Saturday, June 17, 2006


surprisingly yummy

no, i'm not referring to oren's greenwell kona in the chemex from yesterday. that's obviously yummy. . .fine after-yoga, pre-marcella drinking!

yes, after a dharma-style yoga class with a lot of backbending -- that's what hot days are good for, yes? -- i floated back home to tackle the cursed jerusalem artichokes.

marcella bills this recipe pollo in tegame con i topinambur, which means it's a braise of chicken with said 'chokes, garlic, capers, oregano, parsley, and white wine from lombardy. (i used dry marsala because, well, that's what i had!

and we all know that making it up with what you have in a really delicious way is the true italian style! this is why other people have stale cookies while the italians have tiramisu. . .)

what i also had from the csa was some pasture-raised chicken from dines farms. this was my first week with the csa chicken and lemme tell you, it's scrumptious chicken.

it comes to the csa pick-up freshly skinned and deboned, so it's a snap to cook with. at US$4.00 a pound, it's not exhorbitant either, considering the quality, prep level, and freshness; the eggs are excellent as well.

no crazy de-beaking or evil stuff, and the eggs made awesome fresh handmade papparedelle for lunch today. . .but i'm getting ahead of myself.

(pasta machines are for wimps! put on your apron, make the dough, and roll it out with a 32-in. pin or don't do it at all!)

marcella's recipe, should you find yourself stuck with excellent chicken and the strange jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke, is easy to make, albeit a tad dish intensive. (not quite one-pot). the complete cooking time is about 1 hr. 10 mins., 20 of which is browning the chicken in 2 batches.

the prep time is about 30 minutes, but only because you have to peel the darn 'chokes. since they're knobby like ginger, it's slower going than potatoes.

chopping up the garlic and herbs is brain-dead stuff, no drama. after the browning, basically everything goes in the largest saute pan you've got and simmer for 45 mins.

surprise! it's yummy! it's actually a good dish.

marcella doesn't tell you one crucial thing about it, however, and that it is has a fair amount of liquid pan sauce. if i were you, i'd use some of that 45 mins. to make up a batch of polenta -- umm, tasty wine-n-garlic-herb sauce on polenta. . .

my husband had seconds. big relief.

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posted by fortune | 6:35 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments