It took me a long time to find the perfect chicken wings. I'll give you a hint: I didn't find them at a restaurant or a take-out joint. As it turns out, the best chicken wings I had came out of my own kitchen. And I'm confident that they can come out of yours as well. Making them yourself is not only by far the cheapest option, but also produces superior chicken wings. And it's really not as difficult as you might think.

To start with, go get yourself some fresh chicken wings. There's no need to go frozen unless you have to. You can buy them pre-cut, but you'll end up spending more and not getting an equal amount of drumettes and wings. Just buy the wings whole and cut them at the joints into three pieces. Throw the tips away or save them to make chicken broth. You can use a knife to separate them, but I much prefer using poultry shears, especially if I'm working with large quantities of wings; I'll be getting 10 pounds for the Super Bowl and don't particularly want to sit there with a knife for that amount.

Once your wings are cut, it's time to prep them. My favorites are the traditional Buffalo wings, which you don't have to do a lot to. Coating wings in breading is a big no-no for me. I like it simple with a flavorful, buttery sauce that has a little kick. There's just no need to pollute the wings with any of that other crap. Which means all you have to do is coat them with a little bit of flour and flavor them with salt and pepper before you cook them. I usually eye the amount of flour, but I'd say tossing them in approximately a half cup for every two or three pounds of chicken should do it.

There are lots of ways to cook your wings. Broiling or baking can work, as does browning them in a skillet and then throwing those suckers into a slow cooker, along with the sauce, for anywhere from two to eight hours. But for me, no matter how you slice it, frying simply produces the best wings. Sure, it's not the healthiest, but, oh man, what a special treat it is. And as I said earlier this week about Super Bowl food, throw caution to the wind, whip up some delicious (and fattening) comfort food and follow it up with a week of salads if you have to.

Don't let the frying scare you away. You don't need any fancy equipment like a deep fryer and it's really not difficult to do. I use a pot with about an inch to an inch and a half of oil on the bottom. And if I'm making a lot, I have two pots going on at once. You know the oil is ready when it pops and bubbles when you sprinkle a drop of water or two into the pot. Once it does, maintaining a heat of medium to medium high works well. (I lean toward medium high myself.) As for the oil, I tend to use canola, though peanut oil works well too if you can find it. Vegetable oil is fine, though, if that's what you have. I like to throw a little shortening in if I have it around as well, though it's not necessary.

The wings will cook for about 10 to 12 minutes until they're nice and golden. Don't worry that they're not completely immersed in the oil—they don't need to be. Just be sure to flip them halfway through. New Providence resident John Dilley, the creator of Defcon Sauces (we'll get there in a minute) and a chicken wing expert has a great trick that I'm going to try with my next batch of wings. He recommends piercing the wings once with a two-prong fork after four to five minutes of frying. This will add quite a bit of flavor and moisture, according to John.

Finally, it's time to toss those babies in the sauce. No matter what you use, always use less than you think. I like my wings a little crispy with just enough sauce to coat them. Too much can make them too soggy. A small amount usually goes further than you think. The best option is to pour some in, mix it all together in a bowl and see what you get. You can always add more.

As for types of sauce, I'm an addict of the Defcon Sauces. I love them so much I couldn't help but carry them at Kitchen a la Mode. There are lots of good sauces out there, but these are my facorite. They range from mild to spicy. I like the Defcon Condition #2 myself, equivalent to a medium heat, the best combination of flavor and spice I've found in any sauce. You can read more than you ever thought you'd want to know about hot sauce in my previous article about the Defcon Sauces and how to make your own. I like my chicken wings buttery and sometimes throw in some melted butter along with the sauce. You can even change it up a bit by throwing in garlic and thyme-infused butter or any concoction you like. All you have to do is throw some fresh herbs and/or garlic in with the butter while you melt it and let it simmer for a little bit.

You can go the traditional route and serve your chicken wings with chunky blue cheese dressing or spring for a blue cheese dip mix. You can even change it up and go with a Ranch dressing, sour cream, crème fraiche or whatever you can dream up. I'm a big fan of the routine celery sticks to buffer any spiciness and complement the wings, but you can feel free to throw some other vegetables on there, bell peppers being one of my faves.

Sauce Variations You Can Try
Teriyaki Sauce: Buy your favorite brand or make your own.
Sweet and Tangy: There are some really great sweet and tangy BBQ sauces out there, which make great mild wings.
Honey Maple: Make a sauce out of honey and maple syrup for a heavenly sweet wing. Add some grainy mustard to tang it up a bit and tamp down the sweetness.
Go Asian: There are a number of sauces you can find at your local Asian grocery store or other specialty stores that would work well by themselves or mix together. Think plum sauce, hoisin sauce and even that super spicy chili paste. Top with crispy noodles for fun presentation.
Traditional: Half Frank's Hot Sauce and half melted butter is the safe way to go.

When it comes down to it, chicken wings are hard to screw up and easier to make than most people think. And even if you do mess up a bit, they're likely to be better than most take-out options. Don't be a chicken, try it.

Ben Salmon is a former literary agent and the owner of Kitchen a la Mode: Accessories for Cooking & Entertaining in the heart of downtown South Orange.