Grilled Chile-Rubbed Drumsticks

We finally bought a grill!  After only four years of “researching,” and almost another entire summer gone by, we finally bought a gas grill.  I’ve been wanting one for so long!

I’ve never really cooked on a grill, but that all changed almost immediately after John put this baby together.  So far, I’ve tried fish, turkey burgers, asparagus, potatoes, and chicken. While I definitely need to hone my grill skill with the fish and burgers (stick much?), the veggies and chicken came out great.

Tonight, I perfected one of my favorites, grilled chicken.  We have a restaurant out here called Chicken Ranch, and they make the best grilled chicken and tri-tip. I have bonded with many people over our love for this place. I know I could never recreate their chicken, but I wanted to emulate it.

I chose drumsticks because it is the only cut of bone-in, skin-on chicken that John and I both like.  Plus, they are cheap and super easy to grill.  I made sort of a pasty marinade from oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic, vinegar, and just a bit of brown sugar.  Then, I grilled them up and served them with salad and a sweet potato. (I “baked” the potato in the crockpot but pulled the it early, cut it in half, and threw it on the grill for about 10 minutes to finish cooking.)  The best part is that it helped my daily leafy greens and one of my three servings of sweet potato for my diet plan for the new year.

This grilled chicken is also great served with beans, tortillas, and fresh salsa.  That is the plan for the other half of this batch waiting in the freezer.

GRILLED CHILE-RUBBED DRUMSTICKS (Serves 4-6)  Ingredients 4-5 lbs drumsticks* ¼ cup vegetable oil 1 tbs mild ground chile powder (ex. pasilla, California, New Mexico) 1 tbs chili powder ½ tbs kosher salt ½ tbs cider vinegar or lime juice 1 tsp Mexican oregano 1 tsp brown sugar ½ tsp cumin ½ tsp garlic powder  Instructions Combine all ingredients in a sealable plastic bag. Massage the marinade into the chicken. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Bring your chicken up to room temp. for 30 minutes. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat. Grill the drumsticks for 6-8 minutes on all four sides for a total of 25-30 minutes. (The cook time will depend on the size of your drumsticks.) The chicken in done with the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F and the juices run clear. *You can substitute any cut of bone-in, skin-on chicken for this.  The cook time will vary.