Balsamic Chicken Drumettes

The other day, I was literally flipping channels and I heard a commercial for Giada of the food network say, "Balsamic Chicken Drumettes" the title of that dish stuck with me enough that when I was at the store the other day I picked up a package of chicken wings. I prefer to buy my meat at a local farm these days, but I still buy some at the health food store. This package was of whole wings which is a better deal than buying just the drumettes. You do have to cut each wing into three pieces. The tip usually doesn't have enough meat on it to serve, but save them in your freezer and add the wing tips to your next batch of homemade chicken stock. So I used the drumette and the "middle" piece of the wing (not sure if it has a name?)

Also the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of brown sugar for 10-12 drummettes. I had about 26 drummettes, I did NOT double the marinade and I cut out all of the brown sugar and only used 1/4 cup of the honey. These wings were a huge hit with my three year olds. They were precious trying to get all the meat off the wings and they kept asking for more.
-Amanda

Here is the original recipe, with notations of what I changed:
Original Link

Balsamic Chicken Drumettes

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey (I only used 1/4 cup of honey)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I did not use any brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 5 sprigs of rosemary
• 5 garlic cloves, halved
• 10 to 12 chicken drumettes (I used about 26 chicken pieces)
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I did not have parsley)
• (I added 3 tbsp of butter to the sauce when it was reducing)

Combine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves, in a large, re-sealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken drumsticks to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours.


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.


Place the chicken drumsticks on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 30 to 35 minutes.


Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.

Use a pastry brush to brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken. Place the chicken on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the chopped parsley.

Cook's note: I like the rosemary and garlic flavors in the background. Brushing the cooked drumettes with the reduced marinade helps the flavors along. Also, re-moistening helps the parsley and the seeds to adhere.