When acclaimed author Diana Henry wrote A Bird in the Hand she meant chicken, the whole chicken, and nothing but chicken. It’s a single topic book: chicken. It’s the best chicken book I have ever seen. This was the first recipe Suzi and I prepared: Bourdon and Marmalade-Glazed Drumsticks. She is the bourbon person. I have the sweet tooth. And, to be truthful, we did not have drumsticks but we had thighs. With that greater amount of meat, you might consider doubling the sauce component. The result will be extra gooey, extra hot, and extra sweet.
And, like all the recipes in the book, extra good. Diana has organized her recipes around how much time you have for cooking. In this recipe, she love for you to marinate for hours, if not overnight. So, this could be a dish you prepare on Saturday afternoon for a Sunday brunch or dinner. A meal of distinction, using chicken that definitely does not simply “taste like chicken.” This a is dish with flavor whallop.
Bourbon and Marmalade-Glazed Drumsticks
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
- 8 drumsticks
- ½ cup orange marmalade, divided
- 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard,
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 red chiles, halved, seeded, and minced
- 2 oranges (preferably thin-skinned), halved and cut into ¼-inch thick wedges
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Make small slits in the drumsticks with a sharp knife. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the marmalade and 1 teaspoon of the mustard. Set aside. In another bowl, mix the remaining marmalade—squash it down with the back of spoon to break it up—with the remaining mustard, the bourbon, garlic, and chiles. Put the chicken into this and roll it around so it gets well coated.
Cover and put in the fridge for a few hours (or leave it all day, or overnight if you prefer). Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 410°F. Put the drumsticks—with all the marinade h and any juices—into a roasting pan or gratin dish where they can lie in a single layer. Add the orange wedges. Turn the chicken and oranges over so that the oranges get coated in the marinade, too. Season everything with salt and pepper.
Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the drumsticks are cooked through, glossy, and almost caramelized. In the last 10 minutes of the cooking time, brush the top of the drumsticks with the reserved marmalade and mustard.
Transfer the oranges and drumsticks to a serving platter and spoon some of the juices evenly over the top. You can’t eat the orange skin, but the flesh is nice: sweet and tart.
Source: A Bird in the Hand by Diana Henry [Mitchell Beazley, 2015]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/4 for1/35th second at ISO‑3200