Recipes: Brown Sugar Chicken & Honey Roasted Potatoes

This is another meal featured by the Group Cooking that several of my friends and I have set up - a bunch of us cook the same meal, with our own variations, on the same day (or in the same weekend), and then share what we think.  I'll just link to the original recipes and tell you how I modified them.

The Brown Sugar Chicken was delicious.  I skinned the drumsticks, and used zest from a blood orange.  I also sprayed the skinned drumsticks with butter flavor cooking spray, to help the brown sugar mixture to stick better.  I think next time, I'd use some curry powder... or a little Teeny Tiny Spice Company Vindaloo.... mmmmm... instead of the chili powder.

Zest of a blood orange into the brown sugar and chili powder.

Skinned drumsticks, ready for the brown sugar mixture

Rubbed and ready to cook

You could absolutely use any kind of chicken you like best.  I got drumsticks on sale for 83 cents a pound, and the kids like picking them up to eat, so that's what I used.

Surprisingly, this wasn't a favorite of my kids.  They thought it was too sweet.  Weird, huh?  I just loved it.  So did my dinner guests.

I couldn't get enough of the Honey Roasted Potatoes, and neither could my kids.  The original recipe called for red potatoes, but I used white potatoes, cut into chunks, skins left on.  The original recipe called for half the sauce I used, but more was definitely better.  I also broiled the potatoes at the end for a couple minutes, to give them a little extra crispiness.

Pouring the sauce over the potatoes before baking

I served the chicken and potatoes with steamed sugar snap peas.  It was a wonderful dinner.  My dinner guests requested the recipes, and I think that's a winner.  Try it, and let me know what you think!