A CHEF JOHN'S ON THE ROAD RERUN: Grilled Lemon Yogurt Chicken - Featuring the Marinade that's Been Making Chicken Delicious for Over 4,000 Years

I'm still in New York and unable to post any new material, so here's a rerun of one of my favorite summer chicken recipes. It's perfect for the grill, or can be baked in the oven. What follows is the original post which aired on August 4, 2008...

Yogurt has been used as a marinade since it was first invented, over 4,000 years ago, in Turkey, Central Europe, or the Balkans, depending on who you ask. The important thing is that any cooking technique or recipe that survives that long is probably pretty damn good. This video recipe for a simple, but super succulent, grilled lemon and yogurt chicken is just that.

There is something special about what yogurt does to chicken waiting for its smoky, sizzling time over the charcoal. It imparts a tangy flavor that lifts all the other flavorings. It tenderizes slightly, without turning the meat into mush. It grills to a caramelized dark brown without tasting burnt. And, there are not many fat-free ingredients that will have people begging for your "secret" recipe.

In the video I use a large cut-up chicken, which I encourage you to do yourself. In case you missed it, here is the link to the "how to cut up a chicken with scissors" video clip. The only thing I did different for this recipe was use a large sharp knife to cut the breasts in half - and also separated the thigh and the drumstick.

This is one of those grilled chicken recipes that is just as delicious served cold, in a salad, or gnawed right off the bone at a picnic. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 big chicken
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp Herbs from Provence (or any dried Italian, or Greek herb blend - rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
For the Sauce:
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp harissa or other hot sauce
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (optional)

Beautifully Bouncy Lamb Meatballs

Time is short and the work list is long as we get ready to head up to Sonoma for the Dry Creek Passport event (you can read more about it in last year's post), but I squeezed out enough time to finish this lamb meatball video recipe.

It tasted great, but I put in way too much breadcrumb, and as you'll see the results were extremely bouncy balls. The ingredient amounts below are the new and improved quantities in case you want to try these.

Speaking of being busy, I'll apologize in advance for blowing off your emails and/or comments until this event is over on Monday. I'll try to keep up, but if you are ignored, try again next week when things return to normal. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 1/4 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of cayenne
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp chopped mint
3 cups tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
red pepper flakes

Greek Grape Leaf Wreath - Festive and Filling!

I had a request recently from the Greek food guide on About.com, Nancy, for a video recipe for a dish called "Rolo me Abelophylla," which is a meat, rice and cheese loaf in grape leaves. I decided to do a vegetarian version using lentils since I've always enjoyed cold rice and lentil salads, and thought this combo would be perfect with the grape leaves. It was.

When you add the tangy feta, and consider the very holiday-ish design, this would be a fantastic item to bring to that Holiday party. Imagine the look on everyone's face when you walk in carrying this! Suddenly their cheese ball doesn't look so hot.

If you decide to attempt this fairly easy ring of rice, you can find jarred grape leaves in any Greek market, or high-end store. Nancy suggests using the dried leaves if you can find them - these are boiled to soften and are larger and easier to use. But, the brand you see in the video in the larger jars worked fine. Enjoy!

* Please help support free video recipes, and visit my new sponsor, MOZO Shoes. Find out why chefs (like me) are buzzing about their great shoes!


Click here for ingredients and recipe transcript.

This Lamb is My Lamb, This Lamb is Your Lamb… Grilled Lamb Chops with Orange and Fresh Mint Sauce

As you know I'm big on cooking fresh, local food whenever possible. But, there are times when you have to make exceptions, and these lamb chops are a great example. While browsing the local market I saw a sale on Australian lamb chops. They were perfectly trimmed, exactly the same thickness, and neatly packaged in one-pound containers. These lamb chops are basically the same cut as a beef T-bone steak, with a strip loin on one side, and a tenderloin on the other. In this chef's opinion, they are the ultimate cut for grilled lamb.

I decided on a mish-mash of Mediterranean herbs and spices, with the secret ingredient being a small dash of cinnamon. There is something about cinnamon that really pairs perfectly with grilled lamb. I also love mint jelly on grilled lamb, but I have a reputation to worry about, so instead of the green stuff in the glass jar, I made a quick, homemade version that you will love. This was the best tasting lamb I've had in a long time, and while it wasn't local, it was damn good. Enjoy!



