General Tso's Sesame Grilled Chicken Drumsticks

I caved and got chicken. It's been hotter than Satan's ass crack and we've already exhausted our supply of tofu dogs and veggie burgers. And there is really only so much salad a human can eat, despite our CSA's assumption that we need four pounds of leafy greens per week. (Seriously. Four pounds.) So with outdoor grilling as the only option of releasing more heat into our surroundings (and drumsticks being 70 cents a pound), it seemed a reasonable choice. Or maybe it was just delirium brought on by dehydration. The marinade/sauce I used is a variant of my standard "Americanized Asian Restaurant Sauce" - I use iterations of it as a stir fry sauce, a dipping sauce, marinade, and pretty much anywhere you might find an Asian inspired recipe with garlic, ginger, or sesame. And I never really measure anything, but it doesn't seem to matter. You can see another iteration of it here.

Ingredients:
2ish lbs chicken drummers. Or legs or wings. Or tofu. Whatever.
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBS hoisin sauce
2 TBS mirin (rice wine - usually in the international aisle)
1 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS fresh ground ginger
1 tsp sriracha or sambal oelek (optional)
As much fresh garlic as you can stand to peel and dice
Couple scallions, sliced
Sesame seeds

Directions:
Mix everything together except the chicken and sesame seeds. Put the chicken in a big container, pour the mix over it, cover and shake it up. Stick it in the fridge and let it marinate at least an hour, preferably over night.

Light up grill on medium-high (450ish) and transfer the chicken to it when hot, reserving the marinade. Cook until nicely charred on one side, 3-5 minutes, flip and repeat. Turn down burners and hold the grill temp at about 350. Cook another 20 minutes depending on the size of your pieces, or until a meat thermometer reads 165. Turn burners to lowest setting. Brush reserved marinade on the up side of the chicken, sprinkle with sesame seeds, close the cover, and let it sit a couple of minutes. Flip once and repeat.

In the mean time, transfer any reserved marinade not being used for brushing to a small pot and boil it for 2 minutes. (Or put it in the microwave and do the same.)

Remove chicken from grill and allow to cool. Serve with leftover marinade as dipping sauce.

Sick Day Chicken Soup

Blarg. Sorry for not posting in a bit. I have been sick and mostly subsiding on bread and pretzels, as simple carbs appeared to be the only thing I could keep down. Yesterday, however, was a big day: Yesterday, I graduated to chicken soup! From a can. (It was gross.) Justin found this quite unacceptable and made some real chicken soup for me to have today (isn't he great) instead of more gross stuff. Since we have pretty much the same idea when it comes to chicken soup I don't feel bad putting a picture of the soup he made and giving you my recipe. It'll look and taste pretty much the same. There's nothing really special or unique about this recipe, but it's good, solid (and liquid), feel-better food.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 small onion, or 1/2 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 small potato, peeled and cubed
6 cups chicken broth
handful fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Egg Noodles, optional

Directions:
I like to use my 3 quart crock pot for this, but you could do it stove top.

Saute your onion and celery about 5 minutes or until just getting soft. (You can skip this step but it tastes better if you don't.) In the mean time, rinse chicken, pat dry, and season with a little salt and pepper. Put them in the bottom of your pot. On top, layer carrots, potato, then onions and celery. Pour in your chicken broth. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours (or cover and simmer on stovetop 30 minutes to an hour). I like the slow cooker here because when it's done, the chicken just falls apart and is super tender.

If you are going to use noodles, cook them separately 10 minutes before soup is done. Drain, and store separately from soup so they don't turn into soggy, half-disintegrated noodles. You can add them in serving by serving before reheating.

Five minutes before soup is done, toss in the parsley. You want it wilted, not super soggy.

Slurp down and feel healthy.