The Sunday Story

I had another uneasy sleep last night. But, I finally fell asleep in the early morning and slept till 10:30 AM! I checked outside and we seemed to have gotten an additional inch of light, fluffy snow. I took some pictures for you. I filled out a lengthy Blog entry and posted it. Then I posted the pictures and went to shave and shower.

I stripped the bed and did the last wash of the weekend.

I made my braised chicken that I planned for yesterday. I “loosely” adapted a recipe, but here’s what I did: I took four chicken thighs out of a “family pack” I’d bought on Friday. The other six went into the freezer. I seasoned the four with sea salt and pepper and let them come up to room temperature.

Meanwhile, I heated up a couple of teaspoons of canola oil in the Dutch oven. I threw in two stems of thyme to perfume the oil. When the oil started to smoke, I pulled out the thyme and added in the chicken. I browned them nicely on both sides.

I took them out and dumped the oil. Then I deglazed the pan with 3/4 cup of white wine (scraping off all the nice brow bits). I added four cloves of garlic (thinly sliced), the zest of one lemon and more fresh thyme. I added the chicken back in (bone side up), brought it to a boil and then reduced it to a simmer. I put the lid on and set the timer for 30 minutes.

I started watching an old movie I’d taped: Ernest Hemmingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” with Tyrone Power and Ava Gabor (1957), while the chicken was cooking.

When the timer went off, I turned the chicken over and added a slice of lemon on top of each piece. I put the lid back on and set the timer for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I chopped up a couple of tablespoons of flat leaf parsley.

When the timer went off (again), I pulled out the chicken and covered it in tinfoil to keep warm. I turned the burner up and reduced the liquid down to 1/2 cup. I added the parsley, a tablespoon of butter and about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (from the rest of the lemon). I stirred that until the sauce was smooth and the butter was melted. I seasoned it with a little salt and pepper (not much).

I plated two pieces of chicken with a side of plain white rice I’d made and topped everything with some of the sauce. It was delicious!

I ate it watching the rest of the movie. Then I remade the bed and settled in to enjoy my Sunday evening.

Sadly, none of my usual Sunday night shows were on. So, I contented myself to watching an old Indiana Jones movie and then some cooking shows.