Quick, simple, delish

If you've paid any attention to chicken recipes these days, every one is clamoring for organic, free range et cetera, and an equally large contingent are hollering back "elitist rubbish!"
If I have extra cents in my pocket, I really don't begrudge paying more-I think of it as a quality of life topic, the chicken's, not mine.  I don't claim to taste a difference, and when I sometimes do (for the better) I wonder if it's a placebo effect.
I always try to cut down the consumption of slaughtered animals in my house, but it's challenging when one of the household members has derided carbohydrates as the source of all evils in the world.  Sigh.

Something very simple to do when you have a whole chicken breast, on the bone.
Poached from Ina Garten.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, even under the skin.  Add dried or fresh herbs to taste, like thyme, tarragon, basil.

 Place on baking sheet, 350 degrees.
Roast for 30 minutes.
It will be moist and delicious.  Slice to have a sliver of the skin and herbs.
Serve with pan roasted asparagus garnished with crumbled goat cheese and toasted pecans.

Heaven!

PSA Retraction

Boo boo-
Apparently the discount was not for Fridays, but for Feb 11- Feb 14, aka Valentine's weekend.
Boo hoo


Yes, it is my duty to make this public service announcement.
Sure, you know that plenty of shops give you a 10% discount when you buy 6 or more bottles of vino.
But did you know Whole Foods give you 30% on Fridays?!?!?
I'm stocking up on $9 Graves Entre Deux Mers (a crisp French white, with a clean finish), a bubbly $9.99Louis Pedrier rose that has a dry finish and won't stop till that last drop is gone, and some inexpensive but palatable plonk, Melanto Terrace Cabernet that clocks in at $6.  And I'll get 9 bottles for more or less the price of 6--
Gosh, then I'll have to cast about for a reason to share it--

Fusion Cuisine

The Chinatown of my childhood, (the one of downtown Los Angeles) celebrated the Year of the Rabbit this past weekend with a parade.  My  African-American friend and his Peruvian wife invited us--so we hopped on the Gold Line, exited about where we bought a Christmas tree once, and ambled over to barricades. 

I tried to think back to the last time I stood on the street and watched a parade pass before me: I couldn't.  While the evangelists had their six-year-old blond boy warning urging us all to believe in the one true way, and Asian supporters carried banners of a rather brutal crucifixion and statements in Chinese that I couldn't read, my son and I set off in search of food.  He was hungry.  I thought: pot stickers.  Lychee or green tea ice cream, shops filled of incense; again, the experience of my childhood.

We found the food truck zone: crepes, lobster, hamburgers, french fries, shaved ice, grilled cheeses.  

We found the fountain I used to hover around, with my sister, pitching pennies in.

We found an espresso shop.

While the mayor rode by, martial arts experts staged a mock battle, the bobbing dragons swirled past us, and tubes of gorgeous confetti exploded around us, my son ate sliders.  As my  friends and I watched the crowd and the participants including  South Pasadena High School, Alhambra High School, Pico Rivera Elementary, City Terrace Elementary  (a hovering mom kept squirting a water bottle into kids' gaping mouths) it was clear no one culture or heritage had the lock on this parade.

There you have Los Angeles, showing the rest of the world the inherent possibilities.

The next time I want Chinese food I'm heading to Monterey Park

Food Pairing

What goes best with murder mysteries?
In this instance, vodka, blini and caviar.

Actually, perhaps a bit of champagne to start.

What am I talking about?  My novel HUMAN CARGO is 
now an ebook.  Forget the magnums, let's open a jeroboam!

More info here.