Ingredients:

2 lbs lamb loin chops
3 clove minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp cumin
pinch of cayenne
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried mixed herbs - Italian, Greek, or French blend
salt as needed

Sauce:
1/4 cup orange marmalade
pinch of hot chili flakes
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp chopped mint

Pumpkin Seed Flatbread with Feta and Sweet Onions - A Delicious Treatment for Insomnia, Anxiety, and Fear of Public Speaking!

When I filmed this video recipe for a pumpkin seed flatbread, I thought I had just found a delicious and relatively healthy way for my viewers to enjoy raw pumpkin seeds. I had heard they were a very nutritious snack, and wanted to try them, instead of pinenuts, on various recipes. Little did I know, I was really inventing an alternative medicine treatment.

That's right, as I researched the health benefits of these pretty green seeds, I discovered that not only did they have lots of nutritional benefits, but also contained large amounts of tryptophan, yes, that tryptophan, the "turkey valium" that you read about every year. While that nap you take after the thanksgiving meal is probably more from the massive amount of starchy food, than the tryptophan, there is a definite sleep/relaxation connection, as it aids in the brain's production of serotonin.

The following is from the Whitby Mental Health Centre website:

"A new study released in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology suggests that a Functional Food made primarily of pumpkin seeds could be an efficacious treatment for anxiety disorders… The study, entitled “Protein-Source as an Efficacious Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder”, describes that gourd seeds contain the highest concentration of tryptophan, the same amino acid found in milk and turkey, but at much higher levels. "

"One single gram of pumpkin seed protein contains as much tryptophan as a full glass of milk. In this study, subjects suffering from Social Anxiety Disorder were significantly less anxious when asked to speak in front of others one hour after eating the Functional Food rich in tryptophan in comparison to placebo. This finding demonstrates that tryptophan does more than induce sleep. In high light conditions, it is quickly converted to serotonin, which significantly reduces daytime anxiety levels."

So, if you're all tense about that big presentation, forget popping pills - go with a few slices of this flatbread recipe! I also believe it treats hunger as well. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
cornmeal
prepared pizza dough (enough for 1 large thin pizza)
1 large onion
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
black pepper
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds, or as much as you like
4 oz Greek feta
1/3 cup Parmesan

Seasonal Vegetable Couscous - Do as I Say, Not as I Did

This video recipe for a vegetable couscous shows you a wonderfully simple method for enjoying all those delicious seasonal veggies that can be found at your local farmer's market. The irony here is that this video was shot quite a while ago, and features such ubiquitous supermarket produce as "so-not-local" green zucchini and bell peppers.

This recipe was filmed for About.com last year, and is just now going live. Unfortunately, at the time a trip to farmer's market wasn't possible, and so a two-block walk to the local megamart had to do. That's not to say that this dish wasn't good, it was very good. It's just when I watch it now I'm imagining how awesome it could have been with some "real" vegetables (you know, like the ones grown in dirt, instead of hydroponic foam!). Enjoy!

Click here for ingredients and transcript

REPEAT: Orzo “Risotto” with Chicken, Sausage and Peppers

This video recipe premiered a long time ago, and I'm not sure how many of you newer viewers have seen it, so I thought it would make a great rerun. I'm working on the homemade cheese video, which should be up soon. In the meantime, enjoy this great recipe.

Orzo (also known as melon seed pasta) is one of my favorite choices for pasta salad. I really like the shape and texture, and it makes for a very interesting cold sidedish. Here, I had the idea of using it for a hot dish in the same way one would use an Arborio rice to make risotto. Instead of boiling the orzo in salted water and draining, I thought it would be interesting to cook it the same way risotto is cooked, by adding small additions of flavorful stock until it’s tender (or al dente if you prefer). I made that flavorful stock by braising chicken and sausage, as you’ll see.

This dish is really all over the place; most of the ingredients are kind of Spanish/Portuguese, there are techniques from India and Italy involved, and just to make things even stranger, I use a chili pepper usually found only in Mexican cuisine. But, none of that matters, this dish tastes great and is pretty easy to make. The other good thing is, whoever you serve this to probably hasn’t had it before, so no matter how it comes out you can always say, “yeah, that’s how it’s suppose to be!”

