From my cookbook…Grilled chicken thighs. Just in time for summer!
There are over 300 recipes in my recently published cookbook. I’d like to share my most requested one with you.
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us. A Short Story
I recently published my cookbook, Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us (Note 1), which contains over 300 of my family and friends’ favorite family-style recipes. A few of these recipes from my grandparents go back almost 100 years. It has been a long journey to reach this milestone, culminating in the publication of the cookbook.
I started cooking and collecting recipes in the late 1980s. It began when I was recently hired by American Airlines and in DFW for training on how to maintain MD80 aircraft, likely in January 1988. I was on my way home and killing time at a newsstand at the airport when I saw a postcard with a picture of a beer and a bowl of chili, which read, “Texas Red and a Long Neck,” from Lone Star Brewing Company. So I bought it.
Later, after I got home, I made it. I discovered two things at that time: One, it was good chili, and two, I enjoyed cooking. Truth be told, I enjoyed eating more than cooking, but the cooking was a means to an end that brought me to where I am today, with a genuine love of cooking and enjoying good food.
As of July 2025, I have compiled over 8,000 recipes in three-ring binders, collected from various sources, including family and friends, TV shows and movies, magazines, newspapers, the internet, and, of course, my own creations. I have all of them logged in a detailed index that can be sorted and searched. In years past, I would handwrite the recipe on a piece of paper or type it up in Word. I did not save many of those to a disk, so all I had were scraps of paper in a drawer, and it only made me mad trying to find the recipe I wanted. Ugh! I just had to do something better, and the three-ring binders and index were the answers.
Here’s what I do now. I’ll find a dish that I think I would like, usually from a restaurant I’ve been to, a magazine, TV, or the internet. I consult multiple sources for similar dishes and create a recipe tailored to my tastes and cooking techniques. Then, I cook it. Sometimes it works out as written. Often, it does not, and I must adjust and tinker with it to achieve the taste and techniques I want. I then cook the dish again with the changes I’ve made. If I’m happy with it, then I serve it to family and friends and listen to their feedback. Or cook it again. In the case of the chili, I’ve changed it many times over the years since 1988, to the point where I was able to win a chili cookoff at a church cookoff, and I finally had something I liked. No more changes! At that point, the recipe is indexed and placed in the binder for future reference. Many people prefer to store their recipes electronically to save space (yes, my cookbook is also available in a Kindle edition), and I understand that. However, I must tell you that some of my most cherished possessions are handwritten, food-stained recipes given to me by my mother and other family members.
In 2019, after my mother passed (my father previously passed in 2013), I started thinking about all the joy good cooking and meals had brought me, all my immediate and extended family and friends. I wanted to preserve those memories and share them with family, friends, and those who love to cook and enjoy good food. People like you. Almost every recipe in my cookbook has a story that accompanies it, along with the techniques and tips needed to reproduce it accurately, ensuring consistent results. No guesswork here, many of the recipes have been repeatedly cooked over many years, just like the chili recipe I mentioned.
I concluded the best way to preserve the recipes and stories that were dear to me was to put them in a cookbook. The immediate problem was that many of the recipes, including mine, were handwritten on scraps of paper or typed up in a rough form, as previously mentioned. So, I started going through each of the over 300 original family or friend recipes, one by one. I typed them in a standard format and then re-cooked them. I made notes on the tips I had learned over the years, but just had never documented. If the recipe was flawless, I took a picture of the just-cooked dish with my iPhone, added the photo to the final version of the recipe, and that recipe was complete. If changes were needed, I made the necessary adjustments and cooked the dish again.
Do you know how much time and money go into recooking over 300 recipes, some of which need to be prepared multiple times to ensure they are fit to publish in a cookbook? Yeah, it’s a lot, and it took me several years. And because most of the recipes are family-style, designed for leftovers during the workweek, I had a lot of food. Family and neighbors certainly appreciated what my wife, Diane, and I couldn’t eat, and I gave away a lot of food. My doctor also noticed the several-year weight gain, which is likely due to my excessive consumption of this delicious food. That’s not a joke, it’s true.
I then compiled all the recipes into a single Word document, adding a wealth of additional information about setting up your kitchen, essential tools to own and use, and other kitchen tips and techniques to make cooking more enjoyable and economical. As you read the book, you will see that I am committed to saving time, money, and reducing waste in the kitchen.
I decided not to try to find a publisher and would self-publish the book on Amazon instead. A neighbor with experience in publishing books on Amazon and proficiency in web design helped me with both my cookbook and the website on which you are viewing this post. She is so creative! I credit her in the book; I could never have done it without her! That being said, developing this cookbook was a challenging task, far more difficult and time-consuming than I had imagined. And more expensive than I could have imagined. After I completed it, I edited it. 38 times. Then we published a draft copy. Well, as I read the draft, I discovered I had still missed a lot and had other errors, and my wife Diane graciously edited it. It wasn't easy, but she did a great job. How would you like to go clean up after me? The good news is that she was a seasoned career executive secretary, so she was quite experienced in that role, and we learned how to use a new software program in the process! Then we published the book! Finally! You can now purchase your own copy on Amazon if you would like. It’s available in hardback, paperback and Kindle versions. See the link in Note 1.
