Grilled Chicken Thighs with Lemon Glaze

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Lemon Glaze

No, I haven't forgotten about you. I've been busy with some other matters lately so I haven't had time to prepare dishes that have been blog worthy, however this recipe is timely, especially if you're grilling chicken this Labor Day weekend. I prepared this for some friends a couple of weeks ago and had some positive feedback so I wanted to share it here.

The Challenge

Successfully grill chicken evenly.

The Source

The grilled chicken method was adapted from pages 439-440 and the lemon glaze was adapted from page 448 of America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Third Edition: Cookware Rating Edition

Ingredients

2 quarts water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, breasts or drumsticks (I used thighs)
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (approximately 6 lemons)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

Method

1. Prepare your brine: Add the kosher salt and white sugar to the water and whisk to dissolve. Add the chicken pieces and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine and discard the brine. Dry the chicken pieces with a paper towel and season with freshly ground black pepper.

2. Cook the chicken: Preheat your grill and oil it if necessary. If using a charcoal grill, prepare it for indirect cooking. If using a gas grill, turn the burners down to medium-low. Grill the chicken pieces, skin side down, covered, (on the cooler side with the vents open, if using charcoal) for 20 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and golden. If the skin isn't crisp after 15 minutes, increase the heat to medium and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

3. Prepare the glaze: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and thyme in a small bowl while the chicken cooks over low heat.

4. Finish the chicken: Remove the cover from the grill and increase the heat to medium-high, turn the chicken over and cook (turn and place the chicken over direct heat if using charcoal), uncovered, until the second side is browned and the thickest portion of the chicken has reached the proper temperature (160° Fahrenheit for breasts, 175° Fahrenheit for thighs and drumsticks) 5 to 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, baste the glaze on the chicken.

Successful?

The strategy here is to grill the chicken over low heat in order to render the fat that is naturally in the chicken pieces to avoid flare-ups that can easily burn the skin, leaving raw chicken under it. After this has occurred, the chicken is cooked through to finish.

On a side note, I had the opportunity to meet several other food bloggers that live here in the San Francisco Bay Area recently at Cosecha Cafe in Oakland. In attendance was Rose of Magpie's Recipes, Joanne of Fifteen Spatulas, Gina of SP Cookie Queen, Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food and Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, and Patty of Patty's Food. Thanks to Joanne, who doesn't live in the area, but was in town visiting and organized the lunch.

From left to Right: Me, Rose, Joanne, Gina, Dianne and Patty. Used with permission from Joanne Ozug.

I don't do restaurant reviews, but I ordered the pork belly tacos which were flavorful and well balanced in flavor.

Spicy Beef and Sausage Ravioli with Roasted Tomato Onion and Garlic Marinara

Spicy Beef and Sausage Ravioli with Roasted Tomato Onion and Garlic Marinara

Within my first month of food blogging I went looking for a chicken parmesan recipe after I saw an advertisement while I was channel surfing one evening. I don't remember what the ad was trying to sell, but I remember it noting chicken parmesan. I ate the dish a few times during my trip to the Philippines to meet my wife's family and I immediately wanted to replicate the dish. I found a recipe from Pam of For the Love of Cooking that used a marinara sauce from scratch, but it required some equipment I didn't have at the time (an immersion blender and a Dutch oven), so I used store bought sauce.

With time, these issues have resolved themselves so I wanted to return to this recipe, in part, because I felt the original was incomplete without it. This also represented a perfect opportunity to show my appreciation for Kaitlin of I Can Cook That and use an item I won in the giveaway she hosted.

The Challenge

Successfully prepare the second half of a dish I cooked previously.

The Source

I used store-bought ravioli, but the sauce is adapted from For the Love of Cooking.

Ingredients

5-6 tomatoes (fresh from the garden if you can)
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced into chunks
5-6 cloves of garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of crushed red pepper (or more)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
Dried oregano, to taste
fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Parmesan cheese
1 package Buitoni Spicy Beef & Sausage Ravioli (or any other desired pasta)


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit and heat a large pot of water to a boil. Score the tomatoes by removing the stems, then gently cut an X on the bottom of the tomatoes. Blanch the tomatoes by adding them to the boiling water for 10-15 seconds. Remove from water and immediately put into an ice bath to stop any carryover cooking. Once the tomatoes have cooled, gently peel off the skin.

