Asian-style baked drumsticks with dill side dressing, crispy oven fries, and a carrot-celery slaw with toasted garlic and lemon dressing

Wheeeeeeeeeww, now that was a long name! But in all seriousness, this was so worthy of its long winded title.

Now, for my birthday my loving mother just knew that I would be dying for the new Anthony Sedlak cookbook, "The Main". If you haven't seen BC's newest heartthrob on the Canadian Food Network then let me tell you, you are definitely missing out. So here we are, making our way slowly through each main he has in the book, word for word, or should I say ingredient for ingredient, but it seems that Ian and I have become stuck on this one recipe.

The book originally calls for chicken wings instead of drumsticks and blue cheese instead of dill dressing, but the first time we made this recipe it was good, but not great. And so over the past months we had set out to perfect this chicken dish, and hit the jackpot on the second try. Now it is just too good to pass up and every time we get out "The Main" to try a new recipe we end up drooling on page 31 and head to the store in search of drumsticks and dill (you can tell that we like it because the pages are stuck together and splattered with all types of sauce and food.).

Oddly enough the dinky little coleslaw brings the whole meal together. I don't know how and really, I don't care. I'm sure that is what Mr.Sedlak and his lackeys are paid for, not me.
I would like to say one thing though, if you don't have something to julienne the celery, then do not, I repeat, do not attempt the slaw. I personally do not own one and I don't know why, but every time I actually attempt this grueling task and sit for almost an hour cutting teeny tiny little match sticks, by the end I'm often convinced that I should just check myself into the insane asylum and save myself the trouble. Enjoy!

Baked Asian Spiced Chicken Drumsticks
adapted from "The Main" Anthony Sedlak

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup chopped cilantro stems
1 x bunch green onion, coarsely chopped
4 x cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp hot sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 x 1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
10-12 chicken drumsticks
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Carrot Celery Slaw
4 x celery stalks, julienned
1 x large carrot, julienned
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 x cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

Baked French Fries
8 russet potatoes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
salt, pepper, and Italian spices

Dill Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp grated onion
4 tbsp fresh dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Baked Asian Spiced Chicken Drumsticks
In a large bowl mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, cilantro stems, green onion, garlic, ginger, hot sauce, and sesame oil. Add chicken and marinate 20 minutes - up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Transfer chicken wings to a large ovenproof dish. Pour extra marinade over wings. Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350F and bake another 40-45 minutes.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Carrot Celery Slaw
In a medium bowl, mix celery and carrot to combine.
In a small skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from heat and add oil to celery and carrot.
Add lemon juice and toss to combine.
Season with salt and pepper

Baked French Fries
Wash potatoes with skin on. Cut potatoes into any sized fries you would like. Place in cold water for 20min. then pat dry with a towel. Toss with oil and spices then spread out on baking sheet and bake at 375F for 40 min. Flip fries half way through.

Dill Dressing
In a medium bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, onion, dill weed, and salt. Mix all together, cover, and refrigerate.