Wednesday, January 6, 2010

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.

34 comments:

Jeanette said...

Don't know how I missed the bacon and egg treats, too cute. This chicken looks great also. The cake was awesome. I would still be talking about it also.

♥peachkins♥ said...

This is a must-try. Thanks for the recipe.bookmarked it..

Sue said...

This looks wonderful. Garlic isn't my friend...so, I don't know that I can do this one. Sad.

Sue

Julie Harward said...

This looks so good and that Birthday cake was the cutest! :D

Diana's Cocina said...

Looks delish!

Monica H said...

Sue, Leave out the garlic. It will still be tasty!

Rainy Day Farm said...

I was having such a hard time concentrating on the story with those yummy pictures distracting me! That looks so good!

Memória said...

Oh, man!! These look fantastic!!! OMG!

Marie Rayner said...

Oh this looks delicious! I could lick the screen! Putting this in my to make file!!

tamilyn said...

The color on those chicken legs looks sticky and good! Also reminds me of summer, as I sit here and freeze in the below zero weather :(



Oh, PS-the pie crust recipe makes 4 crusts.

Coleens Recipes said...

Loved your story of going back to work...how cute. I make chicken similar to this (except I have to leave out the garlic for Hubby). It IS good!!!

Heather S-G said...

Yum, definitely looks finger lickin' good!! And the rice is so pretty along side :)

cookies and cups said...

This does look really good. BBQ chicken is one of my most favorite all time meals and this looks like a great winter-sub when it is way too cold in NJ to stand out and grill!
I'm bookmarking this one!

Misc Momma said...

This looks right up my family's alley. Must try.

Smitten Sugar said...

Yumm!! These do look finger lickin good!

Thats so sweet that the little boy had to tell everyone about the cake you made, and even sweeter he loved your cookies so much he didnt need any lunch!

Foodiewife said...

Girl, you are genius! LOVE this recipe. Love the photos at 8:00am.
Dontchya love it when you invent something and all you hear is "mmmmmmmmm". C'mon-- garlic... it's makes everything taste awesome!

Brandy L said...

that is making my mouth water, it looks so good!
I'll have to try making that once we purge the current food in our kitchen. :D

Lissaloo said...

Those lucky boys, of course you had a cookie for him. :)

Miranda said...

I was close to licking my computer screen. I love me some chcicken. LOL

Miranda said...

Geez I can spell. Chicken.

Mini Baker said...

wowwwww!!! This looks so delicious! my mouth is watering!
-Mini Baker

nanny said...

I love a good chicken recipe and this one sounds so tasty!!!!!!

Mara Campbell said...

Yum!!! I love a good chicken recipe and this one looks great!!

Donna-FFW said...

Oh they indeed look finger licking good, what great flavor!! How in the world does your rice look so freaking perfect.. holy cow.

Julie said...

Looks like the perfect meal to me! Unless of course I'm having cookies for lunch ;)

Debbie said...

The chicken look delicious Monica!

oneordinaryday said...

Those are lucky boys you nanny for. I'm not surprised he talks about that masterpiece of a birthday cake you made him!!

This chicken meal looks awesome. My hubby would be in heaven.

(Oh, and just between us.... I've forgotten to feed the kids before too. It's kind of startling when something like that happens! LOL)

Zurin said...

That looks beyond finger licking! OMG m making this! thnx 4 the recipe :)

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

Gosh, Monica, you should enter this recipe in a contest! I can't wait to make this, since I'm always, always looking for more ways to prepare chicken....you're my hero, girl! Roz

unconfidentialcook said...

So easy and so good! What a perfect recipe!

Kerstin said...

Chicken legs are my favorite and these look so tasty! Love the new look of your blog too :)

Ingrid_3Bs said...

The sauce sounds outstanding! I'm thinking it would be mighty tasty on just about anything. :)
~ingrid

Laura said...

Everyday Food should hire you take their pictures. I passed right by this in the magazine, but couldn't wait to make it when I saw your pictures!

Misc Momma said...

I made this recipe last night. It was delicious. Don't know if "low" on my stove is considerably different though because I had to turn it back up to medium-high (after the 25 minutes at a simmer) in order to get the sauce to reduce. But it was a huge hit with everyone!

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