Delicious Party Chicken Drumsticks

I'm currently back home in the UK for my Father in law's 60th birthday and my wife and I were asked to help out with some of the catering for the buffet.

Having been the victim of awful, dry and tasteless chicken in the past at buffets I quickly decided I wanted to make some drumsticks with a difference. They would be served cold but I wanted them to be not only succulent and moist but also have a unique flavour.

The secret here is not just the marinade but also several bastes with the juices during the cooking as well as turning the drumsticks.

Equipment:

• ZipLoc bags or a large, lidded bowl - to marinade the chicken.
• A roasting tray - or several depending on the amount you're cooking.
• A cooling rack.
• Some tin foil (alu foil).
• Glass jug.
• Basting pump thing - I don't bother with one of these I tend to pour the juices from the tray into the jug and then pour it back over maybe giving it a brush too.

Ingredients:

For the marinade - for 80 drumsticks

• 2 litres apple juice
• 1 bottle maple syrup
• 3 sticks cinnamon roughly broken
• 2-3 tablespoons muscavado sugar dissolved in hot water
  
• 10-20 cloves of garlic - up to you how garlicky - peeled or unpeeled and crushed
• Olive oil - a good splash - maybe 4 to5 tablespoons
• Soy sauce - 4 to 5 tablespoons
• Malt vinegar - 1 to 2 tablespoons

80 Chicken drumsticks

Method:

1) Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.

2) Add the chicken to the marinade either in the bowl or spread the chicken out into several ZipLoc bags and pour the marinade into the bags - enough to cover the meat.
3) Leave for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
4) Pre-heat the oven to 200C (gas mark 6).
5) Place the chicken into the baking tray/s and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

6) Remove from oven and turn the chicken over, pour the juices into the jug (or use a basting pump thing) and pour them back over the meat.
7) Return to the oven for another 20 minutes.
8) Remove from the oven again and pierce the thickest part of the largest drumstick with a sharp knife, if the juices are clear the chicken is done.
9) Remove the chicken from the baking tray/s and place on the cooling rack.

The marinade should have stuck to the chicken giving it a golden glaze and the meat itself should be succulent, tender and as was the case at our party create a great deal of positive comments from your guests.

Enjoy.

ps The marinade also works great with pork steaks, ribs etc

Home Made Barbeque Sauce Marinade

Now is definitely the season for getting the old BBQ out of the shed, brushing off the cobwebs and getting some serious sizzling done.

I don't know about you but one thing I always miss when I go to a lot of other barbeques is the lack of any form of marinading of the various meats. More often than not by the time the grilling is done you can't really tell the difference between a banger (sausage), a burger or a drumstick... In fact I've been to some barbeques were the charcoal looked more appetising :O)

The bbq marinade recipe I'm about to share with you has evolved a lot over the years and it works very well with all types of meats for the grill. It not only adds a distinctive flavouring to the meat it also helps to keep the natural flavours in too and, as the sauce drips onto the hot coals below, creates a delicious smelling smoke that will have your neighbours turning up fork in hand!

Vegetarians take note, it also works brilliantly on veggie sausages and burgers not to mention corn on the cob, courgette and aubergine (egg plant) slices. It's quite an all rounder!

TIP.
I find it is easiest to make the sauce in a jug and then pour it into an old squeezy ketchup or any sause bottle - wider neck bottles are best.

Ok...

Ingredients. (excuse the lack of measurements, just chuck it in! you'll want to alter things to your own special recipe anyway - please post it here as a comment if you do!)

As a rough guide start with 2/3 tomato sauce and 1/3 brown sauce then just add the other stuff to taste (note the honey and brown sugar is important for glazing as well as flavour)

• Tomato Ketchup - I'm not a brandname snob but for me it's got to be Heinz every time!
• Brown Sauce - again not a brand snob but it has to be HP!
• Honey - the pourable type
• Brown Sugar - about 1 1/2tbsp per pint of sauce
  
• Olive Oil - a good glug plus a bit
  
• Mustard - eg a mild Dijon or the yellow stuff that's great on hot dogs
• Hoi Sin Sauce - adds a delicious smokiness and thickness. (you could probably use mesquite liquid smoke flavouring)
• Lemon Juice - a squirt
  
• Balsamic Vinegar - an equal squirt/splash
• Worcestershire Sauce - to taste but around the same as the lemon juice etc
  
• Dark Soy Sauce - as above
• Dried Herbs - I use Rosemary, Thyme & Parsley
• Shallots - chopped very finely, this has to squirt through the nozzle of a sauce bottle. (If you're going to use the sauce brushed on from a tub then the herbs and shallots can be larger)
• Garlic - chopped finely as above

I think that's it...

Method.

1. Add the ingredients 1 at a time to a mixing bowl or jug (see TIP) giving it a stir in between additions.
   
2. pour the sauce into a squeezy sauce bottle
3. You're done.

If I'm using fresh meat I give a coating of the marinade at least an hour before I begin to cook although longer is better. If I am using frozen meat I coat it in the marinade in a tub as I remove it from the freezer and then allow it to defrost.

Just before you put the meat on the grill give it another squirt and brush it all over to ensure it's coated well.

Enjoy :O)