So; two things:
these are OBVIOUSLY chicken legs, not wings – still, dark meat on the bone is dark meat on the bone; AND the legs were on sale, and I had a coupon – is that three things?
Irregardless, this recipe, saved from an almost tossed 1995 ‘Holiday Homecoming’ cookbook, is tasty!
The good folk at Kraft, who originally offered up this recipe, named it for their Catalina French Dressing, which is a major part of the marinade. Since I make my own Catalina-inspired dressing, I’ve changed the name to the more generic ‘French’.
INGREDIENTS
Dressing (makes almost a pint):
•1/4 cup sugar
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp paprika
•1/4 teaspoon chili powder
•1/4 tsp celery salt
•1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
•About 1/4 large onion
•1/4 cup cider vinegar
•1/3 cup ketchup
•1/2 cup canola oil
Chicken:
•One batch of the recipe above, or, you could buy one, 16 oz., bottle of Catalina Dressing
•1/2 cup soy sauce
Chicken legs or wings (I used two packages of legs for a total of ten)
Make the dressing by placing the onion, sugar, spices, ketchup, and vinegar into a blender and pulsing to grate the onion. With the blender running, stream the oil in slowly through the hole in the lid to emulsify. Add the soy sauce and blend well.
Pour out 1/2 cup of the dressing mixture, cover, and set aside.
Pour the remaining dressing mixture over the chicken in a large zipper bag, press out the air and close.
Smoosh around a bit to work the dressing mixture well into the chicken and stash on rimmed dish in the fridge for at least a few hours or (best) overnight – flipping the bag when you think of it.
Heat the oven to 375º.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and place in a foil-lined baking pan (I also put mine on a rack lightly coated with cooking spray). Discard the marinade.
Bake the chicken for 45 minutes, brushing with the reserved 1/2 cup of dressing after twenty minutes, then flipping and brushing again after another ten minutes.
Serve with blue cheese dressing (gotta be Marie’s if I don’t make my own).
C’est ci bon!