Bacon-Wrapped Drumsticks

I’m about to tell you a little about these marvelous chicken legs, including why should you make them today, and why you should save the recipe forever, and why you ought to make them all the time going forward. I mean, obviously, of course, BACON.WRAPPED.DRUMSTICKS. Hello??? You can read on or just skip to the recipe.

I’ve been casting about for new chicken drumstick recipes for a while. The big meaty ones in the family packs go on sale around here frequently. But often those drumsticks are actually too big to fry properly, and they take for-freaking-ever to fully cook on the grill. I’ve kept eyeing them, though. Surely there had to be some way to make them that was just perfect for a picnic sort of something. You know, the kind of chicken leg you could make ahead and then take tailgating, or to the beach house, or out on the boat, and still would be really good? And would appeal to both adults and kids? I guess I’ve been wantonly chasing portable drumstick happiness fit for a crowd.

I’ve had a few fails. The Best Ever Picnic Chicken wasn’t. The flavorful breading stuck to the casserole dish, leaving the legs naked on one side. I wrapped them in damp paper towels and then in foil before chilling as instructed, anyway. When I took them out of the fridge later, more of the flavorful breading had stuck to the damp paper towels, so now the legs were naked on two sides, and they were also no longer particularly flavorful.

I was super encouraged reading a description of a marinated chicken leg recipe from some catering shop in San Francisco. This recipe was Asian-inspired–a huge plus in my book–and it sounded terrific. Soy sauce, ginger, a whole bunch of other stuff, marinated for 36 hours, you had to call ahead to the shop and reserve these drumsticks or they would be gone. Picky kids ADORED them, some soccer mom ordered them for her daughter’s game day birthday to the utter delight of the whole team, plus all the parents, yada, yada. Ultimately they tasted like I’d sprinkled a little soy sauce and possibly some ginger, maybe, on a few rotisserie chicken legs. Seriously? Thirty-six hours, people!? They actually needed more salt. And pepper. And the skin was rubbery. That rubbery skin haunts me still.

One day I was chatting about picnic food with a friend, and sharing my tale of drumstick woe. I made a smart aleck remark about just wrapping the damn things in bacon and being done with it.

Later, Google and I determined that I was not the first person to think of wrapping chicken legs in bacon. I noted that someone somewhere said you should skin the legs so the skin doesn’t get rubbery. (YES!) And one guy on an old message board wished that more smoky, bacony, flavor got into the meat. Fair enough, and by then I knew EXACTLY what to do.

I skinned the drumsticks. I use a homemade dry rub on pork roast that I want to use for BBQ. I addressed any possible blandness with that since I had some of it hanging around in my spice drawer, anyway. It took about 30 minutes for the meat to weep and then draw back in the seasoning. Then I wrapped the meaty part of the legs with bacon, and baked them on a sheet pan for an hour.

These drumsticks smell so good it’s hard not to grab one off the hot pan and try to eat it, burning your hand and your mouth. But if you will wait a few minutes and let the juices redistribute, the very heavens will part. Trumpets will sound, and you will KNOW: every chicken leg you’ve ever prepared for picnic/potluck/dinner on the grounds/tailgating/lunch on the boat, etc., was simply leading up to this moment. These Bacon-Wrapped Drumsticks are AMAZING. So make a few more than you think you’ll need. I don’t love them ice cold straight out of the fridge, but room temperature or re-warmed slightly to take the chill off? OMG!