Sticky Balsamic and Honey Chicken

Rather than waxing poetic about this chicken recipe for half an hour, let me just say this: holy CRAP, is it good. Like, “I want to eat myself sick, this is so delicious”, good… and seriously, who says that about CHICKEN? I do, apparently. I hardly know myself anymore!

This recipe is fairly quick and easy (though it does require a bit of attention during the cooking process), and is made up of ingredients you likely already have you in your kitchen. So, swing by the store on your way home, pick up some chicken legs, and get cooking!

Sticky Balsamic and Honey Chicken
serves 3-4
recipe adapted from here

1.5 lbs chicken legs with skin (about 6 drumsticks)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 t black pepper
5 cloves of garlic (mince three, and just smash the last 2)
1″ piece of ginger, minced
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tablespoon of minced fresh parsley

1.) In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, balsamic, brown sugar, honey, and black pepper. Pour half of the mixture into a one-gallon ziploc bag, and reserve the rest. Add the minced garlic and ginger to the ziploc bag, and put the crushed garlic cloves in with the remaining marinade in the bowl.

2.) Add the chicken legs to the ziploc bag, squeeze all the air out, and seal it. Place the chicken in the fridge and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours, or as long as 12. (Don’t forget to put the second half of the marinade in the fridge, too!)

3.) When the chicken is ready, preheat your oven to 400°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and place a wire rack on the sheet. Remove the drumsticks from the marinade, and space out evenly on the rack. Discard the marinade.

4.) Once the chicken goes into the oven, pour the second half of the marinade (along with the crushed garlic cloves) into a small sauce pan and place it over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, whisking often. When the mixture has thickened just slightly, remove it from the heat (it will thicken considerably once it begins to cool, so you want to stop reducing when it’s thickened up just a little bit).

5.) When the chicken has been cooking for about 25 minutes, baste all the pieces (both sides) with the glaze, and put it back in the oven. Baste again 10 minutes later, and again 5 minutes after that. Allow the chicken to cook for another 5 minutes after the last basting, then remove from the oven.

6.) Glaze the chicken one more time, and then sprinkle each piece with sesame seeds and chopped parsley. Serve immediately!

Oh man. This chicken is sweet and juicy and a little bit tangy, and just PERFECT. It’s incredible how much juicier chicken cooked on the bone is! I served it with some green beans cooked with whole grain mustard and shallots (recipe forthcoming), and mustard-roasted potatoes and onions, and it was seriously the most delicious and satisfying meal I’ve made in quite a while. I will definitely be making this chicken again soon… and often.

As a side note, you could use this same marinade/glaze on a whole, cut up chicken, if you didn’t want to do just drumsticks; just be sure to allow the bigger pieces enough time to cook through.

Don’t be scared of dark meat chicken, Crist,
Tina

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart

For reasons unknown, when I was planning my Super Bowl snack menu, I decided I wanted to include something slightly fancier than your average football fare. Now, it’s not like we had some swanky, black tie, Super Bowl watching party; quite the opposite, in fact. It was just my husband and I, a few friends, and our finest sweats. I mixed up some ginger and blood orange vodka sodas, stuck some honey chipotle turkey meatballs on toothpicks, stirred up some very fancy queso (you will pry my processed, fake Velveeta from my cold, dead hands), and made this delicious (and easy) tart. It’s easy enough to throw together for even the most last-minute gathering, but pretty and delicious enough to be impressive.

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart
serves 8 as an appetizer

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1 large, sweet onion, sliced into thin half moons
a few sprigs of thyme
1/2 T butter
1/2 T olive oil
2 ounces soft goat cheese
one egg
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

1.) Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add the butter and olive oil to the pan. When the pan is good and hot, add the onions. Add a pinch each of salt and pepper, and cook the onions (tossing often) until they are softened and brown around the edges, about 5-7 minutes.

2.) Strip the leaves from a couple sprigs of thyme (you want about 1 teaspoon of leaves), and toss them in with the onions. Lower the heat to medium-low, and continue cooking the onions until they are a nice golden brown, about 15 to 20 more minutes. Remove the onions from the heat and allow to cool. If you’d like, this step can be done up to a day ahead; just store the onions in the fridge, in a covered container.

3.) Preheat your oven to 400°. Prepare your puff pastry for baking, however the package indicates (many puff pastries require just a few minutes of defrosting at room temp). When the puff pastry is ready, place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

4.) Using a sharp knife, score the dough about 1″ in from each edge (you want to cut through the first few layers of the dough, but NOT all the way through; go slowly, and use a light touch with the knife, and you should be fine). This border will allow the edges of the puff pastry to rise appropriately, even though the center is kind of weighed down with other ingredients.

