Super Bowl Sunday is a perfect time to offer a collection of tasty chicken wing recipes. They’re a fine snack to dig into while sipping a cold one and nervously wondering if your team is going to come out on top.

Because the game is in New Orleans, and the teams playing are from San Francisco and Baltimore, I decided to offer recipes that reflect the host city and the colour of the uniforms of the teams playing.

Louisiana is Cajun country and, because of that, I cooked up a batch of wings deliciously coated in homemade Cajun spice, which in my case involved blending a seven-ingredient mix of herbs, spices and vegetable powders. Lime juice and hot pepper sauce add a tart flavour and another hit of spiciness to the wings. For added richness, you can serve the wings with blue cheese dip, which is easy to make and always pairs well with juicy wings.

My second wing recipe symbolizes the red and gold colours of the San Francisco 49ers. I flavoured the wings with curry powder, which gave them a golden-hue when cooked. The simple but addictive chili-flavoured dipping sauce adds a red colour to this dish. The red/gold combination and fine flavour of these succulent wings will give 49ers fans something to cheer about, no matter the score.

My last wing recipe represents the dark purple and black of the Baltimore Ravens. I achieved that by flavouring the wings with a sweet, sour and salty combination of balsamic vinegar, teriyaki sauce, black pepper and dark brown sugar. Baltimore’s jerseys also have yellow trim. To represent that colour, I made a honey mustard dip to complement the wings.

All of today’s recipes involve marinating the wings four hours or overnight, so factor that in when preparing them.

All the recipes also use chicken wingettes and chicken drumettes.

If you’ve forgotten, in many supermarkets, chicken wings are split and sold as wingettes, the middle portion of the wing near the tip, and drumettes, the meaty section attached to the breast. If your store does not sell them this way, you’ll have to do the splitting yourself.

If you’re having a party, why not make all the wing recipes? Cook them up one recipe at a time, and, for about 90 minutes, you’ll have a different-tasting batch of wings to snack on every 30 minutes or so.

Eric Akis is the author of the just-published, hardcover book Everyone Can Cook Everything. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.

Ragin’ Cajun Wings

These are juicy Cajun-style wings that you could make even spicier, after cooking, by sprinkling with additional hot pepper sauce.

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus marinating time

Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes

Makes: 24 wings

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot, or to taste

12 chicken wingettes

12 chicken drumettes

• salt to taste

• lime slices or wedges for garnish

• hot pepper sauce for sprinkling

Combine the first seven ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the wings. Mix in the oil and hot pepper sauce. Add the wings, toss to coat, cover and marinate four hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange wings on the baking sheet. Sprinkle wings with salt. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, turning once, or until cooked through. Arrange the wings on a platter, garnish with lime slices or wedges, and serve.

Serve wings with additional hot sauce for those who need a little more heat.

Eric’s options: To make these wings even richer, serve them with blue cheese dip. To make it, in a bowl combine 1Ú2 cup sour cream, 1Ú2 cup mayonnaise, 100 grams crumbled blue cheese, one minced garlic clove, 1Ú4 cup thinly sliced green onions, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and splashes of hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

Forty-Niners Wings

In this tasty curry- and chili-flavoured snack, the golden-hued wings and a red dipping sauce represent San Francisco 49ers team colours.

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus marinating time

Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes

Makes: 24 wings

For the chili lime dipping sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp Sriracha or other smooth, hot Asian-style chili sauce, or to taste (see Note)

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 tsp honey

Make sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Sauce can be made several hours in advance.

For the wings

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 Tbsp lime juice

4 tsp mild or medium curry powder

12 chicken wingettes

12 chicken drumettes

• salt to taste

• lime slices or wedges for garnish

Combine the oil, juice and curry powder in a bowl large enough to hold the wings. Add the wings, toss to coat, cover and marinate four hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange wings on the baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle wings with salt. Bake wings 25 to 30 minutes, turning once, or until cooked through. Arrange the wings on a platter, garnish with lime slices or wedges, and serve with the dipping sauce.

Note: Sriracha sauce is a wonderfully flavoured, spicy Asian-style sauce sold at many supermarkets and Asian food stores. It is sometimes referred to as “rooster sauce” because of the image of a rooster on the bottle.

Ravens Wings

Named after the Baltimore football team, these sweet, salty and sour tasting chicken wings have a rich and dark colour just like the team’s jersey. The honey-mustard dipping sauce adds more flavour, and its yellowish colour resembles another colour on the team’s jerseys.

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus marinating time

Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes

Makes: 24 wings

For the honey mustard dip

2/3 cup mayonnaise

3 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 Tbsp liquid honey

Make sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Sauce can be made several hours in advance.

For the wings

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 Tbsp teriyaki sauce (I used Kikkoman brand)

1 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper (see note)

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

12 chicken wingettes

12 chicken drumettes

• salt to taste

• lime slices or wedges for garnish

Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the wings. Add the wings, toss to coat, cover and marinate four hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange wings on the baking sheet. Spoon any marinade in the bowl over the wings. Sprinkle with salt. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, turning once, or until cooked through. Arrange the wings on a platter, garnish with lime slices or wedges, and serve with the dipping sauce.

Note: Unless you have a grinder that can coarsely crack black peppercorns, another way to do it is to place whole pack peppercorns on a work surface, then take a heavy skillet and roll it over the peppercorns, coarsely cracking them into small but discernable pieces.

© Copyright 2013