The Best Lunch Yet

I didn't leave for the gym till nearly one so my workout extended to two. I wanted to get a whole chicken from Marsh to make chicken stock for more risotto and got held up in traffic. By the time I got home, it was three and I was famished!

My refrigerator is always full but what I hastily assembled for lunch today was the best ever. I thought to myself, "Lunch in Italy could not improve on this!"

In a thick-bottomed small saucepan, I poured less than a tablespoonful of extra-virgin olive oil on high heat. I quickly seared tomatoes cut in half, laying the cut side down and added thin slices of chicken breast. Both cooked quickly. When the chicken was golden on one side, I turned it over and carefully put a dollop of Trader Joe's Thai cooking sauce on top.

On a plate, I arranged the chicken and tomatoes with a red-leaf lettuce salad topped with a cheesy dressing and Greek kalamata olives. It was heaven!

Risotto Palermo Style

Ingredients: 2 large eggplants; coarse sea salt; 1 large onion, thinly sliced; 6 Tb. extra-virgin olive oil; 2 Tb. finely chopped Italian parsley; 1 C., chopped celery stalks; 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves, torn; 3 C. cubed Roma tomatoes with skin; salt and freshly, coarsely ground black pepper; 2 C. Arborio rice; 3 1/2 C. homemade chicken stock or canned stock; 2 Tb. homemade pesto (optional); 1 C. freshly grated Provolone (or Caciocavallo cheese, if available); 1/2 C. King Arthur white or natural whole-wheat flour; extra-virgin olive oil for frying. 

Directions: 1. Slice eggplant thinly horizontally. Place in colander and sprinkle coarse kosher salt on each layer. Leave to stand for at least an hour then press between paper towels to dry. 2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, sauté 3/4 of the onion in  3 Tb. olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. 3. Add parsley, 2/3 of your basil, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and simmer over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. 4. Pre-heat oven to 425°C. 5. In heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, sauté remaining onion in 3 Tb. olive oil till soft and golden. Add rice and cook stirring continuously until grains are well coated with oil. 6. Add boiling stock half a cup at a time, stirring rice continuously. As stock is absorbed, add more up to about 3 1/2 cups. This should take 20 to 25 minutes. 7. When rice is al dente (not soft like Chinese or Japanese style rice), turn off heat. Mix in pesto or half of the grated cheese until melted into the rice. Set aside. 8. Coat eggplant slices lightly with flour and fry in hot olive oil. Drain. 9. Line bottom of medium oven-proof casserole with fried, drained eggplant slices and cover with half the risotto, half of the remaining cheese, and almost half of the sauce. 10. Sprinkle half of remaining basil over the sauce, cover with half the remaining eggplant, remaining rice, sauce and basil. Top with remaining cheese. 11. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Serve very hot.

Chicken and More Chicken

Sometimes cooking is a chore but days like today, brimming with sunshine and the good energy that comes as grace (in other words, unannounced, unplanned for, completely its own), cooking is joy.

I took the drumsticks from the package of dark-meat chicken I bought on sale from Marsh last week and marinated them in just soy sauce, lime juice, garlic and ground black pepper. Fried in vegetable oil with plenty of space between them so steam escapes and leave the cooked parts crisp, the result was a nice change from chicken breast. My captive guest, Tony, eats no seafood nor pork. I've had to really come up with new ways to cook and serve chicken. Since he does not object to veggies I might explore veggie recipes for a while.

The beauty of cooking is sweetest when what comes off the skillet after the brainstorm is a delectable surprise as this concoction of fennel and celery strips quickly fried in olive oil with wild mushrooms and walnut halves. 

This is why I cook. When once in a while I come up with a masterpiece like this, I keep cooking, like one addicted to drugs keeps looking for that high he had once had with it. I think we call this "hope."