Turkey day is almost upon us. The holidays are a time to feel gratitude for our friends and family. One person I am thankful for is my uncle. He is an amazing cook and loving father. I really don’t know where I would be without his love, support, and guidance. He taught me to ride a bike, rollerblade, and to work my butt off to achieve my goals. He used to test me on my multiplication tables and catch me at slacking and over-promising which ones I would have memorized. As I kid, I thought I could get away with anything as long as I put a cute smile on my face. My uncle did not fall for this trick, which taught me that I needed to just buckle down and put in the elbow grease to accomplish things. These lessons were so influential in molding who I am as a person.
My uncle was not only influential in helping me build my work ethic, but also my cooking. To be honest, I have never been a big fan of turkey. My family instead prefers chicken, pork, or beef. Instead of having turkey for Thanksgiving, my uncle would often make these chicken drumsticks in bulk for the family. I can still smell the rich, garlicky, scent of the chicken as he took it out of the oven. It was still sizzling in its own fat and juices by the time it reached the table. These are the crispiest, yummiest, caramelized broiled chicken pieces of magical goodness you will have. And they are super easy and quick to make. They are no fuss and foolproof if you follow the cooking directions. The trick is in letting your chicken marinade in garlic salt overnight. It is also important to drain your chicken of juices 3-4 times during the cooking process. Seems sacrilegious, but trust me on this. It will be the most amazing crispy chicken ever. And you don’t even have to fry it!
Cooking tips:
Always pat your meat dry before broiling or searing to create a beautiful golden brown color. I do this with tofu, chicken, steaks, salmon, and scallops before pan-frying. Basically, water is the enemy of crispiness and browning. In this chicken drumstick recipe, the same is true. Pat your chicken dry before broiling.
For this chicken recipe, you’ll want to rub your chicken skin with oil before broiling to help the skin to become crispy.
Allow your chicken to marinade overnight for best results. If not, then marinade for at least 4 hours.
Every oven has its hotspots and cooler spots. To get perfectly evenly cooked chicken, you’re going to have to rotate your chicken from the hotspot to the cool spot and vice versa.
Retain chicken juices to make a pan sauce if desired. You can easily do this by adding some garlic, shallot, butter, and sautéing them until softened. Then add white wine and chicken pan juices and you’ve got a delicious pan sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. You can even add a splash of lemon juice for some extra brightness!
Serves 2-3
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes
5 chicken drumsticks
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tbsp olive oil
pepper, to taste
Season chicken with garlic salt and rub into meat. Allow to sit in refrigerator overnight.
Take chicken out of marinade and pat dry with paper towels until completely dry.
Pre-heat oven to broil setting.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place olive oil onto baking sheet and rub drumsticks in oil until every surface is covered in oil. Leave skin side up on drumsticks.
Place drumsticks into the oven ~6 inches below the broiler. Any closer and your chicken skin will burn before the inside is cooked.
5-10 minutes into cooking, drain juices and flip chicken. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is somewhat browned, then flip and drain juices again. Rotate chicken as needed depending on hotspots and coolspots in oven. Repeat this process of draining and rotating chicken every 5 minutes until chicken is completely cooked through and skin is crispy.
Remove from oven to cool and sprinkle with black pepper.
Enjoy!
As a child of the 1990s McDonald’s was a major pillar in the structure of my life. Because my family was very frugal with their money, my sisters and I often dreamed of dolls and toys from television commercials knowing that they were never coming home with us. Now that I am an adult I realize what a huge waste of money these overpriced toys are. But as a young child, these seemed to be the end-all be-all of life itself. You felt like you had to have a Barbie doll, Furby, and Tomagachi to fit in with the other kids. Anyway, this was why I looked forward to Happy Meals as a kid. It often came with a toy that otherwise would never have reached my eager hands. As I grew older, I began to appreciate food for its own merits as opposed to its role as a bridge to coveted toys. I realized that the Big Mac tasted so much better than the cheeseburgers in Happy Meals. Back in those days, supersize was the way to go. Of course, at the time we did not realize that this would contribute to an already growing obesity epidemic. I remember the joy and reckless abandon with which I approached each Big Mac combo.
On hot summer days, all I want is something cold. I want cold breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with plenty of cold beverages throughout the day. Salads definitely fit the bill and hit the spot. But I easily get tired of eating the same lettuce based salads with vinaigrette dressing. Bleh. Especially since I have been trying to eat more healthfully lately, I feel as if I’ve fallen into a rut with my meals. Which is why I am so excited to post this recipe for a Thai green papaya salad. It is a different kind of salad because it tastes rich at the same time that it is light and healthy. I love Thai food because of its complexity in flavor combinations and textures. Most Thai dishes have a delicate balance of savory, sweet, and spicy. This mixture tantalizes your taste buds and keeps you coming back for more after every bite.