5.) Spread your caramelized onions into a thin layer in the center of the dough (stopping at the scored lines), and then top the onions with crumbled goat cheese. In a small bowl, beat together your egg and a tablespoon of water; lightly brush this mixture over the exposed edges of the dough. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the border is golden brown, and puffed up.

6.) While the tart bakes, make a balsamic reduction. Place a small saucepan over medium heat, and add about 1 cup of balsamic vinegar. Bring the vinegar to a strong simmer, and allow it to bubble away until it’s reduced by a little more than half. Keep a close eye on it, because it goes from nice and syrupy, to rock-hard, pretty quick! (Trader Joe’s sells a bottled balsamic reduction, which is what I used.)

7.) Remove the tart from the oven, and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes. Top with some extra thyme leaves, and a drizzle of the balsamic reduction. Cut into squares or small slices, and serve!

So, let’s be honest: flaky, buttery, puff pastry, paired with sweet, soft caramelized onions, tangy goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar? SIGN ME UP! This tart is crazy delicious – and, as I mentioned before, it looks pretty awesome, too! Definitely a recipe to keep in your back pocket for your next cocktail party.

Because, really, the Super Bowl is all about the food and the commercials,
Tina

Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

Since I’ve already cemented my place on this blog as a lover of unpopular vegetables, I figure now would be a good time to tell you of my love for cauliflower. I’m not really sure when it happened, but one day, probably 6 or 7 years ago, I just discovered that cauliflower is delicious! It’s surely no coincidence that this was about the time I realized that roasting vegetables made them a lot more delicious than steaming them within an inch of their lives… and roasted cauliflower is one of my very favorite side dishes. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s healthy – you really can’t go wrong!

This dish also uses two of my favorite flavoring agents: balsamic vinegar and freshly grated parmesan cheese. I’ll bet even the most ardent of cauliflower haters would at least LIKE cauliflower prepared this way!

Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
serves 2-4 as a side dish

1 head of cauliflower
1-2 T olive oil
2-3 T balsamic vinegar
1 t kosher salt
1/4 t garlic powder
freshly grated parmesan cheese

1.) Preheat your oven to 400°. Start by trimming and chopping your cauliflower. Cauliflower isn’t too tough, so any decently sharp chef’s knife should be able to cut the whole thing into quarters without too much trouble. Once you’ve cut it into quarters, cut off the leaves and stem at the bottom, and cut the core from the middle. Then, chop what’s left into bite-size pieces.

2.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (no surprise: non-stick foil is helpful, here). Make a pile of chopped cauliflower on the sheet; pour your olive oil and balsamic over the top (start with 1 T and 2 T, respectively), and sprinkle with the salt and garlic powder. Use your hands to mix everything together thoroughly; if the cauliflower seems too dry, or it doesn’t feel like everything is well-coated, add a little more olive oil and balsamic.

3.) Roast for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once toward the end, until the edges of the cauliflower are a bit brown and crispy, and the balsamic vinegar has kind of caramelized and darkened on the bottom of the pieces.

4.) Immediately after removing the cauliflower from the oven, grate some fresh parmesan over the top (though I do love the powdered, pre-grated parmesan cheese in a lot of situations, this is not one of them – you really want the good stuff, here). Feel free to use as much or as little as you like. Serve immediately.

My husband and I can go through an entire head of cauliflower when it’s roasted like this, and we’ll practically fight over who gets the last piece. The cauliflower itself takes on a nice nutty flavor when it’s roasted, which is really nicely complemented by the salty, nutty bite of the parmesan. And, balsamic vinegar makes everything better, so it’s no surprise that it’s delicious on cauliflower!

I promise you’ll like it,
Tina

giada’s balsamic bbq sauce.

Are you ready for all the talk about Thanksgiving to be over yet? How about a recipe for something other than turkey, or dressing, or sweet potatoes? YES, PLEASE is what I’m thinking as I willy-nilly hit “mark all as read” in my reader. And why not provide you with yet another way to use my favorite ingredient… balsamic vinegar?

This bbq sauce is a staple in our house – I don’t make it so often that we tire of it, but every time I do I wonder why I don’t make it more often. It’s an easy way to dress up plain old chicken, and also a good thing to make when you want grilled chicken but forgot to marinate it. Not that this ever happens to me.

Giada’s Balsamic BBQ Sauce.
via

1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat, and stir until smooth. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until reduced by 1/3.

We always use this on the grill, though I am sure it would work just as well over baked chicken. Or maybe even on a hamburger? Try it and let me know your favorite way to use it!

Big game Saturday, y’all. GO COCKS!
jcristg