These roasted citrus chicken drumsticks are a wonderful crowd pleaser that can be served hot or cold in a multitude of ways including as finger food, a side dish, a main course, buffet item, in a packed lunch or even as an appetizing snack or in between meals fill-in.

Ingredients

• 1.2 Kg (about 2½ Pounds) Chicken Drumsticks
• 1 Orange
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Chopped Fresh Thyme
• 2 Pinches of Paprika
• Freshly Ground Sea Salt (to season)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to season)

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Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. (180 degrees C. for fan forced).
2. Squeeze juice from both the orange and the lemon. Collect it in the same cup. We need the equivalent of ½ cup of both orange and lemon juice so you can use brought juice if you wish. I just love the aromas given off by the fruit whenever you squeeze citrus by hand.
3. Wash and finely chop the thyme
4. Peel, trim, rinse and crush one garlic clove (a garlic press is ideal for doing this).
5. Select a roasting dish large enough to accept all of your chicken drumsticks laid out one deep.
6. Add olive oil, orange and lemon juice, thyme, crushed garlic and paprika to your roasting dish and then whisk to combine
7. Season chicken drumsticks with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Make sure that you rub the seasoning well into the flesh.
8. Transfer chicken drumsticks to roasting dish containing whisked juice mixture and gently toss to ensure that every drumstick is coated thoroughly.
9. Pop drumsticks into oven and roast until drumsticks are nicely browned and cooked through (45 to 60 minutes). Turn three times during roasting. Baste drumsticks if necessary.

Serving

• Once the roast citrus chicken drumsticks are cooked you can begin serving them. They can be eaten as is as finger food either hot or cold which makes catering considerably more efficient and much less hassle. Having a main dish that can double up and be served in a number of ways to provide plenty of variety for your dinners is a big plus for this dish.
• You can also serve warm with a selection of roast vegetables and steamed/boiled vegetables, corn on the cob, rice and with citrus cous cous (recipe coming soon).
• These roast citrus drumsticks also go down real well served cold with a salad or cooked vegetables. Don’t forget that chips or French fries also partner roast citrus chicken drumsticks very well indeed. Do enjoy!
• Note: As always you should refrigerate any unused cooked chicken for storing to reduce the likelihood of food poisoning.

Yield: 4 to 6 adult sized servings

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 45 Minutes