Sweet Balsamic Baked Chicken Thighs

Sticky, Gooey Chicken Perfection

Hello! I hope you are not suffering from a case of week night dinner blues.

I always look online for food inspiration. I think most of us do. Especially if you have one main ingredient and do not know how to build a dish around it or you just want to try something new. That's what I did yesterday, I had some chicken thighs which have been rotting  placed neatly at the bottom of my freezer. I don't even remember if I bought them for a specific recipe or because they were just cheap. The chinese in me reckons that it must be because they were cheap. Back to stumbling around the internet for inspiration, one of the foodie sites I use to shamelessly promote my blog is Foodie.com Aside from that, it's also a good site to find recipes and yes, inspiration.

I was struck by this photograph of baked chicken drumsticks and was led down the garden path to this recipe for Sweet and Sticky Baked Chicken Drumsticks by the Novice Chef. Ooh, I had to try it. So simple and just by reading the list of ingredients you know it will be tasty.

It reminded me also of chinese style barbecue wings. So I did add some sesame oil the recipe to make it more chinese-y.These turned out excellent, I baked these in the evening before picking the husband up from the train station and hitting the gym. When we got back, just needed to heat these up for a mighty tasty post workout meal. Protein is always good right?

I reckon that any leftovers can be turned into a very good chicken salad too. Since I liked this so much, I am going to use them to marinade some chicken wings for a barbecue this weekend. Will let you know how those turn out!

Ok, your turn, go on - be inspired!

Recipe for Sweet Balsamic Baked Chicken Thighs

adapted from The Novice Chef

Prep Time 10 minutes/ Cooking Time 35 minutes / Serves 2-3

Ingredients
5 Chicken Thighs

80 gm Brown Sugar

60 gm Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce

3 Cloves Garlic (diced)

1Tbsp Sesame Oil

1tsp Chicken Granules

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Trim excess skin and fat from the Chicken Thighs and place in a deep dish.

2. Combine the Brown Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar, Light Soy Sauce, Garlic, Sesame Oil, Chicken Granules, Ginger, Black Pepper and Sesame Seeds in a bowl and whisk together until evenly combined. Pour 3/4 of the marinade over the chicken and baste chicken thoroughly with the marinade.
[Note: I didn't have time, but if you can, try marinating the chicken overnight.]

3. Place chicken on a trivet in a roasting tray and bake on the middle rack of your oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat up the remaining marinade and the excess marinade from the chicken in a pan, simer on medium heat until it thickens.

4. After 20 minutes of baking, remove the chicken from the oven and baste with the thickened marinade. Then, continue baking at 180°C for the next 10-15 minutes.

5. Once cooked, remove from oven and baste with any remaining marinade and serve.