Scored Tomatoes

Blanching Tomatoes

Shocking Tomatoes in Ice Bath

2. Halve the tomatoes and put on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Arrange the onion chunks around the tomatoes. Put the garlic cloves inside the tomato halves so the tomatoes will help prevent the garlic from burning and infuses the tomato with the roasted garlic flavor. Season the tomatoes, garlic and onions with the dried basil, oregano, Kosher salt, and pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tomatoes, onions and garlic are tender, sweet and juicy. Do not over cook them because the tomatoes will dry up.

About to be Roasted

3. Remove the roasted tomatoes and onions from the oven and put in a large Dutch Oven with the crushed tomatoes and pureé with an immersion blender. Taste and re-season with sugar (if desired), basil, oregano, salt or pepper, if needed. Cover with a lid and simmer for 2 to 4 hours

Roasted Vegetables about to be Pureéd

Simmering

4. During the last 30 minutes, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Drop your pasta in the water and cook until 1 minute less than the box suggests, reserving 1 cup pf pasta water. Drain the pasta in a colander and place in a large saute pan over medium low heat. Add spoonfuls of the marinara and toss to coat. Thin out the sauce with the reserved pasta water if necessary. Garnish with parmesan and fresh basil. Serve immediately.

Ravioli Boiling

Successful?

The specific flavor of ravioli was a request by my wife. While I don't think I'd eat this specific ravioli filling again, the extra work with the sauce was definitely worth it, when compared to Michael Chiarello's recipe.

Lastly, I wanted to note here that I normally don't advocate the use of dried herbs but in the case roasting vegetables in step 2, fresh herbs would burn so this is an exception.

Tomatillo Shrimp Ceviche Soft Tacos

Tomatillo Shrimp Ceviche Soft Tacos

Unless it's about the food, I normally don't discuss appearances here but I guess I must address it. I gave this website a face lift. I found Alyx of Every Day is a New Adventure after seeing what she did with April's blog, Ape's Eats & Adventures. I think Alyx does good work and her pricing is reasonable, so if you're considering a redesign, please keep her in mind.

Also, of all the things I thought I'd eat with my blogging experience, I never thought I'd eat my words. Alas, please find and follow me on twitter, or use the social media button on the right side column.

You might remember I referred to April's website from a few months ago when I won a taco set giveaway she hosted, so I thought since April referred me to Alyx, this would present a perfect opportunity to use the items I won in her giveaway.

The items I won would have appeared here sooner, however they were delivered in less than satisfactory condition.

My intent here is not to embarrass April because she made good on her promise. However I have no problems taking shots at the United States Postal Service, especially considering recent cases of postal employees mistreating their packages. The employee who came to my doorstep said it was given to him in that condition. I can only imagine what happened to it along the way.

Ceviche caught my curiosity after seeing it featured frequently by contestants on Top Chef. My interest was further enhanced after I learned the unusual preparation method. The best explanation I could find is on Wikipedia. Essentially, seafood is cooked in citrus juice.

The Challenge

Successfully prepare seafood using a method not common to the United States.

The Source

Adapted from a recipe I found on Valentina's blog, Cooking on the Weekends.

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from about 3 limes)
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
3/4-pound fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined, and finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped tomatillo (about 1 large tomatillo)
1/3 cup finely chopped tomato, seeds removed (about 1 medium-sized tomato)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon super finely chopped Anaheim pepper, seeds removed
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
flour tortillas
Salsa verde

Method

1. "Cook" the shrimp: Combine the first three ingredients in non-reactive (either glass or stainless steel) bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for approximately 2 hours.

2. Season the ceviche: Stir in the vegetables (the tomatillo, tomato, onion, pepper and cilantro) re-cover and refrigerate for an additional hour, or until the shrimp appears completely opaque and slightly pink. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season generously to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Warm the tortillas in the microwave oven. Fill them with the ceviche and garnish with the salsa.

Successful?

Although I don't think I'd prepare this dish taco style again, I'd definitely prepare this ceviche again. It's flavorful, colorful, simple and you don't need to heat up your kitchen during warm weather. It's also one of the healthiest dishes I've prepared to date.

One final note regarding my last post. You can view more pictures from the event by Justin Yu Photography here