I’ve had many requests for a risotto demo. The reason I haven’t done one is because who wants to watch someone stand at a stove and stir a pot of rice? Well, I tried to edit this to make it somewhat bearable, but the basic technique is the same; slowly adding stock and stirring until its almost absorbed and then adding more. This is a dish that will be great the first time you make it, and REALLY great the second time you make it, as you get the technique down. My orzo took about 15-20 minutes to absorb enough stock to become tender – but that’s just a very rough guide since there are so many factors; the heat, size of your orzo, shape of pot, etc. Be brave and enjoy yourself…you're cooking!

By the way, I didn’t mention it in the clip, but I removed the skin and bones from the chicken thighs once they were cool enough to handle, before I added them back into the final dish. Also, this is one of the VERY rare dishes I didn’t add garlic to. The sausage I used had a lot of garlic in it so I didn’t think it was needed. Enjoy.



Ingredients:
1/2 pound orzo pasta
6 chicken thighs (seasoned with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper)
1 lb. Linguisa sausage (or any spicy sausage)
1 quart chicken stock
1 red bell pepper
1 green Pasilla or bell pepper
1/2 yellow onion
1 tbl paprika
1 tbl cumin
1 tbl Herb de Provence
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
fresh parsley

Last Night We Had a Little Lamb

Once in a while, even though I know it would make a great video, I just can't bring myself to film a meal. Making a video can turn the most enjoyable recipe into a tiring tangle of timers, wires, and angles. I'm forced to use a part of the brain that's in charge of "getting the shot," and artistic expression be damned.

Last night was one of those meals. It was truly delicious, and while I didn't film it, guilt forced me to at least photo it, in hopes of inspiring you next time you're trying to decide what to throw on the grill.

Lamb loins were marinated in garlic, fennel seed, and rosemary. A few hours later, they were grilled over charcoal, to a perfectly rosy medium-rare. Finger-sized carrots were roasted tender in a slow oven with a few drips of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of brown sugar. Split pita bread was filled with fresh mozzarella, and a squeeze of harissa (a spicy North African tomato/chili sauce). These "hot pockets" were grilled over the coals, while the lamb was resting. The slightly crisp, and smoky exterior was a perfect envelope for the warm, gooey cheese. The cold sauce was a simple plain Greek yogurt, spiked with more harissa, lemon, and fresh mint. Enjoy!

Cool Beans - Turning the Mysterious Fava Bean Inside Out

This fava bean video recipe was originally published last year, but since I've been seeing beautiful fava beans at farmer's market I thought it was a perfect time for a rerun.

It’s a shame when people don’t get to experience some great culinary pleasure simply because they don’t know how to work with the product. Fava beans, also called Broad Beans, or Horse Beans, is a good example of that.

These beans are a favorite of Chefs worldwide because of their beautiful color and unique flavor. Unfortunately, for the average grocery store, or vegetable stand shopper, they are just those big, ugly, green pods that get passed over for the more familiar green string beans. I hope after watching this demo that you will run out and buy a big pile of these wonderful beans and begin to enjoy them, as they deserve to be. If you don’t find them at the grocery store, check the local farmer’s market.

Yes, as you’ll see, there is a little bit of work involved in preparing these beans for whatever recipe you are planning to use them in, but when you consider how delicious they are, it’s definitely worth the effort. I compared them in the original title to Russian Dolls since the part of the bean you eat is actually a seed that is encased in a think skin, which is encased in a large green pod.

Once liberated, these Fava beans are an incredible addition to so many dishes. They can be eaten plain, added to pastas, risottos, soups, or on salads. I have a delicious video recipe for a fava bean salad, pictured above, that you can check out by clicking on the link. Enjoy!




Note: In the video I say "MTV," but really meant "VH1." Sorry, Flav.

Potato Pesto Pizza - Hot Starch-on-Starch Action!

One of the cardinal sins of menu planning is putting two starches together on a plate. There are a few exceptions, like Thanksgiving stuffing and mashed potatoes, or potato and macaroni salad at the company picnic, but it's just not something that's usually done.

