Hello again. I know it's been a while, but such is the life of a multi-sport season ticket holder in New England. With the Bruins making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, most of my free time has been spent at the TD Bank Garden (and the Four's). It's not that I don't care about the Revs - far from it. It's just that Jon's rule of conflicting sporting events has had to be invoked more than ever in the last month and a half.
For those unfamiliar with this edict, it's quite simple: When you have tickets to two or more sporting events that take place at the same time, the game with more on the line always takes precedence. Playoff game vs. regular season? No question - always the playoff game.
And speaking of the Bruins, I was at game 7 against the Lightning Friday night. Simply put, it was one of the greatest nights of my life, sporting-event wise. And because I was in such a good mood, I stayed out late to celebrate. I may have even had a celebratory libation or two (or eight).
Alas, when Saturday morning rolled around, I was hurting. I was happy, but man was I hungover. And with the Revs-Galaxy game that night, I hadn't prepared any food yet. Hurting and empty-handed, what to do?
I had a bunch of chicken tenders I picked up earlier in the week on sale at Market Basket. Already trimmed, they would need minimal preparation. But I needed a marinade. Something easy (my head was pounding and I wanted to get back in bed), but tasty.
So I popped open Weber's Real Grilling and literally opened it right to the poultry section. Even better, I came across a recipe I hadn't ever seen before - Lemon Miso Chicken. Ever since I picked up a container of white miso on my last trip to H-Mart in Burlington, I've been looking for recipes with which to use it. So this was a great find. But how would it taste? There was only one way to find out.
Lemon Miso Chicken
Adapted from Weber's Real Grilling by Jamie Purviance
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp toasted seasme oil
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tbsp siracha or hot sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tbsp ground black pepper
Place chicken in a ziploc bag. In a bowl, combine all other ingredients and pour into bag. Seal the bag, pressing the air out as you close it. Mix the contents to distribute the marinade evenly. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours (overnight works best).
To cook, grill over medium heat, 4-5 minutes a side, flipping the chicken over once. Chicken should be moist and the juices running clear.
The original recipe called for red miso, canola oil and tabasco. I only had white miso on hand. The red miso will have a deeper flavor, but the white worked just fine here. I replaced the canola oil with the chili oil to give the marinade a little more kick. And I just could not bring myself to use tabasco in an asian style marinade, so I used siracha, which gave a nice, gentile spice kick at the end. If you have chili garlic sauce on hand, I'm sure you could use that as well.
This came out amazing. The meat was nice and juicy and the marinade was just so very different from other soy based marinades I've used in the past. The siracha gave a very gentile heat to the dish. This recipe was so good, in fact, that I made it again the next day for my Memorial day cookout.
