Pomegranate and Plum Grilled Chicken Thighs

4 chicken thighs, cleaned of most of the fat and nasty.
1c pomegranate juice
1/2 c lemon juice
3T veg. oil
TT salt and pepper
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1c Brown sugar
4 Plums, cut in half and pitted
Combine the pomegranate juice, the lemon juice, 2 T of the veg. oil, the cider vinegar, S&P and the brown sugar. Whisk to combine. Put the chicken and the marinade in a ziploc bag and press all the air out. Leave it in the fridge for an hour. Drain the chicken. Brush the halved plums with the remaining oil. Fire up the grill good and hot. Allow the chicken and plums to sit out while the grill warms up. They will cook faster and more evenly. Put the chicken thighs on the grill and cook, turning frequently, until a thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 165 degrees. Pull the chicken and let rest while you grill the plums, cut side down. Arrange the chicken and fruit on a plate or platter. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and lemon zest.
This is nice served with rice. A good presentation is to cook black rice and white rice (separately of course) and arrange them in an alternating pattern on a serving platter, placing the chicken and plum pieces so they straddle the color divides. Then sprinkle on the pomegranate seeds.

Duchess Sweet Potatoes with Maple Syrup and Chopped Pecans

5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and boiled.
1 cup or less of milk
4T melted butter.
Make mashed sweet potatoes. They should be thick enough to stand up. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe nice rosettes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 425 for a few minutes...just until the edges start to brown.
Drizzle with maple syrup.....the real deal folks, not that corn syrup crap.
Sprinkle with finely chopped pecans.
I serve these with ham. Good with pork chops too.

Grilled Vidalia Onions with Green Apple Salsa

4 large vidalia onions
1 T canola oil. Don't use olive oil, it will funk up the taste
TT salt and pepper
2 granny smith apples, peeled and finely diced
1 jalapeno pepper finely diced. Remove the seeds and veins if you're a big sissy
1/2 a red bell pepper finely diced
3 nice scallions, finely chopped
1 lime, zested then juiced
1/4 cup mint, chopped

Take both ends off of the onions. Split into 2 thick slices. Brush each side of each slice with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put them on a hot grill. Grill about 5 minutes and flip them over. Cook until they are starting to get softer, but haven't lost their structure.
While the onions cook make the salsa. Finely mince the lime zest. Mix it together with everything else. Salt and pepper to taste. Some folks like to sweeten it a bit. If you do, try a little honey, it works well. I think the sweetness of the onion is plenty.
Serve the onions with a generous splat of salsa on top. Goes great with chops and ribs.