The Small Town Chef

Sticky, smoky, sweet and just spicy enough—with fresh pineapple getting its own turn on the grill. There are certain recipes that almost seem made for summer grilling, and Huli Huli chicken is one of them. Sweet pineapple, salty soy, ginger, garlic and a sticky glaze hitting a hot grill? I'm already interested. Add juicy chicken thighs, fresh pineapple rounds and a couple of jalapeños straight from the garden, and now we're talking. Huli Huli chicken is Hawaiian-style grilled chicken marinated and glazed with a sweet-savory mixture of pineapple, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic. My version uses boneless chicken thighs, fresh grilled pineapple and garden jalapeños for a little extra heat. Huli Huli chicken originated in Hawai‘i in the 1950s, when Ernest Morgado began grilling his teriyaki-style chicken for gatherings and fundraisers. Huli means “turn”—a reference to turning the chicken over the fire as it cooked. That repeated turning and glazing is still part of what ...

Big beef flavor, a crisp fat cap, and just enough drama for a small backyard gathering. There are certain cuts of beef that make people stop talking when they hit the table. Picanha is one of them. It’s bold, beautifully beefy, surprisingly easy to grill, and just different enough to make dinner feel like an occasion. I especially like it for smaller get-togethers because one roast feeds several people without committing me to an enormous brisket—or trapping me at the grill cooking individual steaks all evening. The real magic, though, is that fat cap . Cook it properly and it becomes deeply browned and crisp around the edges while slowly basting the beef underneath. Rush it, trim it away, or fail to render it, and you’ve missed the entire point.   What Is Picanha? Picanha is the triangular muscle located at the top of the sirloin. In American butcher shops, it may be labeled   top sirloin cap , sirloin cap, rump cap, or coulotte . Unlike an ordinary sirloin roast, picanha sh...