Glazed grilled chicken

Hot April so far. In the 90s here. So I stopped eating pasta because I just can’t stand the idea of eating something hot and heavy. I opted for grilled veggies and marinated chicken or hamburger. 

I wonder how do you grill in NYC without burning the entire unit? I guess you can use one of those indoor grill pan. I actually have a nice one for the winter, but it just ain’t the same my friends. I love grilling because it is a very healthy choice of cooking, even thought it can also be carcinogenic. 

I am actually not the one grilling. Shawn is. Ahahahah! Is it that weird, this gender phenomenon of equaling men to the grill. It’s such a machismo activity. I just don’t like to get hot and sweaty. 

Grilled orange glazed chicken

two big chicken breast 

two full big tablespoons of orange marmalade or apricot or pineapple

one full tablespoon of mustard

1/4 cup of soy sauce

Fresh pineapple cut in slices 

Green and red peppers (1 each)

mushrooms (one box)

For the chicken

put all ingredients in a bowl mix and blend very well. Place the chicken in the sauce and marinate the meat for one hour or longer if desire. Place in the fridge. 

In the meantime prepare all the vegetables for the grill by using a long wooden stick. Make sure to wet the stick because it prevents from burning on the grill. The peppers can be cut in squares while you can keep the mushrooms intact. 

The pineapple was simply cut in long slices and placed on the grill until it became gold and crispy. You can also try this other version I found on one of my favorite food blogs. I think she adds cinnamon on top. I just kept mine simple. 

After one hours you can place your meat, #veggies, and fruit on the #grill. The meat can take up to 20 minutes. It should be juicy inside and ‘glazy’ outside.

You can top the chicken with fresh pineapple or the grilled one. There is really no order on how to eat it.

 

homemade blackberry marmalade

I have been so bad with blogging. Gosh. I can’t even recap all the wonderful things that have happened in just a week. I will start with this recipe that I am enjoying right now. Talking about writing and eating. When I took a class on the environment and media, discussing food issues we read Pollan (of course) and Wendell Berry who once said, “Eating is a political act.” Anyway, as they were writing about the French paradox of eating foie gras, I would find myself eating exactly that foie gras. It helped that at the time I was in Italy and one of my mom’s friends from France had brought us some foie gras. The point is that you should really try to read about food and eat that food. It’s an experience that connects you even more to food.

Blackberry Marmalade

I don’t know the difference among jelly, marmalade, preservative and jam. In Italy we really just have one “Marmellata.” Again, this is just of the many examples of American food culture: processing food for marketable reasons and food obsessions. I must say I have gotten obsessed with the all healthy food and diet. What Pollan describes as the obsession of Americans to eat healthy and yet we are not, I had totally embraced it, unfortunately through Pollan and reading other scholars like Marion Nestle. Of course it is not their fault. It is the way I absorb their information that made me obsessed. Fortunately my friends told me to slow down and enjoy food again. So I am more into the slow food movement- Stop thinking about food- enjoy it.

Anyway, going back to my homemade recipe

a package of organic blackberries

one full tablespoon of sugar cane

one big spoon of agave

1/2 cup orange juice

All you need to do is put everything in a skillet on medium (for 2 minutes) and then low heat for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft and caramelized. If you don’t like the chunky fruit, use the mixer to smash it. I use this fruit sauce when it is warm on top of vanilla ice cream, or when cold on wheat bread.