Barbecue it Like Beckham - Lemon Miso Chicken

....And we're back!!!

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

1-1/2 to 2 lbs chicken tenders or chicken breast sliced into 1" strips
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.

Notes:
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.

Victory in Defeat: Revs get Porked, Riders get Pork

Saturday was my first chance to actually tailgate before a Revs game this year. I made it to the home opener, but I went to the Bruins-Rangers game at the Garden earlier in the afternoon. But with the Revs starting at 4:00, I just barely made it down to Foxboro in time to see kick-off.

I pulled another double-header, having attended the Bruins-Senators game in the afternoon. But this time I knew I'd have plenty of time to spare as the Revs game had a 7:30 kickoff.  So, as soon as the horn sounded signaling the end of the Bruins 3-2 victory, I hightailed it out of the Garden and onto the Orange Line at North Station to get my car at Sullivan Square.

As I got on 93 south, I rolled down the windows and popped open the sunroof.  It was sunny and 65 degrees. Ideal grilling weather. Even better, there weren't really any major traffic slowdowns to deal with, so I got down to the Stadium in about 30 minutes.  The only problem was that it was 4:30 and I'd had a half an hour to kill until the gates to the lot opened. So I did what I always do: hang out in the parking lot at the liquor store up the street.

So once 5:00 rolled around, I pulled into the Riders' lot. Now, as some, if not most, of you already know, the Riders have a new setup this year. Our lot has moved back to almost the same spot we used to have when Gillette opened back in 2002. So I pulled into a space along the back row and quickly set up shop. Get out the grill stand, get the grill out, uncover it and fire that baby up.

So the big question entering the week was what was I going to cook? Fortunately, the answer was easy to find. I had been gifted with a four plus pound center cut pork loin a few weeks ago by my friend Mandy. Sadly (for her) pork was no longer appealing for her in her pregnant state. So she offered it up gratis. And what's the first rule of schwag? Never say no to free schwag!

Now sometimes you could view this as dealing with house money - you can do anything you want with it and throw caution to the wind.  Or you could do it up right.  I chose the latter.  I love pork loin.  It's a perfect neutral medium, low in fat and cooks fast.  However, some of these benefits are also its undoing. It can be bland if not seasoned properly.  It can dry out like nothing.  And if a bunch of your friends keep kosher or are vegetarians, they won't eat it.  Not really a problem, but I needed a third drawback there.

I sat down in my dining room with a stack of cookbooks from my kitchen bookshelf and set out to find a couple of recipes.  Having found pounds of meat to prepare, I figured it might be nice to divide it in half and make two separate items.  I like variety.  And if one recipe didn't pull its weight, the other had a chance to make up for it.  Alas, this is the first recipe I came up with:

Grilled Pork Kebabs with West Indian Flavors
Adapted from The Cooks Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue


2 lbs boneless pork loin, cubed into 1 inch pieces

1/4 fresh lime juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 scallions, sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon dried or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Place all ingredients except pork in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Place pork in ziploc bag or plastic container and add marinade. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for at least three hours (preferably overnight).

To cook, remove pork from marinade and remove excess.  Grill over medium heat 3-5 minutes.  Turn over and grill 2-3 minutes longer.  Remove from heat and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.  Pork should be moist with a slightly pink center.

Notes:

This marinade is very much like a modified jerk seasoning.  There's a lot more lime juice and not nearly as many spices (much less allspice, no cinnamon).  The original recipe called for half of a habenero chile.  Sadly, my local supermarket was out of them, hence the serranos.  Being cautious, I omitted the seeds and ribs from the chiles.  But I think next time I'll leave a little bit in so as to add a little more heat. The citrus flavor of the limes really shined though.  It is essential that fresh squeezed juice is used.  The brightness and acidity are key.