Whether you like it tossed with your chicken wings or find yourself craving it drizzled
on pizza, tangy-spicy Buffalo sauce adds a big boost of flavor to food.
But if you've ever wished you could add just a little bit of complexity to it, there's
one secret ingredient you should try adding to your homemade Buffalo sauce:
roasted garlic.
Making Buffalo sauce at home is pretty simple: just mix Frank's RedHot hot sauce with melted
butter, and you're good to go.
It's got a rich flavor thanks to the fat from the butter, and the acidity of the vinegar
and punch of salt in the hot sauce can liven up all manner of fried foods.
But if you've ever felt that it's too one-note to work with ingredients like veggies and
tofu, which don't pack the same umami punch as crispy chicken wings and can't always stand
up to stronger flavors, then adding some garlic can bring that extra punch.
The story goes that the first Buffalo sauce was served at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York,
in 1964, the invention of one Teressa Bellissimo.
"In 1964, on a cold, snowy night in Buffalo, the chicken wing was invented right here at
the bar."
Apparently she whipped up the sauce with ingredients on hand and tossed it with chicken wings,
which the restaurant had a surplus of.
Time reports she served the spicy, tangy wings with the iconic blue cheese and celery that's
so often found served with Buffalo-sauced items to this day.
One of the typical ingredients in Buffalo sauce is Frank's RedHot.
This cayenne pepper is even older than the original Buffalo wings it's been in production
since 1920, and has become so synonymous with Buffalo sauce that the company released their
own Frank's RedHot Hot Buffalo Wings Sauce in 2009.
While the tangy blend of Frank's and butter is still a favorite coating for crispy fried
chicken wings, you can alter it so it can be used with all sorts of foods without overwhelming
them with the punchy, spicy flavor.
So why, as Food52 advises, add roasted garlic, or garlic confit if you're feeling fancy?
When garlic is cooked low and slow, it loses its pungent flavor, instead becoming sweet,
earthy, and savory as it caramelizes and softens.
Roasted garlic gives an added dimension of flavor to your Buffalo sauce, so even if you're
using it with something meatless, you still get a powerful punch of umami.
According to Lucky Peach, it's part of the recipe they use at the famous Italian restaurant
Parm in New York City.
Even better?
This added flavor enables you to swap the melted butter with olive oil if you so choose,
so your Buffalo sauce stays liquid when chilled.
FYI: Butter, which is a saturated fat, is solid when refrigerated, and your Buffalo
sauce will be, too.
if you use it.
At Parm, they make a vinaigrette out of the Frank's RedHot sauce.
It's made by blending a full cup of the hot sauce with three heads of roasted garlic,
a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a 1/4 cup of minced shallot.
The dressing is then tossed with crispy cucumbers, roasted peanuts, and crumbled blue cheese.
It may sound a little strange, but the combination of flavors really works.
And if you're worried about roasting the garlic, it's pretty easy.
All it takes is a little planning ahead.
And you can use it for more than just Buffalo sauce.
"There's so many, so many ways to use roasted garlic.
It's quite versatile and it gets very, very sweet when you roast it."
According to Simply Recipes, you'll take three heads of garlic, and remove the outermost
layer of papery skin.
Slice the very tops off of the heads of garlic, so you can see the cloves within their paper
skins, but keep the head of garlic together.
Add the garlic to a baking dish with the cut side facing up, and drizzle with olive oil.
Cover the garlic with foil to prevent burning, then bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for
30 to 40 minutes.
When the garlic is done roasting it should be soft to the touch and lightly golden brown
in color.
Let the heads of garlic cool so you can touch them without burning your fingers, then squeeze
the garlic out of its papery skins.
Mix this soft roasted garlic into your Buffalo sauce, and you have an all-purpose condiment
that can be used with chicken wings or any other food that needs an extra kick.
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