Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Raising Foodies: A Mitigated Success

This week, I'm trying the Eating Down the Fridge Challenge again, so my kids are thrilled as we finish boxes of "treat" snacks once opened, then put away, and eating things purchased "for a rainy day." It's not the rain but the holidays that are coming, so I'm doing my best to finish out what we have stockpiled here.

Last week, I went old-school foodie and made Chicken Marbella. This summer I read Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz, and it was referenced there; then Sheila Lukens, one of the authors of the Silver Palate cookbook who made the dish famous, passed away, so it was on my "make soon" list. It occurred to me that with the sweet tang, it might be pretty child-friendly, and so I made this classic foodie-of-the-1980s dish. The recipe I used is here with three small changes. The first was to use one quartered chicken and add two boneless skinless breasts instead of using two chickens. Next time, I will buy the packet of four legs and a packet of four boneless breasts, because those are the meats this family likes. It worked just fine with the boneless breasts, and even the picky little one ate it, even though he of course avoided the prune and the olive on his plate completely. And alas, I have a few cans of the pricey Spanish olives because for a long time my older son was obsessed with them so I would get them for a treat, and now he has decided that infatuation is over. But this recipe is a great way to use them; instead of the called-for quarter cup, I filled my quarter cup measure with olives and a little brine, then drained the can and used the rest of the olives in the recipe as well. Finally, I used all the juice in the capers jar as well, and I didn't baste nearly as often as I was probably supposed to.

But I'll take a partial success; any time my whole family eats the same meal (even if the little one skipped the beets) is a happy night for me. And, there were leftovers: double win! I need more of these baked-chicken-not-in-a-casserole dishes. They seem to be working well for us. Can't wait to see what everyone else did this week!

2 comments:

Mom24 said...

Congrats on finding a win. Here's a recipe our family likes, not sure if it's what you're looking for or not...
Confetti Chicken
Combine 2 tbls. olive oil and 1 crushed clove of garlic.

Arrange 2 lbs. chicken pieces and 8 halved red potatoes in a shallow roasting pan. Brush well with the garlic oil and sprinkle with rosemary, salt, pepper and paprika.

Bake 25 minutes at 400. Remove from oven, turn chicken, sprinkle with seasonings again. Bake 25" longer, check for doneness.

Sprinkle 1 bunch chopped scallions and 1 diced red pepper over chicken. Bake 5 minutes.

Sprinkle 2 1/2 tsp. and 2 tbls. white wine.

Serve w/ pan juices.

We like it. Sometimes I add carrots to the potato mixture. Hope you like it if you try it.

tipsybaker said...

Chicken marbella is such a classic. It would be fun to revisit those Silver Palate books in a big way and see what from that era is worth keeping. A lot, I'd bet.
I need to another eat-down-the-fridge so badly.