Bacon. Oh, how I love you, dear bacon. When I ran across the recipe for bacon wrapped chicken drumsticks in Adam Perry Lang's Serious Barbecue, I knew that I would be making them, and soon. So, today turned out to be the glorious day. As with all Adam's recipes, it is a multi-step process. The first step is to take the drumsticks and marinade them for four to twenty four hours in a wet rub of canola oil, sweet paprika, garlic salt, and ground black pepper (one tablespoon, respectively, of paprika, garlic salt, and ground black pepper, vegetable or canola oil, and the juice of two lemons). After the marinade process is done, that's when you get to test your skills as a chef.
After the marinade process is complete, Adam instructs you to remove the legs from the marinade and take on the most difficult of the process. Each leg is to be first wrapped in bacon (with no securing toothpicks or other devices) and then wrapped in Saran wrap. This is far easier than it sounds. You must carefully wrap the bacon so it is closed at each end by overlapping and tucking in the loose ends. Once the drumsticks are wrapped, they are each to be placed in a large baking dish (lasagna, brownie, or otherwise) and cooked in a cooker or home oven at 250 degrees for 50 minutes. The interesting bit is that the drumsticks are not smoked at this stage. You can use a low grill or an oven. Adam specifically instructs us to place the wrapped drumsticks in a lasagna dish and to pour one half cup of water over the drumsticks. Then you are to seal the lasagna dish with a cover of aluminum foil and allow the drumsticks to steam off. After fifty minutes,remove the lasagna dish from your oven or cooker and let it rest on the counter for an additional thirty minutes. After the drumsticks have rested, they are to be prepared for the grill. I'm not completely sure but I think this entire process is meant to cook the bacon just enough so it does not slide off the drumsticks during the grilling process.
Before putting the drumsticks on the grill, you need to give them a quick brush of vegetable or canola oil. Once the drumsticks are on the grill, they should initially get about three minutes for each quarter side to brown off the bacon. After the first twelve minutes, the drumsticks should be moved to an elevated rack or to an indirect portion of the grill to allow them to cook for another ten to twenty minutes.
Here you see the drumsticks ready and waiting for their glaze. The glaze consists of the juice of two lemons, a half cup of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of red chili flake. You should glaze the drumsticks every three to four minutes and turn them at the same time. Bonus points for incorporating a smoke box or smoke chip bundle to put a little extra flavor into the mix.
When all is said and done, you should experience true bliss. My entire family was reduced to monosyllabic utterings like, "Umm, Yumm, Ooooo". It is true - bacon makes everything better (and so does butter). I urge you to run out and buy Adam's Serious Barbecue cookbook and give this recipe a try. You and your special ones will love you for it.
