Multiconstruct

Tonight i finally got around to making chicken paprikash. I make the baked version and i do most of my baking in the winter. Its a really great dish, relatively healthy, inexpensive, and really really yummy. I learned from Johnny Watson (see Johnny poems) about 7 years ago and its a funnier story than my dinner party tonight but i don’t think i want to get into that. i will just say that it involved a big argument, the police being called and having to drive the chicken paprikash to Cincinnati to finish cooking and we didn’t get to eat until like 3:00 am, but it was really quite excellent. Today was the first day i made it without calling Johnny and getting the recipe. I started by cutting 2 really large onions into very thin slices and then adding 4 bell peppers (2 green, a red and an orange) also sliced thin and 5 cloves of garlic. Next i rinsed off a package of chicken pieces (thighs, legs, & wings) extremely cognizant that they were made of corn in a fairly wacky and cruel manner (damn you ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’). I put in the chicken pieces and then covered with water (i think chicken stock would be a bit better). I also covered the chicken in what Johnny calls a shit-ton of paprika (about 3 tablespoons believe it or not) all of this covering going on in a casserole dish. I also salted the chicken pieces and added some black pepper (not really necessary). I baked this for 3 hours at 400 degrees until the peppers are almost gelatinous and the chicken is near falling off the bones. I pulled out the chicken and put in a serving dish. I stirred in almost a cup of sour cream into the pepper-onion drippings broth. I could have thickened the sauce with some corn starch but didn’t. All of this was served over egg noodles. 

I made a side dish of fresh carrots and frozen peas with grated fresh ginger (i keep my ginger in the freezer to keep it fresh and have taken to serving it with most of my frozen veggies cuz i see it in there when i get the veggies out) and dried purple basil (from my garden last year, almost out of it. I have been eating basil on near everything so the dried basil will be gone before i have fresh again).

I made a salad with fresh spinach, red pepper, red onion, cucumber (pealed because it was all waxy coming from Wal-Mart), yellow squash(cut thin), shredded carrot, and pine nuts (raisins for the guest with no teeth). Most of us topped it with a store bought balsamic dressing. Oh, and best of all on top i put my leaf lettuce and spinach thinnings from the cold frame.

All in all it was a lovely dinner. I got a six pack of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat because it was on sale and Eric and Suzy made walnut brownies from scratch. Coincidentally Dad had bought walnut ice cream and they were marvelous together.

Dinner conversation ran to 2012 and the end of the world, our rising and lunar signs, and of course i told some hitchhiking stories and rambled my neo-platonic metaphysice i have been obsessed with forat least the last 6 years. don’t get me started on that.