Griling Time: Bacon Wrapped Chicken

There are so many great recipes out there that include bacon in the ingredients. Every thing from seafood , vegetables, hotdogs, meat anything that can be wrapped in bacon and oh my the taste it will offer. Now me I consider myself a bacon fan. Love it always have and always will. I love this recipe for grilled bacon wrapped chicken drumsticks as well. I believe that chicken is very economical and there are so many ways to fix it. This recipe allows a great taste of meat to be even better with the flavor of grilling. The bacon offers a great taste with the saltiness and great flavor If you don't have time or like to grill these bacon wrapped chicken drumsticks are easily baked as well.

start with you will need
Chicken drumsticks, skin left on for maximum flavor
Extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Any other seasonings you'd like to throw on there: I used a simple mix of garlic and onion powders and just a hint of fresh or dried finger-rubbed thyme.
Thick sliced gourmet bacon: You can use any bacon you like but I prefer a nice thick-cut quality bacon with lots of flavor. Smoked types in particular.
Toothpicks

1. First of all, let your chicken come up to room temperature. While it is sitting, prepare a simple spice/herb seasoning for the chicken. Really, you can just use salt and pepper if you'd like. I typically use just a few dashes of onion and garlic powder and a hint of a savory herb like thyme, marjoram, or the like to add a bit more flavor. Mix these together in a bowl. Alternatively, you can use a small amount of any poultry seasoning mix you like but I think simplicity is the key here, the bacon and chicken are already a lot of flavor so you don't need to hide it with too complex flavors.
2. When your chicken is roughly room temp, drizzle them very lightly with extra virgin olive oil and rub into the drumsticks. You don't need a lot, the bacon will throw off fat as it cooks to further flavor and glaze the chicken. Rub a bit of the spice mix into the chicken over all the surfaces and then season generously with salt and pepper (the salt is important to bring out the flavors of all the other ingredients), gently pressing the seasoning into the surface of the chicken.
3. Finally, wrap each drumstick with a slice of bacon, wrapping around a couple times to cover much of the surface of the chicken meat. You can then secure the ends of the bacon with a tooth pick. If you have smaller drumsticks, you may prefer to use only half of a slice of bacon. Of note, in some bacon wrapped recipes, the bacon is partially cooked first. This is particularly important if you are wrapping a food which cooks quickly and would be done long before the bacon was done and crispy, such as bacon wrapped scallops or asparagus. In the case of bacon wrapped chicken, the chicken will cook for 15-25 minutes or more to be done throughout so the bacon will have ample time to crisp up without having to pre-cook at all.
4. Prepare a grill set up for indirect heat cooking. You want to adjust your grill to get a nice hot but moderate temp, ideally in the 400-450 degree range. If it is too cool, the chicken will take a long time to cook and the bacon may not crisp up nicely. If too hot, you'll start burning the edges of the bacon wrapped chicken before the inside of the chicken is done fully.
5. Once your grill is ready, throw those bad boys on there, on indirect heat, add your desired smoking wood and close the lid. For smoking woods, you can use anything really. Bacon and chicken are both great with a sweet smoke like apple wood but the bold flavor of the bacon can easily stand up to hickory or mesquite as well.
6. Grill the drumsticks approximately 15 to 25 minutes until they are cooked to an adequate temperature throughout. The exact time will vary depending on the temperature of your grill, the size of your drumsticks and other factors. As they cook, only open the lid to check on them periodically, keeping it closed as much as possible to retain heat and that yummy smoke. If they look like the surface is drying out a bit (not too likely since the bacon throws off a lot of fat) you can baste them gently with a small amount of olive oil once or twice.
7. That is pretty much it! I told you these bacon wrapped chicken drumsticks were easy! Simply take them off, cover then in foil and let them rest 5 minutes or so and then serve them up with your favorite sides; rice, beans, grilled veggies and more all make excellent accompaniment. And don't forget to warn your guests about the toothpick so that they don't stab themselves in the mouth!!!
Enjoy!

recipe resource here