My children's nanny is from the Philipines and prepares some absolutely delicious dinners for us whenever we ask her. However, ask as I might, she keeps these recipes close to the vest and just laughs whenever I ask her for a recipe or how she makes anything. I took it upon myself to make her an equally delicious chicken dish I thought she may enjoy. Tangy and sweet, savoury and delicious, it was hit with the whole family—and you know I'm not giving her the recipe!
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Filipino-Inspired Adobo Chicken Thighs
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 bay leaves
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup honey
Olive oil, for brushing
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Combine 1/4 cup vinegar, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, garlic and bay leaves in a resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken thighs and turn to coat evenly. Seal the bag and marinate the chicken for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat the grill to Medium.
Combine 1 cup of the remaining vinegar, the remaining soy sauce, and the honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and immediately turn down to a simmer. Continue to cook until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and is reduced by half, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Remove the chicken from the bag (discard marinade), and pat dry with paper towels. Brush the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on the grill and cook, turning frequently, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter, drizzle the vinegar-soy sauce over it, and serve
If you’ve never put pizza dough on the grill—it’s a must-do. After brushing the dough with olive oil you can place it directly on your cooking grates. After a few minutes on each side you end up with some of the best eats you’ve ever pulled off the grill. Similar to wood oven pizza it has an incredible crunchy exterior, with a deliciously soft middle, and a fantastic smokey undertone.
The grilled pizza recipe below is fantastic, but I also use the same method to make flat breads and bread for grilled sandwiches. It blows away anything you’ll find in the bakery aisle.
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Grilled Pizza with Ricotta Cheese, Fresh Tomatoes, Basil & Roasted Garlic
Adapted from Boy Meets Grill (my cookbook!)
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
2 (16-ounce) store-bought pizza dough
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
3 plum tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup basil, chiffonade
1 pound ricotta cheese, drained
2 tablespoons roasted garlic oil
Shaved Parmesan, for garnish
Preparation:
Separate each pizza dough into half giving you four equal parts.
Preheat grill to Medium-High heat. Flatten the dough, brush liberally with olive oil and throw on the grill. Grill on one side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Turn over and grill another 4 minutes.
Remove dough from the grill and place on a cookie sheet or a sheet of aluminum foil. Spread each with the mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. Place tablespoons of the ricotta around the edges of the crust.
Still on the aluminum foil, return pizza to the grill and close cover. Cook until cheese has melted, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Place on a platter, drizzle with roasted garlic oil, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cut into 4 and serve.
Appeared previously on grillInterrupted.com
While this warm weather means that many households turn their attention to baseball, soccer and other classic summertime sports—in our house ice hockey is always in season. I play twice a week throughout the spring, summer, winter and fall. But if hockey is off your radar this time of year, the amazing contest Dove Men+Care is running should bring it back. A $15,000 backyard rink with a hockey legend dropping the puck at your first game—I'm just mad I don't qualify to win!
Growing up in Canada with two British parents, soccer always held first ranking in our household. "Football" results from the UK were always the topic du jour and as a kid I played seven years of house league soccer. However, from the moment I was old enough to turn on the radio or TV, hockey was my true passion.
Late Saturday nights watching the games on TV or listening over the radio. Hours playing ball hockey on the street or practicing shots against the garage door. Years playing floor hockey in gymnasiums with flimsy red and blue sticks. While I learned how to skate, ice hockey was never an option I was given as a kid. I had friends who played, but the concept was just too foreign for my parents and I never got to play the sport I loved so dearly on skates. Hockey was early mornings and expensive equipment and drives to and from the rink. Soccer was a ball.
Fast forward to university and a couple of friends told me that York University had just completed building a brand new series of ice rinks. Part of the contract included free ice time for students to play shinny. They were all going—did I want to come along? I had skates and quickly wrangled up a pair of gloves and some shin pads from a buddy and raced over to the rink.
What I didn't know then was that I was about to begin a lifelong journey with the sport I had always only admired as a spectator. Every week at York we'd head out to the rink for a couple of hours of shinny and my skating would improve bit by bit. Then I signed up for the York house league and was in awe at the speed and grace of the players around me who had grown up on skates.
Soon I signed up for adult classes at a nearby rink, then a league, then more shinny—I was hooked. By the time I got married 14 years ago I was playing 3 nights a week. In the last decade and a half I figure I've played about 1,500 games of hockey, and I still can't get enough. I organize a game of shinny once a week, I play in leagues, I go for weekend pick-up games and tournaments. I'm a junky. It's as if I'm making up for lost time.
When I'm not at the rink playing, I'm there with my son watching his lessons or games. While marriage, work, kids and a sub-par pro team in my hometown has seen my hockey watching wane over the years—my love of the game has grown by leaps and bounds.
It doesn't matter if a game doesn't starts after midnight, or if I was out late the night before. I don't care if it's raining or snowing or if I've got a cold or achy joints. In fact, I can tell you that despite making my wife a deal that I wouldn't play in a hockey game within 24 hours of any of my kids being born, that I actually played only 23 hours after my son was born.
To me It's not a drag-your-ass off the couch to exercise kind of sport—it's a love of every bone-grinding, muscle-tensing, sweat-enducing, shift of pure enjoyment. I absolutely love this game. I plan on playing it until it won't have me any more.
This past year I even went so far as to put a rink in the backyard for my kids. Again, probably making up for my own childhood.. but what an experience! All winter my three kids get home from school, drop their bags and go skating in our backyard. My heart simply bursts with joy. My eldest daughter Emily is up early on school days to skate before the bus arrives—imagine!
It's taken hockey from being my own passion to a way in which our family can connect and spend time together. Now it's time for you to show your passion for hockey—and enter the Dove Men+Care contest.
YMC is giving you a chance to win a $100 worth of Dove Men+Care® Products!
Just leave a comment below telling me what you and your family loves about hockey.
You have to be a YMC member and you have until August 1, 2012 to enter. Please be sure you've registered your email address in our commenting system so we can contact you if you win.
Good luck!!
Wanna win a $15,000 backyard hockey rink?
Wanna become a neighbourhood hero by having a legendary player like Wendel Clark or Guy Carbonneau drop the puck at your backyard game?
Show your passion for hockey by uploading your favourite family hockey photo for a chance to win the Dove Men+Care® contest!
This post is proudy sponsored by our friends at Unilever Dove Men+Care®.
Visit www.familyhockeymoments.ca to enter the Dove Men+Care® Hockey Contest. Submit your family’s favourite hockey photos for a chance to win one of three $15,000 backyard rinks. Plus, one of two legendary hockey players--Wendel Clark or Guy Carbonneau--will drop the puck at one of your backyard games!
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