Cornmeal and Herb Crusted Chicken Drumsticks

It breaks my heart when I hear people say that they don't like chicken drumsticks. "It's too fatty." "There's a bone in it." "It's 'dark' meat...I don't like the concept of that." ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!? First excuse on the fattiness - ok, I can kind of accept that, but fat also = flavor. It's not like you're eating a stick of butter. Second excuse: a chicken was an animal. Animals have bones. You may as well eat worms if you're scared of bones. When cooking meat with bones in it you retain moisture and flavor. The third excuse....don't even get me started. Let's just stick with the scientific explanation that dark meat is dark because of myoglobin. Chickens need to run *or..at least chickens who aren't locked up in cages*....so their legs need more oxygen. Myoglobin stores oxygen and that's what gives dark meat its color.

So science and being irked by non drumstick eaters aside....I obviously enjoy eating it. It's inexpensive, juicy and is incredibly flavorful. I've cooked it various different ways, but this is my first time breading and baking. Let's just say I'll definitely do it again. I found a couple recipes and didn't like any one of them so I took bits and pieces from various recipes and made it my own. All the herbs I used are fresh from my garden and the bread crumbs are from
an old hunk of bread that I put in the food processor.

Ingredients:
8 Chicken Drumsticks
1/4 C Dijon Mustard
3 Tbs Mayonnaise
1 Tbs Worcesterchire Sauce
A Splash or two of Tobasco Sauce
1/3 C Plain Bread Crumbs
1/3 C Cornmeal
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/4 tsp fresh Rosemary
1 1/4 tsp fresh Thyme
1 1/4 tsp fresh Oregano
1 1/4 tsp fresh Sage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In small bowl, mix together the mustard, mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce and tobasco. In another dish combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, cayenne and chili powder. Chop up the fresh herbs all together and toss it in with the dry cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture. Working with one drumstick at a time, and using your hands, spread a thin layer of the mustard/mayo mixture all over the drumstick, then put it in the breadcrumb mixture, making sure to have the whole piece of chicken covered. Arrange the breaded chicken on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. When you poke a knife into it, the juice should come out clear (not pink). Let sit for a couple minutes (if you can wait that long - because I couldn't and ended up burning my tongue), and serve warm.