Sweet and Sour Chicken drumsticks w/dipping sauce

I found this recipe from mykitchensnippets.com. Pretty amazing!

I don't normally love dark meat but when it's less than a buck a lb it's hard to argue with. I often use it to make soups...boil the chicken down for to stock, remove the skin/bones, cube the meat and add whatever else to make a soup but when I saw this recipe I had to try it. Besides, soup season is pretty much over in Minnesota.

Marinate 2lbs (about 8) drumsticks with skin removed for at least two hours in:
1tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon salt (I used kosher salt and some lemon juice, I have no clue if that's really a substitute but it tasted good)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbls balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste (I skipped)

Bake at 400F for an hour on a cookie sheet lined with foil. I thought that seemed like a REALLY long time but they came out crispy on the outside and really juicy on the inside. Pretty amazing.

Dipping sauce:
1 tsp orange zest (I skipped)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp coriander
salt and pepper to taste (skipped it again...soy sauce has enough salt)

When chicken is done bring ingredients of dipping sauce to a boil and then add a mixture of 1tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water to thicken. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

The author suggested serving with roasted potatoes (which I would have just thrown in the oven with the chicken) and salad. I served it with rice. It was pretty amazing. We only have 5 drumsticks. Now I have a great recipe to use when drumsticks are on sale!

Note: Most people know this but for new cooks out there whenever using cornstarch to thicken a sauce always mix it with a bit of cold water before adding it a recipe. FYI just in case.

My Favorite Chicken Curry

This spicy chicken curry also uses bananas, apples, coconut, and nuts. It can get pretty spicy so for less bite cut down on the cayenne pepper. My one year old LOVES this stuff! She wants more and more. She ate it when our friends made it for us and we were amazed. At home we made it and she wasn't interested but the second time she begged for it. We hadn't bothered to give her any but she was so insistent that we gave her a taste and since then she gets very excited whenever we make it. I think it's one of her favorite foods. Her little eyes water from the spiciness of it but she still wants it! I would say that those results aren't typical, lol. The recipe was passed along from our friends, the Nash's and is as follows:

This recipe is written in steps. So sometimes you will need to add ingredients twice. I hope it doesn't confuse you!

I used a large pot for this to give me plenty of room to mix things up. Most of the time it's over medium heat. The idea on this is to bring it up to a good simmer but don't let it really boil (although I had to for part of it and I'll talk about that later).

K, to get started throw in the pot:

2sticks (I used one!) of butter
3 cups onion, diced (two medium)
3 tbls curry powder
1 tsp red pepper (cayenne)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper (we only have a grater...that took forever)
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp corriander

Cook over high heat 5 mins (to soften onions) THEN let simmer.

Then ADD: 1 cup diced apples, 1 cup sliced bananas, 1/2 cup dry roasted pecan halves (I used chopped tonight) and let simmer 20mins.

Then ADD:
1lb diced chicken (raw)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder (or salt and then omit salt)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 white pepper (I didn't have so I omitted)
1 cup diced apple (so yes, a total of 2cups)
Cook on HIGH 3mins (instead I let simmer about 20mins until chicken was done and then served immediately after adding the last 3 ingredients)

Add: 1.5 cups chicken stock (I happened to be making some so that worked out nicely!)
3/4 cup cream of coconut (I don't have this so I used coconut milk instead)
1/2 cup coconut (I can't read and added 1.5 cups but it was still fine, whoops!)
Let Simmer 15mins

Notes:
Dry roasted pecans: just throw them in a skillet on your stove on high for about 5mins shaking the nuts often. Or you can put under the broiler in your oven and watch em.
Add ins: Tonight I added about 1/4-1/2 cup raisins in with the last set of ingredients
I also added 4 (really small) cubed potatoes in the first set of ingredients. I think I should have at least partially cooked these before adding them. I ended up adding about 1cup of water and letting it boil down to cook the potatoes. It was still really good. I can't imagine harming this recipe very easily so no worries.

I served over Jasmine rice.

Easily serves 4-6 with a side salad you can get 8meals out of this. And super easy to double/triple.