Sweet and Sticky Chicken

I try to post pictures with every recipe that I post; however, this Sweet and Sticky Chicken was too darn good that we devoured all of it before I had the time to post pictures. The marinade is SOOOOOOO much better than store bought marinades, hands down. It's sweet, salty, tangy, and the mmmm mmmm good. We grilled our chicken instead of baking because the weather has been amazing the last couple of days. If you're looking for a new marinade recipe for chicken, this is definitely it! 

Sweet and Sticky Chicken

(Source: www.thenovicechefblog.com)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

6 chicken drumsticks, about 1.25 pounds

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted

a few pinches chopped fresh parsley

In a medium bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and cracked black pepper. Pour into a large ziplock bag and add chicken drumsticks. Shake to coat chicken and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight, giving the bag a shake whenever you think about it. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a Cooling Rack on top. Remove the chicken from the bag, reserving the marinade, and place the drumsticks on the rack. Bake the drumsticks, on the middle oven rack, for 25 minutes. While the chicken is baking, place the leftover marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil, then reduce the heat to a slow simmer. Cook over low heat, stirring as needed, for about 15 minutes or until thickened. Remove drumsticks from oven (after first 25 minutes of cooking) and heavily coat with the thickened marinade, using a silicone pastry brush. Return to the oven and cook for 10 more minutes. Coat the drumsticks again and return to oven to cook for 5 more minutes, or until an internal temperate of 160°F is reached. Coat the drumsticks one last time, with any remaining sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and parsley. Serve immediately.

Blueberry Buckle

It has been a while since I last posted a recipe! I've been so busy after coming back from our vacation that I haven't cooked or baked much. If I do cook something, I'm too busy devouring my meal that I never remember to take pictures. That said, I baked a wonderful Blueberry Buckle last week and I'm super excited to share the recipe with everyone. This cake is perfect for Spring since it's packed with Blueberries and since it uses cake flour, it's a very light cake too. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did!

Blueberry Buckle

(Source: Alton Brown)

For the cake:

Nonstick cooking spray

9 ounces cake flour, approximately 2 cups

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

5 1/4 ounces sugar, approximately 3/4 cup

1 large egg

1/2 cup whole milk

15 ounces fresh whole blueberries, approximately 3 cups

For the topping:

3 1/2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/2 cup

1 1/2 ounces cake flour, approximately 1/3 cup

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until well incorporated, approximately 30 seconds. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated and then add 1/3 of the milk and beat until incorporated. Repeat, alternating flour and milk until everything has combined. Gently stir in the blueberries and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

For the topping:

In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add the butter and work into the dry ingredients using a fork to combine. Continue until the mixture has a crumb-like texture. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes or until golden in color. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.