Game -over Chicken

Okay, okay, it's been a while since I added anything to this blog.  Instagram and the lure of the 2 sentence description with a photo appealed to the lazier more dominant side o my nature.  I'm all better now. Last night I ended the chicken game and stumbled onto what was easily the best chicken I've ever had, bar none.

The the upside of all upsides, it was ridiculously easy to make.  That makes my top two chicken dishes  (this and my standard Devil Chicken) the easiest thing I make, perhaps only a shade more complex than something like Guacamole.

The marinade is the thing:

Savory and sweet with my go-to sherry soak along with a long enough bake time to really break down the chicken made it flat out as tender as pulled chicken, just falling off the bone tender.

Ingredients:

8 chicken drumsticks  (but you can substitute bone-in thighs)

black pepper

Garlic powder

Smoky Paprika

The Marinade

1/4 cup very dry sherry

2 tbls olive oil

3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce

1 tbls dry rub (see below)

dusting of garlic powder

2 tsp dried dill

2 tsp cracked fennel seeds

1 dash cayenne

Jalapeno jelly  (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9413/jalapeno-pepper-jelly/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%204)

Dry rub:

4 teaspoons ancho chile powder 

4 teaspoons chipotle chile powder 

2 teaspoons ground coriander 

2 teaspoons kosher salt 

2 teaspoons ground black pepper 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1 teaspoon fennel seed 

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic 

1 teaspoon dried dill 

1 teaspoon dry mustard

The how to's:

Rub the chicken with  black pepper, paprika, garlic powder

Set aside or refrigerate while preparing the marinade

In a a bowl add all the marinade ingredients  Make up  the  dry rub in advance and have at the ready, this rub is also great on lamb or pork

Whisk thoroughly till it's a fragrant dark mix of sweet and savory

Place the chicken on a baking dish or just some aluminum foil (sprayed with canola oil)

brush on the prepared marinade.

brush on the Jalapeno jelly

Let the chicken marinade  open air yet lightly covered if it's not a hot day, or in the fridge for 1-2 hours if it is.  Patience is a virtue here. The length of time you exercise the aforementioned patience the greater the reward in tenderness, so go watch a movie or binge-watch cooking shows on Netfilx

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Bake the chicken for an hour

Serve  -  and make twice what you think you'll need.  Worst case, you have the best breakfast/lunch tomorrow that you can imagine

Suggested side: 

Risotto

wild rice

Mashed or roasted potatoes

Enjoy.........