Marinaded Chicken Skewers

Nothing says summer to me quite like grilling.

I have written before about how under-appreciated I feel chicken can be. If given enough love, and proper cooking techniques, chicken can be juicy & delicious. I'm running the risk of patting myself on the back too much here, but I think this is an excellent way to showcase a really humble ingredient. In fact, I'm going to show you how to cook with bone-in, skin-on, chicken legs ... which are the least expensive kind.

That's right. $1.29/lb in a day when beef prices have never been higher. But if you're willing to do a little bit of work yourself, these are delicious. You can also just keep things really simple and fast, and cook what I believe to be really fantastic Blackened Chicken Drumsticks.

I grew up only liking dark chicken. It is more fatty & moist than the breast. I have evolved a lot over the years in my taste for food, but I still love chicken legs.

Grab a hold of the chicken skin at one side and pull really hard until you remove it all toward the other end. Get a sharp knife and cut all the skin off.

Then take some time and trim all the meat into bite-sized pieces ready for your skewers.

The key here is a marinade that I invented. (It is quite possible that somebody else has been using this for years. But the fact remains that I came up with it on my own without any outside reference.) I like to start with soy sauce and honey. That will get the chicken wet & sticky, and then I add the dry ingredients on top.  I love the combination of mustard powder & cayenne pepper.

I was committed to this dish being jam-packed with flavor, so I left mine covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours to marinade.

If you are using wooden skewers, it is best to soak them in water first so they won't burn on you. I used some old metal kebob skewers -- but you have to be careful not to burn yourself. They get really hot, so I use tongs to turn them over on the grill.

The dark meat stays juicy & tender, and the sweet, spicy, salty marinade really makes these things sing! I like to get just a little bit of char on the outside to finish it all off.

The best news is that my wife had some leftovers, which were excellent served in a cold wrap with Thai chili paste and kim-chi.