Blog: Holidays, Flu, Eagles Oh My! And Sicilian Chicken.
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| Are You Making the Effort? |
Hello Everyone. I am sorry to have been away for what seemed like such a long time, but January took all sorts of twists and turns and is really a blur to me.
We did get some important canning in - beef and chicken and vegetable stocks are all done as we approach the remaining colder months. Other than that Life was, first “sick food”, followed by comfort food, followed by Football food.
During the week days we basically did a lot of freezer diving.
If the actual flu or one of those horrific bugs of another type caught you, you know that there is very little of anything that you can actually do. First my Better Half went down; I was confident that i had her care and the care and tending of the fur kids under control. And I did. I was just so grateful that it was not growing season, so I didn’t have the responsibility of the gardens.
Alas, as Better Half improved, I deteriorated.
Two major lessons for me from those two and a half weeks of being really knocked on our butts:
We are very dependent on two of us to keep our urban homestead going; and,
A stocked freezer and larder - especially during the cold months is not a crazy indulgence. The things we had in the freezer and on our canning shelves kept us going when the concept of going to the Farmers Market or store seemed entirely impossible.
Of course, we got at least somewhat recovered for the start of the football play offs, so Saturdays and Sundays of wings, chili, mac ’n cheese, chips, dips, etc. took front and center stage for a few weeks. Not our usual menu planning for sure. But oh, so worth it!
It now seems that the bugs have totally exited us, our energy levels are almost back to normal, and we are cooking again. Obviously, it is February and time for the Seed Catalogs, garden diagraming and the building of the gardens’ To Do list!
Who is anxious for growing season to start? I am!
Here’s one of the first things we made when we were both back to normal. We adapted it from a New York Times recipe. Our adaptation is for 2. It is so delicious - and one pot!
Recipe: Chicken with Salami and Olives
Ingredients
2 whole chicken legs, separated
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a small yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 inch stem of fresh rosemary
1/3 cup (heavy) of diced salami (we used fennel salami)
1/3 cup pitted cerignola olives, pitted and sliced in half
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 red pepper flakes (more if you like more heat)
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
2 teaspoons of flour
1 cup of unsalted chicken stock (homemade if you have it)
2 small dried bay leaves
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
Technique
NOTE: The entire recipe was done in an All Clad Chef’s pan. Anytime you can use one pan or pot for dinner - that is a good recipe!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Heat the olive oil in the pan on medium heat
Season chicken with salt & pepper
Sear the chicken in the olive oil
When the chicken is browned, remove it to a platter
Saute the onions in the pan until browned
Add the garlic, rosemary, salami, olives, oregano and red pepper flakes to the pan and mix together to blend
Add the white wine to the pan to deglaze a bit and get the good brown “fond” mixed into the mixture
Create a “spot” in the center of the pan and add the tomato paste and cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
Mix the tomato paste with everything else in the pan; stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes
Add the stock to the pan; simmer for 2-3 minutes until mixture thickens a bit
Add the bay leaves and the lemon juice
Add the chicken back into the pan, spoon the sauce over the chicken well
Put the pan into the hot oven and roast for 30 minutes
Baste the chicken
Put the pan back into the oven and roast for 30 minutes
Remove the pan from the oven and take the bay leaves and rosemary out before service
Delicious over egg noodles, rice, or with cooked greens or with garlic toasts and a salad.
Enjoy!
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Eat Real Food!
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