer. When I decided to clean the deep fryer months later, I was disgusted at the dark goopy mess I poured into the garbage. It looked like something people had to cleanup after the Exxon Valdez spilled. The recipe below is the method I use now for chicken wings. As for the game, I later watched Iginlia put the game away for Team Canada as they beat the Americans 5-3. I celebrated with along the rest of the country at 80's Night at Barrymores later that evening with my roommates. A lot of honking, hollering, flag-waving, and beer drinking was seen and done, it was one of the few times I've seen Ottawa enjoying itself. As an NHL lockout is preventing hockey fans from doing some hooting and hollering, I hope my chicken wing recipe brings you some joy - go Sens go.

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 pounds chicken wings, split and tips discarded

3 cups all-purpose flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 

enough canola oil for frying

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Pour over the chicken wings in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Combine the flour with the poultry seasoning, Old Bay, paprika, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder in a large mixing bowl. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the chicken wings from the egg mixture, coat them in the flour mixture. Cook in batches in the preheated deep-fryer until the wings are golden brown on the outside, and no longer pink at the bone, about 10 minutes per batch. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and season to taste with salt before serving.