This year, I vowed to travel a little less, do a little less to give me more time with the family and building our little farm. That sounds like a great plan UNTIL you get an offer to visit Oregon and Washington wine regions to dine, sip and savor on a press trip courtesy of Columbia Crest Winery and Erath Winery. sigh…what’s a girl to do? Well, I did the right thing and handed over the opportunity to Steamy Kitchen assistants, Adam and Joanne to go in my place. If you think that they have one of the best jobs in the world, perhaps they do. I also sent Joanne to the Parma region in Italy – she’s there right now and you can be sure she’s dining, sippin’, savorin’ all day and night.

Coincidentally, I’m doing the same here at home – dining on my son’s last half of the banana he didn’t want, sipping on cold coffee and savoring every moment right now because Nathan is on my lap helping me type. 

Anyways, one of the food highlights of their Oregon & Washington state trips was meeting Chef Tom Douglas – read about their trip and enjoy a recipe from Chef Tom Douglas’ cookbook! ~Jaden

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A few weeks ago, Adam and I had an opportunity to learn all about Washington and Oregon’s bounty and woah, did we learn! The moment we stepped foot off the plane, we had one mission – Pike’s Place, Pike’s Place, Pike’s Place! It was amazing, all the produce, flowers, seafood, meats, cheeses and samples of it all – we rocked the samples!

The next day, we traveled to Columbia Crest Winery. There is Juan Munoz Oca, the head winemaker, he was brimming with passion. It was as though wine was in his blood, as a child he watched and helped his father and even grandfather make wine. When looking around the room as he spoke about his family and his passion, everyone seemed to be smiling, we were all lost in his words.

After a walk through the barrel rooms, Juan poured us a glass of Chardonnay and led us out to the vines, the weather was hot, dry and sunny, typical of Southeastern Washington, something that totally took me off guard (I guess we had Seattle in mind). See the dirt, how dry it is? Apparently, that is exactly what Juan wants to see for the vines they grow at Columbia Crest, he explained the “naked soil” actually forces the vines to focus more on the grapes, not the rest of the plant — if only that would happen with our indoor plants at home!

The other winery we had the chance to visit was Erath, located in Oregon and known for their Pinot Noirs, one of Adam’s favorites! The landscape, soil and weather seemed to be complete opposites to what we saw at Columbia Crest. In this case, the soil was nutrient-rich, almost red in color. The landscape was rolling green hill after green hill and the weather was temperate, warm, but not nearly as hot as the day before. It was breathtaking and apparently, the best climate for Pinot Noir!

There we are with the head winemaker for Erath, Gary Horner, who was just as kind and passionate about his craft as Juan was. It was such a treat to meet Gary, we actually served Erath Pinot Noir at our wedding, can you believe that?

The trip really was so much fun, we were blessed with amazing weather, the opportunity to meet some fun and interesting people and of course, drink fabulous wine! From Columbia Crest, we really enjoyed their Grand Estate wines, which we can easily find in our local stores for a reasonable price, but you can also take a look around their online store to try other wines they offer. As for Erath, we served their Oregon Pinot Noir at our wedding and loved it, we can find that at our local stores, too, but they have quite few more to choose from if you go online to their website.

One of the evenings was spent at the Dahlia Lounge in Seattle, a restaurant by Chef Tom Douglas. The menu focused on everything we traveled to Washington/Oregon to see, all it’s bounty, from the fresh local produce to fantastic wines. A cool keepsake from the trip was a signed copy of Seattle Kitchen, A Food Lover’s Cookbook and Guide by Tom Douglas, which is where we came across this Honey Soy Glaze recipe. You could use it as a marinade/glaze for meats, seafood and even vegetables. We recommend using a barbeque, if you have it, but the oven broiler will do the job just fine!

-Joanne and Adam

How to Make Grilled Honey Soy Glazed Chicken

To make the marinade/glaze, you will need oil, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and red pepper flakes. Just whisk everything together.

Pour the marinade over the chicken, we went with drumsticks, but you could use chicken breasts or thighs if you wanted too. Allow the chicken to marinate for about 30 minutes.

Then, remove chicken from the marinade and grill the chicken over medium heat until the skin is crisp and juices run clear, turning to cook all sides, about 25 minutes. You could also broil the chicken — preheat your broiler and broil, turning a few times during cooking, until cooked through – about 20-25 minutes.

Grilled Honey Soy Glazed Chicken

Recipe adapted from Seattle Kitchen, A Food Lover's Cookbook and Guide by Tom Douglas. The chicken can be replaced with fish or even vegetables, such as eggplant depending on your preferences.
Make Ahead: The marinade/glaze can be made up to one week ahead of time and kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.
Sub your favorite Gluten-Free tamari sauce for the soy sauce if needed.</p>
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 , 2 drumsticks each

Ingredients
  

FOR THE GLAZE:

  • 1/4 cup Honey
  • 1/4 cup vegetable or peanut oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

FOR THE CHICKEN:

  • 12 Chicken Drumsticks
  • lemon wedges for serving

Instructions
 

  • To make the marinade/glaze, whisk together the honey, oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes.
  • In a baking dish, resealable bag or container, marinate the chicken in the glaze for 30 minutes.
  • Grill or broil the chicken, medium heat, on both sides until the skin is crispy and juices run clear or the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, about 25-30 minutes. Be careful not to burn the chicken, the honey will char easily. Moving the chicken to a cooler part of the grill, if grilling, or moving the chicken further from the broiler, may be necessary.
  • Serve chicken with a squeeze of lemon.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!