Tangerine Teriyaki Chicken

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!




1 cup fresh tangerine juice (from 3 to 5 tangerines)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey
4 strips tangerine zest (each about 1-1/2 by 1/2 inch)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and gently crushed with the side of a cleaver
2 scallions, trimmed, white parts gently crushed with the side of a cleaver, green parts thinly sliced
2 slices fresh ginger (each 1/4 inch thick), peeled and gently crushed with the side of a cleaver
1 cinnamon stick (2 inches long)
2 to 3 tablespoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds


Place the tangerine juice in a nonreactive saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Let boil until reduced by half. Add the soy sauce, honey, tangerine zest, garlic, scallion whites, ginger, cinnamon stick, and 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil. Let the mixture boil until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool to room temperature.


Trim any sinew or excess fat off the chicken breasts and discard. Rinse the breasts under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Place the breasts in a nonreactive baking dish.

Pour half of the tangerine mixture over the chicken, turning to coat both sides. Set the rest of the tangerine mixture aside; you'll use it as a glaze. Let the chicken marinate for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator, covered, turning the breasts once or twice so that they marinate evenly.


Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.


When ready to cook, drain the marinade from the chicken and discard the marinade. Brush and oil the grill grate. Lightly brush each breast with some of the sesame oil. Arrange the chicken breasts on the hot grate, placing them on a diagonal to the bars. Grill the breasts for 2 minutes, then brush them with more sesame oil and rotate them a quarter turn to create an attractive crosshatch of grill marks. Continue grilling the breasts on that side for 2 minutes longer. Turn the breasts over and grill until cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes longer, again rotating them after 2 minutes. The total cooking time will be 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. To test for doneness, poke a breast in the thickest part with your finger; it should feel firm to the touch. During the last 2 minutes of grilling, using a clean brush, baste the breasts with the reserved glaze.


Transfer the grilled chicken breasts to plates or a platter and pour any remaining glaze over them. For a fancier presentation, you can slice the chicken breasts crosswise on the diagonal and fan out the slices. Sprinkle the scallion greens and sesame seeds over the chicken and serve.

The Naked Race: Roskilde

This is the 3rd summer I have traveled all the way to Roskilde, Denmark to camp in the open, drink my fill of booze, listen to some great bands, oh and look at a bunch of Vikings run around butt-naked the last Saturday before the end of the festival. Though more and more, not all the participants are actually Scandinavian. As this summer there were some Americans, Europeans and even someone from Brazil guy who came all the way from South America just so he could run around in his Birthday suit (He tried to register for the race too late and wasn't allowed to participate). Only 15 males and 15 females are allowed to compete in the race, and the spots for male racers fills up about 5 times as fast as it does for the ladies. Which just goes to show you that men like to get naked and show off their goods more than the ladies do ( Such a shame, though some of the participants really should never be naked in public if you ask me).


The Naked Race itself is not officially part of the 10 day long Roskilde Music Festival, as it is (mainly) sponsored by the local Roskilde Radio Station. It started something like 10 plus years ago with only a few people participating, with the male and female winner of the (mini) race getting free tickets to Roskilde for the following year as a prize. Tickets are currently over 300 bucks US, and continuing to rise. So it is not actually too bad of a prize, especially with the current economic situation. I believe they also get free drinks at some of the local bar within the festival as well, which is not too bad of a prize as well. Though I didn't see any of the participants heading over towards Gringo's bar this summer, like they normally do. In fact there were no previous runners from the 1st two times I observed the race present, which I thought was rather odd. Especially since some of the same exact people have been participating, and winning, for the past 7 or 8 years. Some friends of mine actually plan to race next summer, but we will see if they actually go through with it. There are a lot of people with cameras there and you are naked for at least 30 minutes in public if you count all the pre and post interviews, the race itself and then the meet and drink afterwards.