Grilled Chicken in Citrus Marinade

I love to cook.

I also love to share the food I cook.

This week and next week I'm sharing my dinners with my sister-in-law Maria who has a newborn.

Last night's dinner was grilled chicken in a citrus marinade.

As I was cooking, I became so disappointed at how it was turning out, dinner was almost a disaster.

Small scale, of course.

You know when you're making a meal to share with another family--how you want it to come out perfectly?

And then you feel like it's a disaster--and you want to order them a pizza instead?

I had a vision of perfectly grilled chicken with crisp, flavorful skin and juicy, moist meat.

Didn't happen.

This just goes to show you, though--don't give up.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

I went to the local Mexican market. I like that market because the butcher is really nice and helps me find good cuts.

It reminds me of Center Market, in West Covina, when I was little.

The chicken looked good, so I bought 4 leg quarters and two whole breasts.

When I saw the chicken, that's when I had the vision of making the perfectly grilled chicken with the crisp, flavorful skin and juicy, moist meat.

In my head I'm thinking--pollo asada, yum! 

When I got home, I trimmed up the leg quarters, cutting off the globs of fat and extra skin.

Then I cut the breasts in half and put the pieces into a large bowl.

For the citrus marinade, I basically made it the same way as I did for carne asada.

This time I used an electric juicer.

Limes.

Grapefruit.

An orange.

Lemons too.

That's about 3 cups of mixed citrus juice.

I added one bunch of cilantro, chopped.

And four cloves of garlic, roughly chopped.

1/4 large onion, sliced, goes into the bowl.

Along with a half-cup of white vinegar,

2 teaspoons cumin,

1 tablespoon black pepper,

1/2 teaspoon cayenne,

1 teaspoon paprika,

And 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Salt, too, about 2 teaspoons.

I have some parsley, rosemary and oregano growing outside, but dried ones work well too.

I also like to add thyme, but I didn't have any today.

Strip the leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop, then add to the bowl.

Then I added about a tablespoon of honey.

I think jalapeños make everything taste good.

But some people in my family don't like too much heat, so I take the veins and seeds out.

Best wear kitchen gloves when handling hot peppers.

The juice can really sting, especially if you touch your eyes, so be careful.

Chop them up and add to the marinade.

Stir it well so the honey is combined into the marinade.

Then pour it over the chicken in a large bowl.

I remembered I had some smoked paprika and added a tablespoon.

Mix well and refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.

I'm doing great up until this point.

I started the barbecue and put the heat on the lowest setting.

It usually works really well.

I had visions of the chicken cooking slowly, the skin getting a nice golden brown, and the meat being juicy.

I should have known better.

See those flames on the sides?

I usually always take the skin off the chicken before grilling, or buy boneless, skinless chicken.

But cooking the chicken bone-in is so much tastier, so I thought I'd do it that way.

Ha!

I closed the lid of the barbecue, went inside to do a few other things, and when I went outside to check on it after five minutes,

THE WHOLE THING WAS IN FLAMES!!!

Smoke and flames were shooting out of the barbecue!

Yikes!

I wish I would have taken a picture.

The skin of the chicken was totally black, charred and stuck to the grill.

My heart sank.

There went my perfect dinner.

I couldn't even take the chicken off the grill, I had to run inside and get the big, heavy-duty metal spatula to scrape underneath the chicken.

Then I got to thinking...

They shouldn't eat the skin anyway. 

It's not good for you.

I took the skin off and finished cooking the chicken.

See that big chunk missing?

It stayed on the grill.

Burnt!

These turned out okay.

When I went inside, let them sit for ten minutes, and cut them apart, two weren't quite done, they had to go back on the grill.

That's the best breast, and when I took the skin off, removed it from the bone and sliced it, it was juicy and perfectly done.

Yay!

Meanwhile, Karen called on her way home from work, we chatted for about 45 minutes, then I called Maria and chatted with her for awhile.

I'm thinking...

Okay.

Disaster averted.

I'm packaging up Maria's dinner and started thinking...

Gee...I thought I bought 4 leg quarters...

YIIIIIIKES!!!

I still had two leg quarters on the grill!!!

The bottoms were totally charred after being out there for over an hour!

By then I was over my vision of the perfect dinner and cut all the charred part off thinking...

My brother-in-law will totally eat these.

When my brother-in-law came over on his way home from work to pick up dinner, he was very appreciative.

It looks pretty good!



Okay.

I realize that I may be a bit of a perfectionist.


I wish I would have taken a picture of the flames and smoke shooting out of the barbecue.

That was a sight to see.


Now, it's almost...funny.




Itadakimasu!




***




Today's my mother-in-law's 88th birthday.

She was born here in the US, but her whole family moved back to Japan when she was little.

When she was in grade school, she said she was really good at throwing an iron ball.

O-Baachan was a shot putter?!

Yes, she was!

There she is, in the back row on the left, wearing the kimono.

She came to the US in her 20's to visit her sister in San Francisco,

 met and married my father-in-law, and has been here ever since.

This is my favorite photo of her.

She looks fun.

O-Baachan loves jigsaw puzzles.

She's working on a really difficult one right now.

2000 pieces.

She says,

"Eeeeem-possible!"

O-Baachan and me.

 And her dog, Cha-Cha.

In Japanese culture, the 88th birthday is a milestone.

The way Beiju, or 88, is written in Japanese is also the kanji for kome--rice. Rice is an integral part of Japanese culture and symbolizes purity, goodness, wealth, and nutrition.

