Apricot and Honey Glazed Wings with Spicy Smoked Sweet Potato Salad


 
Cliff Bartlett

Cliff Bartlett

R.I.P. 5/17/2021
I wanted to do some wings again so that was the plan on Sunday. Went with some Apricot and Honey Glazed Wings on the smoker. I'd seen an interesting side earlier in the week, Spicy Smoked Sweet Potato Salad, and gave that a try. Rounded out the cook with some steamed sprouts in foil. Here goes.

I air dried a dozen meaty wings on wire racks in the fridge for around 10 hours.



There was a lot of prep for the Sweet Potato Salad so I worked on that while the chicken was in the fridge.

Needed some crumbled bacon for a topping so got to work on that.


Boiled the potatoes on my camp stove.



Mixed up a nice rub for the salad including paprika, k salt, light brown sugar, fresh ground black pepper. chili powder (recipe called for chipotle chili powder but I was out. Used regular) and dry mustard.



Mixed up the Dressing for the salad. Included Mayo, cilantro, mustard, adobo sauce, salt, black pepper and sliced scallions.



Mixed the partially cooked potatoes with half of the spices. Used my 2 qt. Dutch Oven.



Got them on the grill, indirect, for around 15 to 20 minutes, just long enough to finish off the potatoes and get a little smoke. Used Oak.



Ready to mix.



Mixed in with the sauce, remaining spices and topped with the rest of the bacon. Put in refrigerator until dinner time.



Lastly, basted some melted butter on the Sprouts and seasoned with S&P and garlic powder. Made the foil packet.

 
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Seasoned the wings with a nice BBQ Rub, both sides.



On my small WSM untll IT got up to around 160.



Threw on the Sprouts for around 10 minutes.



Right at 160.



Made the glaze with Apricot Preserves and Honey, 50/50. Simmered until cooled. Glazed the wings.



Gave about 15 more minutes and pulled.



Plated it up.



This was a wonderful meal. The wings were delicious. The rub and the sauce was excellent. The wings didn't have the snappy bite through and the crispiest skin, but the flavor made up for it. The Smoked Sweet Potato Salad was a hit as well. I'll be a little more conservative with the smoke next time. The potatoes suck up the smoke like a sponge and when I took a sample bite after pulling off the grill, I thought holy crap, this will be inedible. But after mixing the potatoes with the sauce and remaining spices, it was perfect. Nice smoky flavor and it went well with the wings. Anyway, have a good week everyone. Thanks for looking.
 
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That all looks great, Cliff! I'm really intrigued by the sweet potato salad.....may need to give that one a go.

Thanks for posting up some more of your amazing food!

R
 
Wow Cliff - hard to top that.
O noted hat yo used huge pieces of oak - more than I would have thought possible without getting too much smoke. Another lesson for me here.
Ray
 
Cliff, you nailed that one out of the park. Everything looks delicious, but that sweet potato salad is very interesting. Going to have to give that one a try, thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

Ray Crick said:
Wow Cliff - hard to top that.
O noted hat yo used huge pieces of oak - more than I would have thought possible without getting too much smoke. Another lesson for me here.
Ray
Click to expand...

And that's an extremely good observation Ray. I wanted to use Oak and all I had were some gigantic mini-splits. I used my hatched to whittle down a couple of slivers and as you called it, they were still too big. Will definitely throttle it down next time, especially with something like veggies.

Several of you mentioned you would be interested in the recipe. It's a recipe from the Cooking Channel. I varied from the recipe as it calls for smoking the sweet potatoes on a stovetop smoker. I'm not even sure what that is. I used my Jumbo Joe for the quick smoke.

Spicy Smoked Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients

Smoky Rub:
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Sweet Potato Salad:

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick and into half-moons
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from chipotle packed in adobo
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 slices bacon
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

Directions

For the rub: Mix together the paprika, salt, sugar, pepper, chile powder and dry mustard in a small bowl.
For the potato salad: Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until almost done, about 10 minutes. Drain, place in a large bowl, drizzle with the oil and toss with 2 tablespoons of the rub. Place the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook until the fat renders and the bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Sprinkle the sawdust chips over the center of the bottom of the smoker and put the rack in place. Place the potatoes on the rack. Close the lid and turn the heat to medium. Smoke the potatoes until fully cooked, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dressing. Mix together the mayonnaise, cilantro, mustard, adobo sauce, salt, black pepper and scallions in a large bowl. Add half of the bacon and the potatoes. Toss to combine, and then toss with the remaining bacon. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
 
Looks delicious Cliff. We have never make the sweet potato salad but it looks delicious. I like the glaze idea on the wings. I'll bet that is really a good flavor. Great cook!
 
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