Many thanks, @sartoric! I'll have to try that. It looks really good, and certainly less work than what I did last night.
I used half of my wings yesterday, as planned, to try the recipe from Buttermilk & Bourbon (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) that I mentioned above. That is, I set out to try that recipe. I ended up taking some liberties with it.
The method is interesting. You start by giving the wings an hour-long bath in 300F oil, in the oven.
I'll note that this tenderizes and essentially cooks them beautifully, but the skin is quite soft and pale.
Next, marinate the wings for at least 4 hours (or, he says, preferably overnight) in the marinade you've made according to his recipe. This is where things broke down: in order to make that marinade, I first had to make his Cajun spice blend. I began looking around for the ingredients. I did not have dried thyme, ground bay leaves, file gumbo powder or cayenne. I decided that, since the recipe called for 1 tablespoon of this mix in 4 cups of buttermilk, I could (heh) wing it on the seasonings. The marinade also includes hot sauce, and that accounts for its pinkish color.
While that is happening, and before heating oil for the final fry, you mix up yet another recipe, this time for the seasoned dredge: flour, masa harina, lemon pepper, granulated garlic, Creole seasoning, black papper, red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne. I had about half of those ingredients - including the flour, but not the masa. I used corn meal instead, and wung winged it again on the spices. Then you dredge the drained wings and fry them in 350F oil until they're golden brown.
They were great! They were the most crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside wings we've ever had. I wouldn't use corn meal next time, however: it made a mess of the pot and I'm not sure the texture of those grains added anything to the chicken.
I was supposed to have made a few dipping sauces too, but ran out of motivation before I got that far. We used buttermilk ranch dressing (also from that book) and called it done.
I think the technique is a keeper although it had the usual problems of leftover oil that go with deep frying. (I strained and saved what I could. The rest, and the crunchy bits in the pot, are going into tonight's campfire.) As for the seasonings and multiple recipes: if I try this exact recipe again, I'll be sure to make them all ahead of time. I'll be more inclined to keep the double-fry method and use another dredging mix altogether.
