The Story Behind The Tail

I smell CHICKEN!

Well, more on that later.

Mama really should have helped me put in the anecdote about Bernini’s elephant but she forgets things often sometimes.

Pretty funny story, eh? We love telling that story to visitors who are  seeing the little elephant for the first time and we always get a giggle.

Speaking of which, let’s get more giggles in life, shall we? Somehow whe a giggle replaces a frown, the day expands and lets in new adventures and thoughts and in mama’s case, often lets in new ideas for recipes, haha.

🐔🐔🐔

Last night at a late hour mama started dinner with three chicken thighs and did this:

Spur of the Moment Chicken Thighs

Serves 2

3 thighs, sprinkled with flour, sweet paprika, salt and pepper

Olive oil to coat the bottom of a pan that fits the thighs.

1 small sweet onion, sliced

1 scant cup white wine

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup heavy cream or Greek yogurt

Juice of half a lemon and a little grated peel

In a skillet that holds the thighs snugly, heat the olive oil on medium heat, put in the thighs skin-side down and while they  sizzle, slice the onions.

When the thighs are golden brown and crusty on one side, add the onions and turn over the thighs to brown for a few minutes. Lower the heat, add the wine, cover the pan and let everything simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the butter and swirl it around in the wine sauce, then add the cream and swirl that around to blend.

Serve with leftover rice (we almost always have some for this kind of quick meal) or a baked potato. Mama had fresh spring peas and simmered them in salted water for only about 3-4 minutes, then drained them and stirred in a little olive oil, a small spoon of butter and squeeze of lemon. Heaven!

So, dinner started at 8 and on the table at 8:20 or so. A nice little frozen slice of mama’s focaccia went in the toaster and was ready when it popped up.

Cooking doesn’t have to be an ordeal, says mama, and, by the way, you can flatten the chicken thighs between two sheets of butcher paper or plastic wrap and they will cook even faster and have more surface area in relation to the volume of the meat and be crispier!

Now what this has to do with elephants is beyond me…!

Mama just get waylaid when cooking comes up, haha.

So…uh… I hope you’ll try this on for thighs.

Before the onions and wine….and serving 4, not 2.