There have been stories of crazed chefs (redundant?) that have refused a customer's request for a side of rice because they had ordered pasta. That's why I've posted the extra bonus clip below. It's from the must-see movie Big Night. I've posted it here a long time ago, but I never get tired of it, and it's fitting for today's recipe.

Today's video recipe is a potato pizza with pesto, red onions, feta and much, much more. While it may sound odd on paper (or screen), it's quite delicious, and makes a good case for exceptions to the no starch-with-starch rule. Besides, it was a request from my mother-in-law, so what could I say? Enjoy!



Ingredients in order of appearance:
cornmeal on pan
stretch pizza dough to cover
pesto sauce to cover
4 roasted gold potatoes, sliced
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
parmesan to cover
6 oz fontina cheese
1/2 sliced red onion
more pesto dripped on top
4 oz feta cheese crumbled on top

Famous Scene from Big Night

Mary Had a Little Lamb Pita, It's Tahini Sauce was Not Quite as White as Snow

Can you imagine someone not familiar with a certain nursery rhyme, trying to figure out this post's title? This video recipe for a Shawarma-Style Lamb Pita was made especially with home cooks in mind. Real Shawarma (which means "turn"), is barbecued slowly on a large rotisserie, and the meat is shaved off as it cooks. This version uses the slightly more common frying pan.

Another compromise is the pita bread we stuff the spiced lamb into. The real deal is rolled up in flatbread. If you look hard enough, you can find soft, fresh flatbread at the higher-end grocery stores (tip: look for parking lots with lots of imports). But, the pita bread works fine, and is very easy to find.

I also show you how to make a simple tahini dressing in the clip, which is a very nice thing to have around. It's exotic, nutty goodness makes it a great "secret" ingredient for salad dressings, as well as a quick condiment for other grilled meats. So, next time you're craving something easy, exotic, and completely un-authentic, give these Shawarma-style lamb pitas a try. Enjoy!
Click here for ingredients and transcript

Finger Lickin' Spring Chicken - Game Recognize Game Hen

I'm still working on the redesign, but I got tired of looking at that stupid jackhammering Chef clipart, so I took a break to post this photo of a very sexy, and young, spring chicken (is that redundant?).

Also known as "game hen," this tender and sweet bird was marinated in blood orange juice, garlic, chili sauce and rosemary. It was then grilled over hickory to this gorgeous finish.

Forks and knifes were quickly replaced by fingers, and the fabulous birds were torn limb from limb. God they were good. I promise to film this one next time! Okay, back to the lab.

Who Fried the Cheese?

Fried Halloumi, native to Cyprus, may be the only food where the word "squeaky" comes up when people are describing this unique cheese. Halloumi is traditionally made from goat and sheep's milk, and is similar to a mozzarella, but denser, saltier, and…squeakier. Let me explain.

What makes Halloumi unusual is it's very high melting point. Because of how the curd is heated, then brined and pressed, the cheese can be fried without melting. This makes for a very cool appetizer or meze, as they would call it in Cyprus. This video recipe I did for About.com shows my favorite way of preparing Halloumi. I think it's best when seared in a very hot pan, nice and brown, and then drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Oh, and about this "squeakiness;" when you bite into the warm, fried cheese, it makes a slight squeak against your teeth. I find the sound and sensation oddly addictive. But, that's just part of the fun - the firm texture, and salty flavor, work great with the sweet balsamic vinegar and cherry tomatoes. Before you send me the "but, where do I find Halloumi cheese?" comments and emails, I'll tell you it's quite common in any high-end chain grocery store that has a cheese department (which they all do). So get some Halloumi, and get your squeak on. Enjoy!
Click here for the transcript and ingredients.

Mushroom Ragout on Garlic Toast - Maybe I Could Be a Vegetarian

No, I couldn't, but when I eat a meatless dish as delicious as this mushroom ragout (pronounced ragoooo), I realize there are plenty of recipes that are just as tasty and satisfying as my favorite meat dishes. Of course, almost anything is good poured over garlic toast, and you'll see a great trick for ultra-fast and easy garlic-scented toast in this video recipe I recently produced for About.com. I did sneak some chicken stock into the sauce, but if you are a vegetarian you can use a vegetable stock and it will be fine.

