As I wrote in a previous post when presenting my Pork & Swiss Chard Fajitas, I’ve decided to feature more of my everyday recipes. You know, the ones that you improvise from whatever you find in the refrigerator (or whatever’s about to die). In our house, these meals are usually intended for a picky eight-year old. In the spirit of quicky weeknight food, most food in this new series will be photographed best as can be with my smartphone, as they make their trip from kitchen to dining room. No food porn to get excited about here.
I recently developed a maple and balsamic vinegar drumstick recipe for Ontario chicken producers Maple Lodge Farms. I love that recipe but it doesn’t belong to me anymore. So, last week, I improvised a more classic maple version, using mustard and fresh ginger. It’s a quick dish to prepare the night before, with the oven doing most of the labour as you help the kids with homework for example. The recipe proved quite a winner with my boys (i.e. kiddo and dad), who swallowed multiple drumsticks in one sitting.
The Maple & Balsamic Vinegar recipe I created for Maple Lodge Farms chicken producers. Yes, recipe testing was appreciated by all.
You can use Dijon mustard, it’s the usual suspect here. But with so many artisan mustards available, I always have a few exciting little jars around. This time, I used a Québec mustard flavoured with maple syrup and apple cider from Île d’Orléans that you can find here. You don’t have to stress it, though, just find some great flavoured mustard around your parts. I wouldn’t be surprised if even baseball mustard worked here. Even maple syrup could be replaced with good old honey. As for the fresh grated ginger, I always freeze a small hand of ginger, then when I need it in a recipe, I just grate it from frozen, peel and all. To grate ginger, I love my microplane but a traditional grater will do. As for the salted herbs, I just slip them into everything, but you can easily do without. In other words, this is weeknight fare, so whatever rocks your boat.
I served these Maple & Ginger Chicken Drumsticks with a Greek rice salad because kiddo loves it enough to eat his veggies. A white or pilaf rice that would contrast with the caramelized drumsticks would have been my adult choice, let’s say.
The Québec-made Maple & Cider mustard I used, but a traditional Dijon would be fine.
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