Sticky Kickin' Chicken
The backbone of this recipe is its glaze. The glaze has a lot of sweetness from honey and brown sugar, but it avoids becoming cloying thanks to the acidic balance of balsamic vinegar. We used soy sauce to add depth, umami, and salt, brought together by the Kickin’ Chicken blend. It adds a small amount of heat with red pepper flakes, but rounds out the glaze with fresh notes of onion and celery seed powder.
Once you've made the glaze, reserve half of it in a separate bowl before dipping a brush in to coat the chicken. The reserved bowl will be for dipping and garnishing afterwards, and you don't want to run the risk of cross-contamination. Add the glaze in light coatings, to better monitor cooking and to let it form a bit of a fond. And keep an eye on the temperature; a glaze like this can burn easily if you have the heat cranked.
- ½ cup Balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup Honey
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 4 Tablespoons Low sodium soy sauce, or liquid aminos
- 6 garlic cloves
- ½ cup Kickin’ Chicken
- 2 teaspoons Toasted Sesame Seeds
- 8 chicken legs
- In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken and mix well. Place mixture in a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Pour mixture into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Pour half the cooled mixture over the chicken, and reserve half. Preheat grill to medium.
- Place chicken on grill. Grill for 7-8 minutes on first side. Glaze before turning. Turn over and glaze again. Repeat process of turning and glazing, until chicken legs read an internal temperature of 180F.
- Remove chicken from grill. Garnish with Toasted Sesame Seeds and serve with additional sauce.
