On the Fourth of July, we love inviting friends from far and wide to our backyard for a delicious celebration. When dusk falls, we’ll head to the local high school for patriotic music and fireworks.

Before the pyrotechnics, we’ll make some of our own by lighting the grill. The afternoon begins with an array of foods that represent our recent international favorites. For example, our party might start with skewered olives, peppers and anchovies (known as Gildas) from our travels to Spain alongside red wine mixed with lemonade. Roasted peppers with garlic and fresh herbs, from a fall trip to Provence, make a beautiful side dish to anything off the grill.

Chicken gets top billing on the grill. A Filipino restaurant in Chicago inspires our holiday chicken this year. There, we relished the highly-flavored, salty, acidic plate of chicken adobo, considered the national dish of the Philippines. This adobo is vastly different from the red chile adobo versions of Mexico or the Spanish adobo condiment of oil and garlic.

Like most beloved national dishes, every cook makes a personal recipe; the restaurant version we enjoyed simmered cutup chicken in a braising liquid of vinegar, soy, whole garlic cloves, aromatic bay leaves and plenty of black pepper. The restaurant reduces the braising liquid to a glaze to coat the tender chicken and flavor the accompanying white rice.

At home, I employ those same flavors as a marinade and opt for grilling the chicken rather than braising it. The same marinade ingredients become a golden brown glaze for the finished chicken.

Palm vinegar often forms the base of the marinade and braising liquid. Since many brands contain preservatives, I prefer a combination of organic apple cider vinegar and mild unseasoned rice vinegar. Select an all-purpose soy sauce or gluten-free tamari sauce for color and flavor. Plenty of crushed fresh garlic and ginger enhance the vinegar and soy.

Adobo always arrives with steaming hot rice. In summer, a room-temperature rice salad would do the trick. I like to serve tangy smashed cucumbers to refresh the palate.

For dessert, the Fourth of July calls for red, white and blue. To our family, that means our favorite lemon sheet cake topped with white frosting and decorated with berries to resemble the flag.

Adobo-Glazed Chicken Drums

Makes 5 or 6 servings

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