Abigail’s Kickin’ Chicken

We had a rainy day yesterday, which meant that our last day of swimming lessons was cancelled, and as such, I promised the kids we would do something fun together in the afternoon- like play a board game or some Wii.  Well, Zander jumped right on that and he and I played some Mariokart, but Abigail had other plans.  She had pulled out the play food yesterday, and was trying to assemble it in some “gourmet” situations, but plastic food only goes so far.  She decided to start looking through my cookbooks- at first, looking for a cookie or something that she might like to make sometime.  Pausing for a moment from beating Zander at Rainbow Road, I casually mentioned to her that if she wanted, she could find something to cook for dinner. (My plan was pancakes, easy, fuss-free, and simple.)

She started flipping through a book, and came to ask me if I had the ingredients for a few things.  We were short on a few, so I suggested she start a shopping list for me, so that the next time we went shopping, I would get the ingredients, and they would be on hand for her to prepare.  She had a few recipes in mind, when she found one where the only ingredients missing were chicken legs and orange juice, she asked if we could run to the store for just those things.  So we did.

And then Abigail proceeded to make dinner completely by herself.  I was around for guidance purposes, and to reach ingredients that were too high for her, but otherwise, she prepared a full dinner for the family all by herself.  Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering a new era, and I am looking forward to it.

The first step for her recipe was to take the chicken legs, season them, and then get them in the oven to start cooking.  She got that done rather quickly, although she did decide to leave the skin on the drumsticks.  The recipe told us to take them off, but since she is a fan of chicken skin, the skins remained.  As the legs started to cook, she started assembling the ingredients for her sauce.  She needed barbecue sauce, ketchup, orange juice, brown sugar, and molasses.

Wet ingredients measured and waiting at the side, she then proceeded to chop up some garlic.  She did very, very well managing the large knife and getting the garlic ready to cook.

Once the garlic was ready, she measured oil into a pot, and then began cooking the oil, where I was informed that she loves the smell of cooking garlic.  Once the garlic began to soften, she added the rest of her sauce ingredients, and then brought that to a simmer before turning it off to wait for the chicken.

The chicken was done with it’s first stage of cooking, so it was time for them to be sauced.  Working very carefully with hot pans, Abigail expertly brushed sauce on both sides of the chicken before it went back into the oven.

While the chicken finished up, My Girl also got a pot of rice cooking, followed by a pan of green peas.  Timing-wise, she couldn’t have done better.  The twenty minutes the rice needed to cook was the same time the chicken needed to cook.   While we waited for everything to finish cooking (teasing us all with a tantalizing aroma) I peeled some fruit for her to chop up for a quick fruit salad to go with as well.

Dinner was wonderful.  The sauce for the chicken was very tasty, and the whole family enjoyed it.  Zander even turned to Abigail and told her that when she was grown up, and had babies, she would cook really good food for her family.  Aw, what a little brother.

Can I just say, that as a mom of a kid who really is interested in cooking, I’m delighted that she chose to cook real food.  This was no simple assembly of a boxed something-or-other, and it was a nice challenge for her.  She handled everything herself- from the chopping to the measuring, and the maneuvering of the hot pan in and out of the oven.   She made real white rice from scratch, and actually chose the side dishes she wanted to go with the chicken in the first place.  The entire meal was her baby, and she did such an awesome job.  We were all very proud of her accomplishments yesterday, and I can’t wait to see what she decides to make next!

Kickin’ Chicken

from BHG Kids Favorites Made Healthy

Nonstick cooking spray

8 Chicken Drumsticks

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cloves garlic, mined, or 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

2 teaspoons cooking oil

3/4 cup bottle barbecue sauce

1/4 cup catsup

1/4 cup orange juice or water

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons light molasses or maple-flavored syrup

Several dashes hot sauce (optional) (We skipped)

Lightly coat a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with cooking spray.  Skin chicken. Arrange chicken in prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake in a 375ºF oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium saucepan cook garlic in hot oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Stir in barbecue sauce, catsup, juice, brown sugar, molasses, and, if desired, hot sauce.  Heat through.

Carefully brush chicken with sauce. Turn chicken and brush with additional sauce.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until chicken is no longer pink (180º).  Reheat any remaining sauce; drizzle some of the sauce over the chicken; pass remaining sauce.