My friend Elly raved about a balsamic chicken recipe I’ve been meaning to try… and with limited ingredients in the kitchen, I’m thankful I had things on hand to adapt the original recipe. The recipe also called for balsamic vinegar, a definite pantry staple in my kitchen.
Balsamic vinegar is a traditional flavored vinegar commonly used in Italian cuisine. It is also often used as a salad dressing when combined with oil. Unlike common vinegars, it is dark and thick with a complex, sweet taste and much more expensive.
One of my favorite uses for balsamic vinegar is as a topping on hamburgers with french fried onions and crumbled blue cheese. But today, I used it as a marinade while trying out recipe by Giada deLaurentiis.
Here is my adapted recipe for Giada’s Balsamic Chicken Drummettes, in which I used chicken thighs:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 cup rosemary & garlic seasoning
1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Combine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary & garlic seasoning, 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 thighs to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag. Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.
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.
This is the seasoning that I used in place of fresh rosemary sprigs:
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