Grilled Cherry Chicken Wings

Cherry season is ending. I’m seriously bummed because I love cherries. Those delicious, tart, little red spheres are absolutely amazing. Yes, I’m a Bing fan. I’ll eat them straight out of the basket, baked into sweets or sauteéd with a savory dish. While I love those sweet cherry desserts, when I add cherries to a savory entreé, they turn the whole dish into something amazing. So, since the season’s coming to a close, I just had to get one more recipe on the blog.

I chose to share these Grilled Wings because two events are coming up in the next week: Father’s Day and the official start of summer. Both are prime grilling opportunities and these wings are great for a Father’s Day dinner or a summer barbecue. You know why they’re so great? They cook quickly and they’re a finger food. Those two things are absolutely necessary for summer and this holiday. I mean, what Dad (or person, for that matter) do you know who wants to man the grill all day? Certainly not anyone I know. What most Dads (or adults) seem to want, is to play with their children, or hang out and talk with the other adults at the party which makes grilled chicken wings the ideal summer food.

While there are tons of grilled chicken wings out there, these wings, smothered in a sweet cherry sauce, will brings smiles to both children and adults. See, the adults get a scrumptious piece of chicken, but the kids get a sweet, fruity finger food that they can lick and chomp to their hearts content. The kids won’t realize their eating something that isn’t in nugget form and might even come back for seconds. In my book, that’s win, win, and I bet it’ll be win, win in your book too.

Grilled Cherry Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 (1-inch) piece of ginger, finely grated
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1-1/2 cups cherries, stemmed and pitted
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 pounds chicken wings, tips discarded and wings split

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shallot and cook for a 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger and cook for another minute.
2. Stir in the vinegar, syrup and cherries and bring to a boil. Stir in the salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. As you stir the sauce, crush the cherries on the side of the pan. Remove from heat and let cool. Divide the sauce between two bowls, one for the raw chicken and one for the cooked chicken.
3. Preheat a grill to about 375°F. Season the chicken wings all over with salt and pepper. Baste the raw wings with some of the cherry sauce and grill over moderately high heat, turning and basting occasionally, until lightly charred and crispy, about 20 minutes.
4. Once cooked, remove from the grill and baste again with the cherry sauce from the second, untainted bowl and serve.