By Mike Thayer

I love hot wings!  There's just something about the flavor of Buffalo sauce, it's a great marriage with chicken and coupled with a bit of Ranch or Blue Cheese, makes for a perfect bite.  It's another dose of YUM!

My thing is, I hate bones.  I'm not a eat meat on the bone guy, I know, that almost sounds sacrilegious.  No worries though, I understand and appreciate the value of flavor and the need to cook meat on the bone, but when it comes to eating, I'd rather go boneless.

So rather than give you a recipe for grilled hot wings, which would be great, don't get me wrong, here's my preference for getting some great hot wing flavor without the bones or near the mess.

Mike's Grilled Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Here's the marinade for two large boneless/skinless chicken breasts or four boneless/skinless chicken thighs:

Ingredients:

• Your chicken preference (I like thighs better for this, to me they have better flavor)
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon dried, minced onion
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon of seasoning salt or your favorite rub
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• At LEAST a 1/4 cup of Louisiana Hot Sauce (by all means, flavor to your liking!)
• The juice from one lime
• A splash of rice wine vinegar (the rice wine variety is 'softer' than regular vinegar)
• A splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter (for later)

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients.  Place your chicken breasts or thighs in a large Ziplock bag, then pour in about 3/4 of the marinade (set aside the remaining marinade for later).  Refrigerate for at least four hours.  Option:  You can rough chop the chicken, I prefer to marinade it in whole pieces, then shred after grilling.  Besides, if you cube or rough chop, then you'll have to put the pieces on sticks or in a basket.  When your grill is ready to receive, grill over indirect heat, about 10 - 12 minutes on each side, then move to direct heat over the coals to finish cooking, getting some char on the chicken.  This method is called 'Reverse Sear'.  After you take the chicken off the grill to let it rest, warm up the marinade  in a small pan along with that 1/2 stick of butter and a couple more squeezes of lime juice if you've got it.  A few more splashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce may also be in order (go for it!).  Shred or rough chop the chicken and reintroduce to the warmed marinade.   Stir a bit to get good coverage and serve on warm tortillas with a little shredded lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese and blue cheese or Ranch dressing.  It's another dose of YUM!