More on cooking. This chapter, teriyaki chicken

First, we're not using any convenience stuff here. You're gonna make the teriyaki sauce yourself, no little bottles of pre-made marinade from the grocery.

Remember, this is about the satisfaction of the end product and the bits of yourself that you put into the meal. It's not about getting the meal ready fast because you have at LEAST a dozen other things to get done before you plop down in front of the tube.


Teriyaki sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tblsp sugar (or to taste, yes TASTE it as you're making it, otherwise you're not gonna know if it's worthy to serve to yourself)

Mix all above in a saucepan and warm just to bubbling on the stove. (Stove: that thing in your kitchen that you leave the plates from frozen microwaves meals on until you take the garbage out)

Now you have the sauce.

Time for the chicken.

2 lbs chicken breast, preferably boneless

You can cut the breasts into strips or bite size pieces if you like. I usually cut them into 4 pieces, so you have to cut them while eating.

This forces you to eat slower and enjoy your food. Really, it does.

Dip the chicken pieces into the sauce and place in asingle layer in a buttered baking pan. Pour the rest of the sauce over the chicken and put into a 350° oven (that thing behind the door on your stove, you remember the stove, right?) for 30 to 45 minutes.

After 30 minutes, baste the chicken every 5 minutes until done. Turning it over doesn't hurt either.

Done!

Serve with fresh bread, a nice salad and maybe some kind of mango-chili salsa* or fresh fruit of your choice.

Now, don't you feel better about the meal you just created? Honestly, 45 minutes is worth it.

Trust me on this.

*mango-chili salsa can be as simple as combining fresh mango cubes with the chili pepper of your choice, roasted chilis impart a yum factor of at least 7 to this.

1 cup mango cubes, bits and pieces (mangos are so much fun to remove from the seed)
1/4 cup roasted, peeled and seeded chili pepper (of your choice, although I recommend poblano or anaheim for those not attuned to the need for heat)

Mix the mango and chili together in a bowl. That simple.

You can complicate it a bit by adding some sweet onion, a bit of garlic, whatever.