“From the SCCC Kitchen” offers Daily Gazette readers tastes from Schenectady County Community College's nationally accredited American Culinary Federation culinary arts program. Recipes selected by SCCC instructors can easily be prepared at home. Today, as part of a summerlong batch of recipes offered by technical specialist (and certified executive chef) Christopher Tanner, chicken and beer go on an eight-hour bender together before hitting the rack — over a nice bed of flames. Guinness Marinated Barbecued Chicken Wings offer a big and bouncy taste for lunch or dinner. Tanner offers more cooking tips at his blog, “Gastronomic Inspirations” at cheftanner.com.

People should never soak up Guinness, the strong English beer, for eight hours straight.

But chicken is encouraged to spend as much time in the potent dark suds as possible, when Christopher Tanner is pouring and grilling. The chef’s recipe for Guinness Marinated Barbecued Chicken Wings also invites vegetable oil, lemon juice salt and black pepper to an all-nighter in the refrigerator.

“Guinness is my favorite beer,” Tanner said. “It has a really strong flavor, which marries well in a barbecue sauce.”

Strength is a key component in marinades.

“You see recipes for Australian barbecue sauces. They use the Foster’s,” Tanner said, mentioning the brew famous down under. “But you don’t taste the Foster’s at all. Guinness, you taste it. And when you taste it, it’s got a good flavor.”

He marinates chicken wings in the beer, oil, juice and seasonings mix for eight hours, even overnight.

“Chicken has a lot of fat to it on the outside skin,” Tanner said. “In order for the marinade to get in there, it's got to sit in there for a while. If you put it in there for 30 minutes, none of that flavor is going to be there. You might as well marinate it in water.”

The beer-fortified wings sober up above the heat. And then they get plastered again — during the final cooking stages, Tanner brushes on a homemade barbecue sauce that adds some tangy taste.

“Guinness has a little bit of bitterness,” Tanner said. “And barbecue sauces are usually sweet. I like to balance flavors.”

Tanner prefers full chicken wing sections; they just set up nicer on the grill, and diners don't have to wonder if they're going to get wingette or drumette sections.

“Everybody's satisfied,” the chef said. “They get both parts at once.”

GUINNESS MARINATED BARBECUED CHICKEN WINGS

3 pounds chicken wings

For marinade:

1⁄2 cup Guinness beer

1⁄8 cup vegetable oil

1⁄8 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

For barbecue sauce:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 onion, diced small

1 glove garlic, minced

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper, ground

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl, add chicken wings and marinate for eight hours or overnight.

While the chicken marinates, prepare the barbecue sauce. In a medium pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, sauté onion and garlic until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, remove from heat and reserve until needed.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Remove the chicken wings from marinade and pat dry. Grill on each side for approximately eight minutes or until the wings are fully cooked. Brush the wings with the sauce during the last 5 minutes on each side. Place wings on a platter and brush once more with sauce and serve with the remaining sauce.

Serves 4 to 6.