Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: One-Pan Guinness Glazed Chicken

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

St. Patrick's Day Giveaway + Guinness Glazed Chicken from Cleo Coyle #StPatricksDay

St. Patrick's Day is almost here, and Marc and I are looking forward to the annual celebration here in New York City, a day when everyone is a little bit Irish!

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

Now we know many of you don't like beer, let alone dark beers like Guinness stout, but we can assure you of this. You don’t have to be a fan of drinking Guinness to appreciate eating it. The rich, dark, and roasted flavor, along with the (yes) low alcohol content, make it a wonderful ingredient to cook with, especially in this recipe.

Guinness stout adds complexity and moisture to many dishes, including this beautiful pan of oven-roasted chicken...

This is exactly the sort of dinner our amateur sleuth, coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi, would enjoy sharing with her longtime boyfriend, NYPD Detective Mike Quinn, a police officer with strong Irish roots...

Here in New York, our Police (and Fire) Departments are always well represented in the annual St. Patrick's Parade, and we can tell you from experience, plenty of Guinness is downed that day, too!

As for our One-Pan Guinness Glazed Chicken, the flavor is amazing and the sweet meat will melt in your mouth. Marc and I kept the recipe relatively simple. Just marinate the pieces, pop them in the oven, and eat with joy!

But first...

A QUICK NOTE ON "IRISH DRY" STOUT...

When you purchase the beer for this recipe, keep in mind that all stouts are not the same. The Guinness stout labeled “Draught” has a low alcohol content--the same as many “light” beers (4.2%), making it very drinkable. Guinness stouts labeled “Original” or “Extra” or “Foreign Extra” have higher alcohol contents, but all of them will work for this recipe.

If you want to use a different (perhaps a locally brewed) brand of stout, no worries, just be sure to look for one that’s brewed in the style of Irish Dry Stout. Click here or visit the website BeerAdvocate.com for a list of over 1,000 brands of beers brewed in this style—and drink with joy!

Now let's get our Guinness chicken on!

FREE RECIPE PDF

To downloadable a free PDF
of this recipe that you can
print, save, or share, click here.

Click for Free Recipe PDF.

Cleo's One-Pan

Guinness Glazed Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

4 pounds fresh chicken drumsticks, thighs, and/or chicken wings (do not use skinless pieces, do not use breasts)

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt (or table salt)
1 tablespoon cornstarch*

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup Guinness stout (see "stout" note above on using other brands)
2 Tablespoons olive oil (creates the shine on your glaze)
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 cup honey (pourable, not cloudy or raw honey)

Final addition:
1 (more) tablespoon cornstarch*

*These 2 tablespoons of cornstarch will help to thicken the glaze during cooking, so don’t leave out this ingredient, and be sure to mix it in until completely dissolved.

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1—Prep the Chicken: Wash your chicken parts, pat them very dry with a paper towel, and set them aside.

For this recipe, we used 8 wings, 4 drumsticks, and 4 thighs. This added up to about 4 pounds of chicken. Be sure to use chicken with skins on. We don’t recommend using breasts. (Breasts are larger than other chicken parts and may need longer marinating and roasting times.)

Step 2—Mix the marinade/glaze: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (dark brown sugar, salt, and 1 T. cornstarch). Whisk in the wet ingredients (Guinness, mustard, olive oil, honey). Whisk well, making sure the dry ingredients are completely dissolved into the wet ingredients.

Step 3—Marinate for 3 hours: Place the chicken parts into a single layer in a large plastic container (or sealable plastic bags). Pour the marinade over the parts.

Seal the container and flip it a few times, shaking gently to coat the chicken pieces. Place the container in the refrigerator and let the chicken marinate for 3 hours (and no more).

Step 4—Prepare to cook: Preheat your oven a good 30 minutes to 450° F. Line a shallow baking or roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil and coat with non-stick spray. Remove the chicken parts from the marinade (do not wash) and place them in your prepared pan in a single layer, skin side up. Stir the final 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into the remaining marinade liquid, seal the container and shake well, until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Pour this remaining marinade liquid over the chicken pieces in the pan.

Step 5—Roast for a total of 1 hour and 5 to 10 minutes in your well-preheated 450° F oven. YOU MUST TURN THE CHICKEN TWO TIMES. After the first 30 minutes of cooking, flip each piece so the skin side is down. After another 20 minutes in the oven (a total of 50 minutes), flip the chicken so that the skin side is up and continue cooking for another 10 to 20 minutes. (The final time will depend on your oven.)

This is what the chicken looks like after 50 minutes.
We are turning the pieces so the skin side is back up...

The glaze will be thin until the end of the cooking. During the final 10 minutes or so, you will see the glaze begin to thicken and the chicken skin begin to caramelize. If you don’t, the chicken is not done, simply continue cooking. ONE LAST NOTE: Baste the chicken once or twice during the final 10 minutes of cooking for a really beautifully glazed result.

Then remove the pan from the oven, and…

Eat with joy!

Wishing you a very...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

~ Cleo

Click for Free Recipe PDF.

🍀

CLEO'S

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

GIVEAWAY!

~~ENTER TO WIN...~~

The drawing for the prizes is now over.
Thanks to everyone for commenting!

Congrats to our winner...
Kimberly Finn!

Kimberly won this beautiful new bone china IRISH BLESSING MUG from Royal Tara's Clara line of Celtic-themed gifts in Galway, Ireland...