Orange Honey Glazed Drumsticks

After a week of being thankful that I'd started stocking up on frozen foods (time to defrost the eggplant parmesan!), I was really excited to cook dinner on Sunday night. I had some chicken drumsticks and decided to use my growing pantry to the full extent and make a nice glaze to roast the drumsticks in. A lot of glazes I found in my cookbooks and on websites were loaded with soy sauce, but I wanted something a little more sweet, so I just gambled with what I had in my cabinet. I used Rachel Ray's BBQ drumsticks recipe as a basis for the cooking method/timing and if I do say so myself, they actually turned out to be quite tasty!

As long as you have the above ingredients (plus cointreau, I forgot to put the bottle in the picture), this is really easy to make. I think the key lesson I learned, though, is that making flavorful sauces and glazes doesn't have to be some exact science, nor does it have to cost you a ton as you buy full bottles of ingredients and only use a couple of shakes. Just stick with what you have.

Orange Honey Glazed Drumsticks
Adapted from Rachel Ray, sort of.

1 tablespoon of olive oil (or less)
Six drumsticks, leave the skin on
4 tablespoons cointreau
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
Juice of one orange
A few shakes of Worcestershire
A few shakes of hot sauce
Salt/pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a sauté pan large enough to fit all of the drumsticks on the stove top. Once hot, add olive oil and let heat on medium.
2. Brown your drumsticks in the olive oil. This is a loud process. Heat each side for 3-4 minutes, or until crispy. Set drumsticks into small, oven-proof dish (I used a 9x9) and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Pour cointreau into pan to deglaze and let boil/simmer until reduced by half. Use a whisk while reducing to scrape the bottom of the pan and get all of the flavor infused.
4. Add remaining ingredients to the pan, incorporating with the whisk as you add each one. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until it reaches a glaze consistency. Taste the sauce to see if it is the right amount of orange/sweet/hot for you. Adjust if necessary.
5. Pour the glaze (all of it) over the drumsticks, turning them to make sure they are covered. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice.
6. Place drumsticks on plates or platter, and spoon some excess glaze over them if desired.