Sunday Sweets and Savories: Crispy Garlic Drums

We have had some delicious football foods to start this 2019 season, but is any football watch party truly complete without wings? I’ll be honest, I’ve never been the biggest wing-girl, but even I am a sucker for a crispy, not overly sauced wing. My husband could survive on wings and chipotle, so I have grown to appreciate a really good wing and have even begun my own attempts at making them with the help of my air fryer (I love kitchen gadgets because I need all the help I can get). Today, Chef Nick brings you a new and incredibly fresh take on traditional hot wings. The pictures alone will make you become a wing-girl (or guy) and I know I cannot wait to make these come Sunday (when Chef Nick sent me a sneak peak, I knew this recipe was going to be insane and as always- so simple!). The other thing about wings I have come to appreciate is how cheap they are at the grocery store, you can get soooo many wings for so cheap (so much cheaper than a bar or takeout too)!

Crispy Garlic Drums

• 5-6 lbs chicken drumsticks (skin-on)
  
  Marinade:
• 4 oz sour cream (**editor’s note- I asked Chef Nick and yes you can use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon seasoning

Method

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees-

✅Before we start: Let’s talk a little bit about safety and sanitation.

Whenever I am handling raw meat, especially chicken, I always wear latex gloves. You can buy a box on Amazon for less than $10 and they will last months. It’s a great investment in my opinion! Speaking of good investments, a decent knife is one thing but having steel in the drawer is essential. Please view this short clip of my idle, Gordon Ramsey, to gain a little insight into honing your knife. Enjoy! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SBn1i9YqN1k

***confident grip people, confident grip.

Step 1: WISK together all the ingredients except for the chicken in a large bowl (large enough to hold all your chicken as well as the marinade)

***I used a Halloween candy bowl  ‘tis the season, after all.

**editor’s note- love this seasonal touch

Step 2: SCORE each chicken drumstick 3 times (see pic). Start by stretching the skin over each piece of chicken. Slice straight through the skin all of the way to the bone with each cut. Aim for the fattest part of the drumstick when cutting.

✅Technique – Scoring Meat

Scoring the chicken will help in the “marination” process and creates more surface area for crispy edges on the grill, under the broiler or in the air-fryer 🤤

Step 3: TOSS the chicken and marinade together thoroughly, making sure to coat it well.

Step 4: MARINATE at least 2-4 hours. Overnight works fine but isn’t necessary for this recipe. After the drumsticks are marinated, spray a wire rack with cooking spray and place on top of foil-lined baking sheet. Lay out the chicken in a single layer on rack and place in the preheated oven.

✅NOTE – at this point (once pan is in the oven) you can carefully add 1 cup of water to bottom of the cooking tray to help with grease splatter.

Step 5: COOK chicken 35-40 minutes or until an internal temperate reads at least 165 degrees. The goal here is to cook the chicken through and render some of the fat in the skin. The crispy part of this recipe is coming up next:

Step 6: FIRE UP the grill, broiler and/or air-fryer! I’ve tested all methods for this post for the sake of diversity and the availability of equipment. Now, allow the chicken to cool slightly and then toss in either the Tangy Mustard Glaze or Garlic Buffalo Butter (see recipes below ) coat and then get ready to crisp… Once you toss your drums in some sauce, you can either char-grill, broiler at 500 degrees or air-fry for about 12 min at 400 degrees (shaking occasionally). Adjust the timing and method based on your equipment situation and relative common sense, of course.

✅Passion Point – #teamcrispyskin

The ball is in your court now (see what I did there). What you do from this point on in completely up to you. Pay close attention to how that skin is cooking up, we want caramelization on the meat and skin that’s CRISPY, not flabby. Nobody wants flabby chicken skin. Gross. Don’t do that. This step is super important, so don’t mess it up.

✅Serving Suggestion –

For this post, I grilled the tangy glazed drums and drizzled then with a bit more sauce. Then I air-fried the buffalo drums, tossed them in a little more sauce and served them up with some blue cheese crumbles and fresh celery.

The Sauces

Tangy Mustard Glaze

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey (**editor’s note- spray the spoon with cooking spray first so the honey comes right off!)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard (OPTIONAL)
• 2 teaspoons dried dill OR 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill (OPTIONAL)

Step 1: WISK all ingredients together until smooth and well combined; the dill in this recipe is optional but I think it adds a unique contrast to the sweet and tangy that I just love.

✅Note: I buy freeze-dried dill (located in the produce section, near the jars of pre-minced garlic) 1 bottle lasts me about 3-6 months. The flavor is bright and it’s great in marinades, dips, fish dishes, soups, and sauces – not just pickles.

Buffalo Garlic Butter

• 12oz hot sauce (recommend Frank’s)
• 8 tablespoons salted butter
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic
• juice of 1 lemon

• 5-8 dashes Tabasco or habanero hot sauce, or more (OPTIONAL)

Step 1: MELT butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Add garlic and sweat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add hot sauce, Tabasco and lemon juice.

Step:2 SIMMER sauce for 5-10 minutes whisking frequently to emulsify (incorporate) the butter into the sauce.

✅Pro-Tip – You might not need all of this sauce for each recipe, especially if you are doing half and half (like I did). Both of them will keep in the fridge for up to a month. Use them as dipping sauces for chicken strips or whip up some boneless wings for next weeks game. Also, don’t be shy about using the Buffalo Garlic Butter in place of regular hot sauce for your favorite game-day Buffalo chicken dip recipe!

We love the love, keep sending us stories and pictures of your take on Chef Nick’s incredible recipes! We’ve seen so many great renditions of Spicy Sausage Dip and we can’t wait to see what you do with these wings!