Which brings us to today. Going forward, I’ll share some of my favorite recipes with you periodically on my website, where I publish my weekly blog posts. If you like them, please go ahead and make them. Print it off if you wish. Perhaps you will consider buying the book (see the link below) for yourself or as a gift. Forward the posts to your friends and family so they can enjoy it too.
Many people have “secret” recipes or ingredients they don’t want others to know about, especially for foods that have competitions, such as chili or barbeque. I’m not that way because I know the joy of good cooking and good eating, and I want to share those with people like you who enjoy good food. I’m not a professional chef trying to make a living from my cooking, just a guy who likes to eat. Back to the chili for a minute. I went through a phase where I was cooking chili for amateur cook-offs, such as those held at churches. The public, who often purchased tickets to judge the chili, is a fickle bunch, and I had to find a version they would eat. Frequently, people would ask me, “Is your chili hot?” Well, I like mine spicy, but if you want to win a chili cookoff judged by the public, you have to adjust to something they would try and vote for. I now have seven versions of chili. I’ve won two amateur cook-offs, and I’ve had at least one person tell me they won a cook-off using one of my recipes. Together with my son Tony’s chili, there are four amateur chili cook-off winner recipes in the book. So, no secrets here; I simply hope you’ll enjoy the recipes and meals as much as I do. If you do, share them with your family and friends. Many memorable times are spent with friends and family in the kitchen, enjoying good food prepared with love.
In summary…
Today, I want to share one of the easiest and most requested recipes I have. It’s David Giustozzi’s Grilled Chicken Thighs. Perfect for summer grilling season! And they disappear in no time! As you read the recipe, take note of the detailed tips and techniques provided. I strive to create each of my recipes so that when others prepare them, they will achieve excellent results. Interestingly, as much as I tout stories about how a dish was developed and enjoyed, I just somehow put this together and just kept making it. Over and over and over as when we got together, everyone wanted my grilled chicken thighs. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do. Bon Appetit!
Oh, and if you’re wondering why I’m not sharing the chili recipe today, the answer is simply this: The chili recipe contains a lot of ingredients and is quite time-consuming to make, so I don’t want to turn you off with the first recipe you see. Yeah, that makes sense. So go ahead and buy the book, won’t you? The chili recipe is there for you, along with over 300 more. You and your family and friends will be happy you did!
David Giustozzi’s Grilled Chicken Thighs
I have to say that I think this is one of my most popular dishes. So easy, simple, and tasty! This is a family-sized portion, good for leftovers all week. But, like mashed potatoes, you will never have to throw these delicious chicken thighs out as the leftovers will be gobbled up pronto.
Ingredients
4 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs,
tenderized (Note 1)
¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce
¼ cup Teriyaki sauce
¼ cup soy sauce (Note 2)
1/8 cup liquid smoke
Directions
In a large glass Pyrex baking dish, 11 x 17 or so, place the liquids and swirl to combine.
For each thigh, place on a cutting board, trim excess fat, and using a meat tenderizer, gently allow the tines to pierce the thigh all over in one direction. Rotate the thigh 90 degrees and do the same. You should have a series of small cuts over the entire portion of the thigh and the thigh will be flattened. Flip and repeat. Place the thigh in the dish with the liquids. Continue until all thighs are trimmed, pierced and placed in the baking dish.
Swish each piece of meat in the marinating liquid, flip and repeat. You will probably have to stack the meat, that’s OK. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 4 hours before grilling. Flip and swish the thighs about halfway through, then again directly before grilling. You should have a little bit of liquid remaining after you place the thighs on the grill.
Heat a gas or charcoal grill until hot. Place the thighs on the grill, allowing them to touch slightly so that they appear to be one large piece of meat. Sear, then reduce the heat and pour the remaining marinade over the meat. Cook for about 10-12 minutes, flip, and cook until done. Note: Most packages of chicken thighs contain both large and small thighs, so the smaller ones may need to come off the grill while the large ones continue to cook. Cover the baking dish as you remove each piece of meat.
While the thighs are cooking, wash the Pyrex dish. When thighs are done, place in the dish and cover with aluminum foil until ready to serve.
Notes
I have a hammer-type tenderizer with tines on one end and flat on the other, a Steakhammer Steakmaster A. You can get it on Amazon. I use the tined end for preparing the thighs. You can use another type of tenderizer if you have it, but the point is that whatever you use should pierce the meat to allow the marinade to infuse the thigh. In the process, the thigh should flatten. This will reduce the cooking time, ensuring complete cooking and allowing the marinade to infuse the meat more effectively, while keeping it moist. Here is how you do it: Trim excess fat from each thigh and place it on a cutting board. Strike or press the tines all over the thigh in one direction. Make the same 90-degree cuts as the first cuts. Flip and repeat on the other side. This is a crucial step in preparing this dish.
I prefer not to use low-sodium soy sauce for this recipe, as regular soy sauce provides the necessary salt to the dish.
The thighs, being dark meat and infused with marinade, should remain juicy and not require additional seasoning after cooking is complete. If desired, you can mix up some additional marinade and allow diners to brush it on their thighs at the table.
That’s all for this time!
What’s in it for me?
Good eats, that’s what!
Call to Action
Grill some chicken! Purchase the book for more great recipes!
Recommended Resources
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us by David Giustozzi
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Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/437OhVQ