Apricot, Lime, Soy Sauce Chicken Wings

As I've said so many times, my friend, Martha, is my go-to person for recipes. My own personal Iron Chef, who tests out recipes and then tells me which the right ones to go with are, but also how to tweak them in a way that makes them exceptional.

For this past weekend, we were hosting another Family Game Night, which also doubled as a birthday celebration for Jim's 45th birthday. I wanted to make some foods that would be worthy of a game night. I asked my group of friends, and I went with many of their suggestions -- tried and true recipes that I already have on here, like Macaroni and Cheese and Pulled Pork, but I added Martha's recipe for Apricot, Lime, and Soy Sauce Chicken Wings. I got so many raves from the family on the spread we put out. I am quite pleased with the results!

• 8 lbs. chicken wings, split
• 1 cup fresh lime juice (4 large limes, or 8-10 regular sized limes)
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 large garlic cloves

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. If wings are not already split, cut off wing tips, and halve the wings at the joint.
3. Divide wings into 2 large, disposable roasting pans (about 12x16") each, arranging in a single layer. (I bought smaller, lasagna-sized pans, so I used 4 pans)
4. Puree remaining ingredients in a blender and pour mixture equally over wings.
5. Bake wings in upper and lower thirds of oven for 50 minutes.
6. Turn wings over and switch position of pans in the oven, then bake another 45 minutes to 1 hour more, or until liquid is thick and sticky.
   
   Watch carefully so the wings do not burn. I actually checked every 20-30 minutes and turned and rearranged, for fear of burning. I did well with that, however, I was a bit of a klutz and accidentally spilled some of the liquid when trying to put the pan back in the oven... it sizzled and smoked for a while, which didn't help the sanity of the kitchen... lol