Too Many Recipes, Shopping, c-19, Exercise. Burghley House.

I just got a bunch, 40, of recipes for chicken thighs, I started to look through them, but sorry, 40 recipes is too many. Not really necessary in this day and age. Send a couple now and then a couple tomorrow, etc. Not all of  them at once. Anyway there is one of them below which looked pretty good, mind you, all the ones I looked at looked pretty good.

I wasn't too happy with my shopping today, I didn't get a lot of things I ordered and I know darn well, I phoned, that most of the things were in the store. Then I also got charged double for one item. Not really their fault, the kids who do the PC Express haven't got time to think they are so busy. Anyway, I need to get my rear end down there and get the missing items.

It is getting old isn't it? The news is inundated with bad items, very little hopeful. I honestly believe North America is suffering from hype. Not that I am not taking precautions you understand, I could be wrong - no surely not.

I can't believe it is April already. To me February was as long as two months and now March seems to have flown by. Many of you who are not used to being stuck at home probably don't feel that way, but spring is on it's way and, as I have already mentioned and probably will again, asparagus is also on its way.

A bowling friend called me this aft. It was nice to have a little chat. We are both feeling the lack of bowling, he was due to be in a biggish tournament in April, it is postponed of course. Not only that I need to do some exercise of some kind but I just don't have the discipline. Tonight I cooked 13 Bean soup. Originally bought the beans from Amazon, guess what, they are out of stock. Not only that, I really need to do some exercises but I just don't have the discipline to make myself do them.

Last night (Monday) we watched a programme about Stately Houses in Britain. They started with BurghleyHouse built for Sir William Cecil who was Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth 1. They figured that in modern currency, the place would have cost £1.8 billion to build. It was an absolutely fascinating programme and it is an absolutely fascinating house. Sir William didn't employ and architect but designed it all himself. His descendants fill the place with absolutely marvellous art, one of them virtually bankrupted himself, and another descendent employed Capability Brown (one of the top garden designers of his time) to landscape the grounds. Sadly, Sir William was expecting his queen to visit but illness in the house prevented her from doing so and then he died before she could plan to visit again. However, many, many years later, Queen Victoria paid a kind of honeymoon visit which took them a year to plan for and cost them a few pennies at the same time. There is a beautiful and very ornate bedroom which was just for her and her new husband Prince Albert. I had never heard of the house before so I will make sure and watch future episodes of this programme. Another interesting feature, it was the first time people had built houses instead of castles and the place was full of glass windows, virtually heard of at the time.

Tarragon Chicken with Spring Greens

This aromatic chicken cooked with arugula, watercress and romaine lettuce makes a great one-skillet

meal.

2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs canola oil
8 chicken thighs (6 ounces each)
Salt Freshly ground pepper
5 oz baby arugula, cut into ribbons
1 head of romaine lettuce, cut into ribbons
1 bunch of watercress— thick stems discarded, the rest coarsely chopped
1 leek, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
3 Tbs finely chopped tarragon
1 tsp caraway seeds
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
4 oz crème fraîche
Steamed rice, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large, deep ovenproof skillet, melt the butter in the oil over high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook skin side up until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter; pour off most of the fat in the skillet.

2. Add the arugula, romaine, watercress, leek, tarragon and caraway seeds to the skillet and cook, tossing, until slightly wilted, 2 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half, 5 minutes. Stir in the broth and crème fraîche.

3. Nestle the chicken thighs into the greens, skin side up. Transfer the skillet to the middle of the oven and roast for 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Turn on the broiler and broil the chicken for 5 minutes, until the skin is golden. Serve the chicken and greens with rice.

Servings: 4

Author: GRACE PARISI
Source: Food and Wine



Have a great day