Paleo Buffalo Wings with Ranch Dressing

I just had a craving for wings, and in keeping with our attempt at a paleo diet, I fried these in natural lard (yes, LARD, and guess what? It's not that bad for you!!) and used Frank's Buffalo wing sauce. In addition, get this, I made my own mayo, which I used to make a ranch dressing.

Paleo Mayonnaise - so easy to make!!

- 2 eggs at room temperature

- 1 cup paleo-friendly oil (I used avocado oil, but next time I'll probably try coconut oil)

- 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

- 2.5 tsp apple cider vinegar

Place all ingredients into tall plastic glass, allowing the oil to flow to the top.

Using an immersion (stick) blender, start blending the ingredients from the bottom up. When you start seeing the mayo form at the bottom of the cup, start pulling the blender up turning the whole mix intoayo. It's that simple!!

Paleo Ranch Dressing

- 1/2 cup paleo mayo

- 1/2 cup coconut milk

- 1/2 tsp onion powder

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1 tsp dill

Whisk all ingredients together and refrigerate for a half hour before using.

Buffalo Wings

Before I start this recipe, I want to say a little bit about natural lard. Lard in general has gotten a really bad reputation. But the more studies that are done, the more people are realizing that if you use the real stuff, it's not that bad for you. When I say "real stuff", I mean rendered pork fat from an ethnic grocery store - from behind the counter. The main problem with lard that you get in a regular grocery store is that it's hydrogenated. Processing lard in this fashion makes it bad for you, because it produces trans fats. Natural lard (non-hydrogenated) has less saturated fat (the bad kind) and more unsaturated fat (the good kind) and less cholesterol than an equal amount of butter by weight.

Also, from a merely epicurean standpoint, cooking with LARD is awesome. There's a crispiness you get with lard that you just can't get with any other type of oil I've ever cooked with, including peanut oil. (Plus, unless I want to kill Jonathan, I can't use peanut oil anymore. Lame.)

The problem is finding natural lard. It's actually not as hard as you'd think. If you find yourself Hispanic grocery store, or a place that sells FRESH pork rinds, likelihood is they have fresh lard. (Lard is just the rendered fat from the pork rinds.) The Hispanic grocery stores call it "Manteca", and it's really cheap. I get mine at the Buford Hwy Farmer's Market in Atlanta for less than $3 a quart.

- 14-15 whole wings (connected, meaning flats and drums together)

- 2 qts NATURAL lard

- 1 large jar Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1) Heat the lard up in a Dutch oven to 350 degrees.

2) Place half the wings in and fry for about 10 minutes. Remove and fry second batch.

3) Dip the wings in the wing sauce, and then fry AGAIN for another 6-7 minutes, or until crispy.

4) Remove the wings and douse them again in the wing sauce before serving.