Finger Lickin' Good

Yesterday was my first day back to work since Thanksgiving. The family I nanny for goes to visit familiy during the holidays every year so I had some time off. I was dreading going back to work but the boys have been great so far. Although we are only on day 2 :-) Yesterday, the older kiddo was napping and when I went to wake him he was wearing his birthday shirt and the first thing he said to me after 5 weeks of not seeing me was about his birthday cake! His mom said he talked about it to anyone and everyone that would listen. Today the first thing he said to me after waking him up was "You have cookies?" and I did! I was a hero for the day :-)

In fact after he woke up we went to the kitchen and opened up the box of Christmas cookies I had been saving for him. He went straight for the colorful ornament cookie covered in icing and the bacon and eggs. It took him almost an hour to eat in between putting puzzles together. Then it donned on me at almost 4 o' clock that I forgot to feed him lunch! He didn't seem to mind though that he got sweets instead of real food. Again- hero (or lousy nanny) for the day!

Speaking of hero, I had to pat myself on the back when I made this meal. It was so good! I wouldn't lie to you. Not everything I make it worthy of a pat on the back but Mr. H and I kept mmm-ing through our bites and finger licking. I made this and with my first bite all I kept asking myself was "Did I really make this?" followed by "I really made this!" Make this, you'll be a hero too. For those of you who appreciate my tasting notes, this chicken was wonderful. It was like a satisfying take out meal. The sauce was garlicky, and sweet, but tangy and only the slightest bit hot. The chicken was moist and sticky and a great compliment to white rice and mixed veggies. It was complex in flavor but oh so simple to make. Let the sauce puddle in the bottom of a bowl and stir it into the rice. oooh!

Garlic-Chile Chicken Legs from Everyday Food

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 chicken legs (2 1/2 pounds total), drumsticks and thighs separated
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup sugar

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a plate.

Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from pan. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in vinegar, soy sauce, red-pepper flakes, and sugar. Return chicken to pan, skin side up. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low; cook 15 minutes (liquid should be gently simmering; adjust heat if necessary). Uncover, raise heat to medium, and cook until sauce is reduced by half, 10 minutes.

Serves 4

NOTE: I cut the recipe in half and used only chicken legs instead of whicken quarters. Leftovers were not that great the next day so only make what you plan on eating that night.