Longhorn Tequila Wings

Directions

1. Place the half a cup of reposada tequila in a small sauce pan and place it over high heat to burn off the alcohol. Turn off the heat after about a minute. Pour it into a bowl and add the lime zest, wait until you smell the lime and then add the cold water. Then add 1/2 cup of salt and a 1/4 cup of sugar. Whisk until the salt is dissolved. Add the wings and place in the fridge for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
2. Remove the wings from the brine and place them on a rack that is placed onto a sheet tray and put them back into the fridge. They need to dry for two hours and they can be held up to twenty four hours at this point.
3. In a large mixing bowl, and I mean large because the hot wings are going right into this bowl to be tossed in the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk. This too can be done up two twenty four hours ahead of time.
4. Place the dredging mix into a large plastic bag. Add the wings and shake to coat. Heat the oven to 250 degrees.
5. Place a deep large Dutch oven over medium high heat and add peanut oil so it doesn't fill the pot more than a third. Heat to 375 degrees.
6. You will probably need to do this in batches so have a tray with a rack ready.
7. First fry the white corn tortilla strips until they stop bubbling. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and season them with salt and set them aside.
8. When the oil comes back to temp add as many wings as you can with out crowding them and cook them until they have browned.
9. Remove them from the oil and place them onto the rack and then put them into the oven. If for some reason they are browning before they are done let them finish cooking in the oven. As a matter of fact they can be held in the oven for up to 15 minutes after then are done and they will remain juicy while you finish other dishes.
10. Continue frying and placing the wings into the oven until you are finished.
11. Once you have completed frying remove the wings from the oven and place all the wings into the dressing bowl. Toss to coat and then dump the hot wings onto a platter. Garnish with the tortilla strips and more cilantro. Serve.