Buffalo Chicken Wraps

So I was talking to someone the other day, and they asked me why they're called 'Buffalo chicken wings', or why it's called 'Buffalo' seasoning. I totally made up my answer and said it was because that's how fresh buffalo tastes. Yes, because buffalo tastes like a chicken wing ^_^.  On a foodblog quest of epic procrastination today during lunch, I discovered that Buffalo flavouring comes from Buffalo Chicken Wings which were from Buffalo, New York, according to Wikipedia.

I have a secret weakness for Buffalo chicken tender wraps. It's one of my favourite foods in the world.  Almost every recipe I've looked at online calls for either Frank's Red Hot sauce, or 'buffalo sauce'.  And I have a bit of a peeve for recipes that call for specific sauces, because, you know, brands are not universal.  Turns out, Franks Red Hot is actually a cayenne based hot pepper sauce, so if you can't find that particular brand (and it is a good brand, widely available across North America), you can look for a substitute. That's what I did.

OR... a suitable cayenne pepper sauce substitute, I found Byron Bay Chilli Co. Cayenne Chilli Sauce with Lime. It's delicious!

Buffalo Chicken Wraps
modified from: August/September 2005 Eating Well: Buffalo Chicken Wraps
10 chicken tenders
3 T white vinegar
2 T cayenne pepper sauce (e.g. Franks Red Hot)
1/4 t cayenne powder
2-3 T light mayonnaise
2-3 T greek yogurt
1/4 - 1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1 green onion
1 tomato
1/2 red pepper
handful lettuce
wraps
salt and pepper
oil, for cooking

1. In a small bowl, crumble blue cheese, stir in greek yogurt, mayonnaise, 1 T of the white vinegar and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Mix well and set aside for 30+ minutes on counter to combine flavours.
2. In another bowl, combine the remaining 2 T white vinegar with hot sauce and cayenne pepper, feel free to add spiciness to suit your tastes.
3. Wash, dry and coarsely chop lettuce, tomato, green onion and red pepper.
4. Heat a swirl of oil to medium-high in a large frying pan, lightly dust tenders with salt and pepper, then fry until golden on the outside: 3-5 minutes per side. If you're unsure, cut open a larger piece and check that there is no pink in the middle. Food poisoning ruins everything.
5. When chicken is cooked through, remove from heat and drain oil (pat dry with paper towels).
6. Shred chicken with a knife or with two forks, and dump into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Pour over cayenne sauce mixture and mix well to coat all chicken.
7. Layer wraps (we used sourdough wraps, yum!) with blue cheese sauce, chicken, green onions, tomato, pepper and lettuce.  Add more hot sauce if desired. Fold and enjoy :D

For tips on folding wraps, check out this simple illustrated guide: http://billgrady.com/wp/2002/11/14/how-to-wrap-a-burrito/

And if you haven't tried Frank's Red Hot... you should. It's one of the top two hot sauces ever made (the other, of course, being Sriracha, and no I don't know which one is better).