Margarita Wings

from 52 Ways to Wing It by Charles Reavis (Macmillan Publishing)

Take traditional margarita cocktail ingredients, mix with chicken wings, and you have crowd-pleasing appetizer or entree. If you do not have access to a grill, you can bake these in the oven with satisfying results.

Ingredients:

2 pounds precut chicken wings, or whole wings cut into 2 pieces at joint, tips discarded
1/2 cup gold tequila or mescal
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Preparation:

Wash the wings, pat dry and place in a large, heavy-duty resealable plastic food bag.

In a small bowl, combine the tequila, orange juice concentrate, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, black pepper, salt, and cilantro.

Pour the marinade over the wings in the bag. Seal the bag and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire or pre-heat a gas grill to medium-high.

Drain the wings, discarding the marinade.

Grill the wings, turning often, until they are slightly charred and cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings