Earlier this evening I tweeted pitifully:
Me: Hi, Google, what can I do with chicken breasts before the fam gets back from Mass that isn't awful even though boneless skinless breasts are stupid and cottony and the GLOOM, Google, I can't deal with the GLOOM and
— Jamie (@mostgladly) November 19, 2017
Google: You might need some nice SSRI chicken, Jamie.
And then I stiffened my socks and pulled up my upper lip (or something along those lines) and got to work. I heated about two glasses of wine to boiling, and pinched in saffron so it could steep. (I have almost emptied the little box of saffron I bought at the Indian grocery store two or three years ago. It's a much less pricy way to buy saffron.) I cranked the heat under a skillet in which I had put generous quantities of fat, a mix of butter and olive oil. When it was sizzling hot I threw in three fat chicken breasts, seasoned them with salt, pepper, and paprika, and let them get nicely seared on both sides. (Bonus points if you set off the smoke alarm. Our smoke alarm goes off if someone dreams of cooking bacon, I'm telling you.) When the second side was almost done I tipped eight cloves' worth of slivered garlic into the chicken-free spaces, and shortly afterward I poured in the wine and saffron.
Once it boiled I covered the pan and turned the heat way down, in hopes that nice gentle poaching would ward off dryness. After 10 minutes or so I added the juice of one lemon. When the chicken was done I pulled it out to scrape up the fond and reduce the sauce. After I sliced up the meat I plopped it back into the sauce and kept it warm. Later Pete mentioned that artichoke hearts would have been a great addition. He is not wrong.
Usually the evening Mass is quicker than average, but this weekend's homily was a long one. I wasn't sure when the gang would be home, so I decided to keep cooking until they arrived. I made a root vegetable puree that was not a success and a carrot-radish slaw that was. I boiled up a pot of edamame to serve with the Smitten Kitchen carrot-ginger dressing, and cooked up some orzo to soak up the chicken sauce.
This year I am having more trouble than usual with the November blues-- so much so that I was thinking about requesting an SSRI prescription when I go in tomorrow to get my beta blocker prescription updated. But at this point I don't think the advantages outweigh the side effects, so I'll probably just keep plugging for a while longer. Sunshine helps. Sunshine-colored food helps too. It's only four months until spring, right?
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