A Day to Cook

Uncharacteristically, the weatherman has been dead-on with his forecasts over the passed couple of weeks.  And so, as predicted, today is windy, rainy and decidedly cool.

Looks like my bike is going to have to remain in the garage today.

Time to crank up the oven...open the fridge and see what can be prepared for the arrival of weekend guests.

Mary's Chicken Marbella

2 chickens, 2 1/2 lbs each, quartered
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed
2 Tbsp dried oregano
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pitted prunes, finely chopped
1/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives, finely chopped
1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice, finely chopped
3 bay leaves
1/4  cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

1 In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, several hours or overnight.

2 Preheat oven to 350°F.

3 Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

4 Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).

5 With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Serve remaining juice in a gravy boat.

Serves 5.

This recipe is easy and delicious and really benefits from a couple of days marinating in the fridge.

(I always like to give credit to the person who gave me the recipe.  I'm pretty sure my clever friend Mary didn't invent this, but she probably tweaked it.)

The hot banana peppers stuffed with italian sausage meat that I baked in roasted tomato sauce a couple of weeks ago turned out so well, I'll make those again too.

(recipe here)

and Friday night, I will set up some bread to be baked on Saturday morning.

(recipe and technique here)

I'm on my own for dinner tonight, so a quick shrimp tapas I think, with some steamed rice.

JACKIE'S SHRIMP TAPAS

1 tbsp butter

3 cloves garlic,chopped

1lb shrimp cleaned, de-veined, tail on

olive oil

zest of 1 lime

1/4 c white wine

parsley, chopped

salt, pepper

1 - Saute shrimp in a little olive oil until pink.

2 - Add garlic, saute one minute more.

3 - Add wine, zest, parsley toss with butter

4 - Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe works really well as an appetizer, served with crostini rubbed with garlic.

Just one more cup of delicious coffee while waiting for the sun to come up and I'll get started.

  Who says gray days aren't productive?