Citrus Sesame Chicken

I saw this recipe on YumSugar that looked absolutely delicious, but needed some tweaking on my part.  You let the chicken marinade for at least 30 minutes (preferably 3 hours) and then bake in the oven.  It's a pretty healthy way to make some really tasty chicken.  I used drumsticks but you can use breasts or thighs as well.

Citrus Sesame Chicken:

6 chicken drumsticks

1/3 cup sherry

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce (I like Lee Kum Kee)

1 tsp. hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee)

zest and juice of each lime, lemon, and orange

1 1-inch knob of ginger, graded

3 garlic cloves, graded or finely minced

1/2 jalapeno, finely minced (with or without the seeds, depending on how spicy you like it)

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp. peanut oil

Toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallion for garnish.

Combine everything but the chicken and stir to combine.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, you want it to be sweet, salty and spicy.  Pour everything into a zip lock bag and add the chicken.  Let marinate for at least 30 minutes, better if you can let it marinate for a few hours.

Take out chicken from the fridge and preheat oven to 425 F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (please don't forget to do this, you'll have one hell of a mess if you don't) and spray with non stick spray.  Place chicken on the sheet tray and bake in the oven.

While the chicken is baking, pour the marinade in a sauce pan and reduce the sauce till syrupy (about 7 minutes).  After the chicken has been baking for 10 minutes, take out and baste with the thickend marinade.  Put the chicken back in the oven for another 10 minutes and repeat the basting.  Take out the chicken when done, probably after 30-35 minutes of cooking. 

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and green onion.  Serve with some brown rice and a cucumber salad.