Jay Kepple wrote:no, she is one year old and pecking the other chickens.
Oh dear, and to her that feels
so right.
Our go-to no-real-recipe chicken dish is what my daughters call Chicken a'la Mommy. We cut up the chicken, and skin the parts that are easy to skin. Then we soften some onion and garlic in a
skillet, scrape those out and save them, and brown the chicken in the flavored oil that remains--you don't need much oil. Put the onions back in, add some red wine, something tomatoey (fresh, canned, whatever), some
mushrooms, maybe some roasted peppers, olives (I prefer kalamatas for this)--this is kind of a clean out the pantry dinner although I don't put in anything from the broccoli/cauliflower tribe. Then we simmer in the covered skillet (or dutch
oven) until the bird is tender; time varies according to the age and lifestyle of the chicken. More athletic free-range birds take longer. Then I take out the chicken and thicken the sauce, maybe just by boiling it down, maybe by adding some hummus or a little tahini. Put the chicken back in and serve with rice, or pasta, or polenta, or bread. Herbs and spices to taste.
You can take this in a more Asian direction by skipping the tomatoes and olives and using Vietnamese/Thai fish sauce (every kitchen
should have some--it's cheap and keeps forever) and lemon or lime juice and white wine.
Then again, a nice roasted chicken, with some rosemary and lemon in the cavity, is a beautiful thing. Northern locavores who don't use lemon can try sorrel leaves.
I miss having chickens....