At Leisure Club this week, the senior citizens at the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center got a package of kohaku manju to celebrate my mother-in-law's special birthday.

Kohaku manju is made for celebrations, the character 'kotobuki' is stamped onto the manju and means 'congratulations.' 

Kotobuki is also used for longevity.

Happy 88th Birthday, O-Baachan!

Big thanks to Brian Kito at Fugetsu-Do Confectionery for preparing the kohaku manju for us!

No printable recipe for this one, yet.

Cinco de Mayo Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

This salad was inspired by the Mexican Caesar Salad at El Torito Restaurant.

I used to always buy the dressing from the restaurant, but the one nearby closed, so I've had to learn how to make a pepita dressing at home.

This salad is perfect to serve along side carne asada or fish tacos for Cinco de Mayo--or any day!

Make a salad with all the fixings--romaine & red leaf lettuce, red cabbage, tomatoes, black olives, yellow peppers, black beans, corn, etc.

Make it with everything you like in it.

Here are the ingredients for the dressing:

2 anaheim chiles, roasted and peeled (canned or fresh)

2 cups avocado

1/3 cup roasted pepitas

1/3 cup cotija cheese

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 bunches fresh cilantro

1 cup water

 Put all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend.

Add enough water, a little at a time, until the dressing turns itself over in the blender.

Canned Ortega chiles are a lot less trouble than roasting fresh.

 No need to cut them up, they'll get blended.

1 teaspoon pepper, unless you're a pepper lover, then add 2.

Add 1 teaspoon salt.

The cotija cheese is salty, so 1 teaspoon is enough.

Add 1/3 cup crumbled cheese.

This avocado is starting to get a little old, but the skin still comes off in one piece.

When they get older, the skin breaks into pieces--that's when it's better to scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

About 2 cups of avocado is about 3 medium sized ones.

Here's a good one, the skin comes away easily and clean.

Perfectly ripe.

The 2 cups doesn't need to be firmly packed.

Add the pepitas and cilantro into the blender.

Then add the lemon and lime juice.

Blend.

Add water, a little at a time, until the dressing is mixed thoroughly.

This is a little thick, but it's good like that, too.

You can make this a day ahead, the lime juice will keep it from turning brown.

Mix the dressing into the salad.

That's looking good!

Fry a few thinly sliced tortillas in hot oil to make some crispies for the top of the salad.

I like to add some cotija cheese crumbles and sliced avocado in my salad, even though it's in the dressing.

¡Buen provecho!

(Enjoy your meal!)

***

This is my niece Paige.

When she was little, she said a lot of funny things that we all remember.

We call them Paige-isms.

We all say them from time to time and I remember Paige at the age she said them.

When Paige was about this age, she said,

"I seen him bottom."

She saw Grandpa, in a towel, coming out of the bathroom after a shower.

We say that whenever we see something really funny.

Paige-ism:

"Let me pitch."

The kids were playing baseball in Grandma's front yard.

Paige must have said, "Let me pitch." a hundred times.

We say that whenever we want our turn at something.

Paige-ism:

"Aaaaaaaah---CO-CO-NUT!"

Paige loves See's candy.

When she was little she used to gaze into a box of See's candy and carefully make her choice.

She bit into a chocolate, and yelled,

"Aaaaaaaah--CO-CO-NUT!"

While running to the bathroom to spit out the candy.

We say that whenever there's something we really don't like.

Rick, Karen, Gary and I went to a benefit concert several years ago to see a wide array of artists sing for a cause.

I don't really remember who was there or what the cause was.

But I definitely remember one artist.

Karen said,

"Aaaaaaah--CO-CO-NUT!'" 

When Dwight Yoakam started singing.

Paige-isms pop up at the funniest times.

Gary and I traveled to San Jose over the weekend and listened to a country radio station broadcasting from Bakersfield.

When I heard a song by Dwight Yoakam, I thought of Karen, Paige,

And coconut.

Paige and her family now live in Hawaii.

We don't get to see her often enough.

She will be visiting this summer for a family wedding.

We're looking forward to seeing her.

And maybe look for another Paige-ism.

Love you, Paige!

Can't wait to see you!

No printable recipe for this one, yet.

Children's Day

When I was a little girl, Girl's Day was March 3rd and Boy's Day was May 5th in Japanese-American culture.

Now, the two have been combined into one day, Children's Day, celebrated on May 5th.

At Fugetsu-Do, the Japanese sweet shop in LA's Little Tokyo, there's a new manju to commemorate Children's Day.

I happened to discover it on a recent trip there.

This is how it comes packaged.

I love this pancake-like manju, so I was excited to see something new.

It's in the shape of koi!

It has a sweet paste inside made from chestnuts.

Kuri, in Japanese.

It's perfect with a cup of o-cha, Japanese green tea.

Even on a warm day.

Itadakimasu!

***

This is 'koi no bori,' a koi flag. 

It's hanging outside the front door of my brother-in-law's home in celebration of the birth of their son.

In the not-so-far future, this little guy will most likely be participating in Children's Day celebrations just like my kids did when they were little.

When my kids were little, we'd take them to the Children's Day celebration in Little Tokyo.

There, they have games, crafts and food booths for the kids.

Here they are at the finish line for the Chibi-K Fun Run, years ago.

My nephew Wes is in the blue shorts.

He's getting married this summer.

Time goes by fast.

Take a lot of photos.

No printable recipe.