“Dani, do you need anything from the store for tonight?” Bethany asked as she grabbed her keys off the hook by the door and sat to put on her shoes.

“Nope! I’m all good,” Dani said. “I put the wings in their marinade last night, and I have plenty of honey and Old Bay for the glaze. My cousin’s crazy about that seasoning, so he always sends me some for Christmas.”

“Okay, great!” said Bethany, standing up with a little jump. “I’m excited to try them. I might even try one of those seitan wings – I’m not really supposed to have gluten, but I have pasta all the time and it doesn’t bother me, so I think one wing will be okay.”

“I hope so!” said Dani, laughing. “I ended up with a lot more than I meant to make – it’s hard to eyeball how much dry gluten you’ll need for the end product. Jay and Michelle would have to have half a dozen each to eat them all up!”

“Oh, I was going to try one too,” said Sura, walking up to the foyer. “I’ve never had seitan before, but it looked so interesting as you were winding up those wings on the little fake bones! What are they made of, anyway?”

“They’re actually made of wood!” Dani said. “And I’m gonna have to make sure to remind people not to throw them out – they’re totally reusable, and are really just there to make the vegan wings actually look wing-y. Well, and so that the seitan gets a better texture. When you wind them up like that, they have a layered texture that’s really close to meat.”

“We’ll put out a bowl or something,” Bethany said. “Now, I gotta go! I want to get to the store as soon as I can, so I have everything here before anyone starts arriving. It would be embarrassing to be late to a game night at my own house!”

Honey Old Bay Wings

• 1 lb chicken wings
• ½ c honey, divided
• ¼ c Old Bay seasoning (or another similar spicy-salty seasoning mix), divided
• 1 c lager (non-alcoholic is fine)
• 4 tbsp butter, divided

1. Mix ¼ c honey and 2 tbsp Old Bay with the lager in a large plastic or silicone bag. Once the mixture is uniform, take the wings and separate into flats and drumettes (if needed). Place the wing pieces into the marinade and let sit at least 4 hours to overnight. 
2. Remove the wings from the marinade and pat dry, then rub all over with 2 tbsp of the butter. 
3. Arrange the wings on a rack over a pan. Bake at 400°F for 45 minutes, or until wings are crispy.
4. Mix the remaining honey, Old Bay, and butter together, heating the mixture in the microwave so the butter is melted and the mixture is runny. Once the wings are out of the oven, brush each one with the glaze while the wings are still hot. 

Vegan Honey Old Bay Wings

• 1 c. gluten flour (aka vital wheat gluten)
• 1 c. water or mushroom stock
• Optional: 1/2 tsp MSG or flavor enhancer
• Marinade ingredients as above + 1 c. vegetable or mushroom stock, or lager

1. Knead gluten flour together with ¾ c to 1 c water until it makes a stretchy dough.
2. Take a small piece of the seitan dough, then spread out one end into a thin sheet. Wrap the ball of dough around a vegan “bone” made of wood or sugarcane to make a chicken drumette shape. Continue in the same way for all of the dough.
3. Combine marinade ingredients as above, adding vegetable stock, mushroom stock, or additional lager as needed to just cover the seitan wings. 
4. Braise the wings at a simmer for 1 hour, keeping the pot covered. Remove from heat and rest overnight in the braising liquid. 
5. Remove wings from braising liquid, pat dry, and rub with vegan butter or oil. Bake as above.
6. Apply glaze to wings after baking as above.