Whenever I do a video recipe that uses Marsala wine I get lots of emails about what they can substitute. You can't, go get a bottle of Marsala wine. Just regular Marsala, not the sweet dessert Marsala as it is way too sweet to cook with. Ask the person at the wine shop to help you; tell them you are cooking with it and don't want the sweet variety and they will show you the right one. Buy the cheapest one of the selection they give you, and you're all set. Even the least expensive Marsala will be fine for this dish, as long as it's the real stuff, and came from a decent shop. Having said all that, if you must use something else a good Sherry wine (NOT the cooking sherry them sell at the supermarket) will fill in adequately.

Click here for the transcript and ingredients.

Spaghetti Al Tonno - Tuna…Hamburger of the Sea?

This video recipe is another one of my "go to" pasta dishes, a delicious spaghetti with a spicy tuna and tomato sauce. It's fast, cheap and easy. Speaking of fast, cheap and easy…I know that Jessica Simpson had some problems with the old saying about tuna being the "chicken of the sea," but when it comes to quick meat sauces for pasta, I say that tuna is more like ground round than chicken. I like to make the occasional Americanized Bolognese, but it takes a while to brown the hamburger, and then simmer it in the tomato sauce until at least somewhat tender. Tuna on the other hand makes a great "meaty" tasting tomato sauce in just minutes. Not to mention lower-fat, lower cal, etc.

For some reason I never really think of this dish as a "fish pasta." I think because it’s so hearty and satisfy, like a good Bolognese. I almost called it Tuna Bolognese just to drive the food fascists crazy, but decided against at the last second. They'll get their aprons in a bunch when they see the Parmesan go in anyway. This sauce is very close to the red clam sauce I did a while back, and I think I like it even better with the tuna, which of course is much cheaper, so that works out nicely. By the way, as you can see, this video recipe was produced for About, so there's only the one player option for viewing it. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
7 ounces tuna
3 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup white wine, something decent
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
red pepper flakes, to taste
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 pound of your favorite spaghett

Simply Roasted Artichokes - Wrap and Roll

Today's video recipe clips is so simple it's hard to call it a recipe. It's more like an anti-recipe. As you'll see below I just list the ingredients, no amounts or measurements. This is how 95% of cooking should be done. So many people would enjoy cooking more, and make better food, if they got there faces out of those cookbooks and just started cooking. They treat the act of cooking like some scientific procedure (by the way, this rant excluded delicate baked goods, so save your emails).

Recipes are great for what ingredients you may want to use, but should be treated as an idea-started, not some government mandated edict. Cooking times are also useful, so we'll look at those, but as far as following a recipe to the letter when it comes to amounts of ingredients, I say "use the force Luke." We all have an inner Chef that will guide us as we cook, without the shackles of the measuring spoons and digital scales. "Top potatoes with 1 tablespoon of minced chives" ….what?? If I see that Food Network "Barefoot Contessa" lady measure parsley to sprinkle on something one more time, I going to lose it.

I much prefer proportions to recipes. For cous cous it's one part stock to one part cous cous, for dressings 3 to 1 oil to vinegar usually works out nicely, etc. If you visited a professional kitchen a few things would jump out at you right away. How fast-paced it is, how much cursing is being done, and how few recipes you see. So, today's artichoke is a celebration of the non-recipe; trim some chokes, drizzle some lemon and oil, stick in a garlic clove, sprinkle on some salt, and roast until delicious. I expect some comments from new cooks saying "but we need the measurements because we are not as experienced as you." No you don't. Use the force. Besides how do you know yours isn’t going to come out better because you used a little more or a little less of something? Cook, taste, adjust, and enjoy.

*Bonus foodie points if you are the first commenter to tell me what horrible Chef error I made on the plate in the photo.


Ingredients:
artichokes
lemon
garlic
olive oil
salt

Garlic, Black Pepper, and Fennel-rubbed Flank Steak with Grilled Oranges - aka Party Steak!

You have to love the flank steak; so easy to cook, almost no trimming, relatively lean, and perfect for a party since it’s slight change in thickness from one end to the other allows for slices of medium rare and medium well off the same piece of meat. This very interesting recipe has something I always appreciate in a dish; it makes its own sauce. As you’ll see in the video recipe, we used the juice from some grilled oranges with the natural juices from the steak to create a fabulous looking, and tasting platter of beef.

While this dish may appear to be inspired by Italian or Spanish influences (which it is), it’s also a take on one of my favorite Chinese dishes; spicy orange beef. I love to grill flank steak with a highly flavored rub of garlic, fennel, salt and black pepper. I wondered what would happen if I added a little orange to the marinade, and then I got the idea to caramelize some orange halves on the grill, and squeeze the juice over the meat after it was cooked and sliced. It was an amazing combination, and one you must try. I did a recent video recipe with some orange and fennel grilled chicken thighs, that was very good, but this went to a whole new place. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 flank steak (about 2 pounds)
1 tbl fennel seeds
2 tbl black pepper
2 tsp salt
3 oranges
2 tbl olive oil
4 sprigs rosemary
4 cloves garlic
cayenne pepper to taste

Watermelon and Feta with Toasted Cashews – Old footage, new narration, watercolor filters, and one really amazing summer salad!

I vaguely remember eating a slice on watermelon as a young child and watching in shock and horror as my grandfather started sprinkling salt on his slice. I said whatever the 5 year old version of “what the hell are you doing?” was. He said something like “it makes it sweeter.” What? Needless to say that didn’t make any sense at the time. Fast forward 30 years later to a café in San Francisco where I was served a green salad garnished with sweet, juicy watermelon, crumbled feta che ese, and toasted cashews. Wow, it was amazing! What a combination of sweet, salty, juicy, creamy, crunchy, and just…mmmmm. Ah ha! I finally understood what grandfather was doing. Better late than never.

This video recipe was pieced together with footage I shot last year when I was just playing around with my new webcam. I found it and decided to add some new voice-over and show you this great salad. Yes, it’s a bit unusual, but one bite and you will be hooked. You’ll get to see and hear both sleeveless and blurry 2006 Chef John, as well as the new and improved 2007 Chef John. So, here’s the clip, a whole year in the making, as they say. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 small ripe watermelon
4 oz feta cheese
1/2 cup toasted cashews
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
*optional garnish: some fresh mint or basil

Chicken D’Arduini – Italian Home Cooking at its Best!

As promised, here is the chicken dish that my Uncle Bill served with the homemade fettuccine you saw him make a few days ago. This unbelievably flavorful recipe is a great example of the difference between home cooking and the way things are done in the professional kitchen.

If I were to watch this video recipe clip, the first thing I would have wondered was why weren’t the chicken pieces browned first before being braised in the wine. This would have been my former professional chef brain talking. In the restaurant we always brown off the chicken to give it a bit more color. But, at home, with a recipe this jam-packed with flavor, why bother? It would have taken an extra half hour to brown all those legs and thighs and we had wine to drink and stories to tell. So, in true home cooking style we just added the raw chicken to that amazing oil, garlic and anchovy base (as you’ll soon see) and went from there. If you want a darker brown sauce and chicken, then by all means brown off the pieces first. We had better things to do.

A few tips to keep in mind as you watch the recipe. Be sure NOT to brown the garlic. It was just simmered on low with the anchovies and olive oil for a few minutes before the chicken was added. As soon as the chicken and wine are added, and the pan is covered, there is no danger of the garlic burning. But, until those other ingredients go in, be careful! You should watch this clip a few times, to really see what happened. The heat was adjusted several times, and the wine went in at the beginning and the end. Basically the entire cooking time is about 45 minutes, half covered, half uncovered. At the end, once the chicken is starting to come off the bone, you are just reducing the sauce into a wonderfully sticky glaze.

Uncle Bill threw in some olives and mushrooms near the end, but you could just as easily put in peppers, artichoke hearts, etc. This is a very easy recipe to tailor to you own tastes. The basic foundation is the chicken, wine, vinegar, garlic and anchovies. After that anything goes. And, because someone will ask, no, you can’t use chicken breasts instead…this is strictly dark meat territory. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs (bone-in, but skinned)
8 chicken legs
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 tbl dried rosemary
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
2 oz anchovy fillets
1/2 plus 1/3 cup red wine
1/4 cup vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt