What’s Cooking
by kathy harrison
C h ic k e n i n Ba lsa m ic
V i n e ga r Sau c e
1 chicken, cut into 6 or 8 pieces, rinsed and patted dry
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup dry white wine
1 large onion, cut into large dice
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced thyme
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
½ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1) Season the chicken liberally with kosher
salt and freshly ground black pepper. In
a large skillet, heat the olive oil with 1
Cooking from the Larder
tablespoon butter over medium-high heat.
Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook
about 6-8 minutes until nicely golden brown.
Turn the pieces and cook about 6-8 minutes.
I
knew it was happening, but I thought I could
stave it off. My freezer, crammed with all manner of mysterious and unmarked packages,
was building up sheets of ice at an alarming rate.
The ice cubes solidified into an unyielding rock,
which I bashed with a meat mallet and kitchen
knife. Such are the contents of my personal tool
box. More often than not, the ice won, and the
horribly disfigured knife went into the back of a
drawer with other remnants of my fix-it prowess.
It was time to call Yogi, a man who knows my
address all too well. He’s an appliance repair man
who had been summoned when the oven went
out the day before Thanksgiving, and when the
washing machine decided to spew water skyward.
We went through our usual conversational pas
de deux.
He: “Get a new one.” (Fill in the blank; i.e.,
whatever he was called to fix.)
Me: “I don’t want to.” (Even though, of course
I did. Who wouldn’t want a shiny new … fill in
the blank. Whatever he was called to fix.)
92 •
He opened the freezer door and stared, aghast.
The fact that a frozen block clattered to the floor,
hitting his foot, didn’t help. “What’s this?” he
asked. Chicken, I mumbled. The news I dreaded
was delivered in stentorian tones. “You have to
empty this freezer and turn it off. It will probably
take two or three days to defrost. You’ll need a lot
of towels.” He hobbled out.
We bought a mega-size garbage can, lined it
Transfer the chicken to a plate and keep
warm.
2) Add the onions and carrots to the pan
and cook, stirring, until a deep golden
brown. Deglaze the pan with the white
wine, stirring up the browned bits on the
bottom of the pan. Simmer until the liquid is
reduced by half.
with plastic, and set it outside the kitchen door. I
3) Add the thyme, rosemary, and balsamic
started to empty the freezer, methodically at first,
vinegar, stirring to combine. Return the
then with rampant haste as my fingers turned red,
chicken to the pan, turning the pieces to
then ghostly white. Almost nothing was labeled.
coat with the sauce. Cover the pan and
Did I think I’d remember the contents of all those
cook over medium heat until the chicken is
plastic bags? Evidently. How wrong I was. Every-
cooked through and deeply glazed with the
thing looked the same, especially coated with the
sauce.
ice crystals that had formed on each package.
My husband, lover of left-overs, viewed this
as a culinary adventure. I wasn’t on board. As the
veritable mountain of frozen packages added up, I
toyed with the idea of letting the garbage can roll
down the driveway, just in time for garbage pick-
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4) Transfer the chicken to a serving platter
and ladle some of the sauce over each
piece. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and
serve. (Serves 4)
up on Monday. Unfeasible. That first night, I left
the cover of the can slightly ajar. I figured a pack
of raccoons, coyotes, or some other nighttime
marauders would help me out. Wrong again. They
must have had reservations at a fancier restaurant
where dealing with zip lock bags wouldn’t be an
issue.
There was no getting around it. We’d have to
eat this stuff. I grabbed a bunch of bags and set
them in the sink to defrost. Much to my amazement, that heavy package that almost injured the
repairman actually was chicken. It turned out to
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be an organic, cut up fryer weighing in at close
to 4 pounds. I knew I’d have to find some way to
cook it with liquid of some sort, for no doubt, its
days (or months) in the frozen tundra must have
robbed it of some of its moisture.
Here is a theory I can’t prove, but I’d be will-
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ing to stake the dark chocolate, cream-filled candy I had hidden in that same ice encrusted box.
Anyone who has a freezer crammed to the limit
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probably has a cupboard or pantry stuffed with
jars and bottles of wondrous treasures that were
bought for some recipe, but never quite made it to
the table. The top shelf of my cupboard was groan-
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ing under the weight of vinegar. Balsamic, to be
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exact. I had quart-size jugs from the supermarket,
and tiny little vials, expensive enough to warrant
being pushed to the netherworld at the very back
of the shelf where no one could see them, much
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less enjoy them. I counted 11 bottles of balsamic
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vinegar. Clearly, I needed an intervention.
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I could braise the chicken or roast it, then serve
it with a salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette,
but that sounded pretty boring. Since I was going
to be stuck in the kitchen with my mountain of
towels, I thought I’d go for a bird with a little more
pizzazz. What emerged was gloriously browned,
fragrant, and succulent. I lit candles. The steady
beat of water hitting the towels accompanied the
background music. A small step, I admit, but Yogi
would be proud.
Call us Today for a FREE Estimate
847.392.3939
Kathy Harrison is a Barrington
Hills resident who teaches the fine
art of cooking.
For more information, call
847-381-4828.
Sundek
Sundek of
of Illinois
Illinois •• Owner:
Owner:Jake
JakeOlson
Olson
Phone
(847)
392-3939
•
FAX
(847)
392-8844
Phone
(847)
392-3939
•
FAX
(847)
392-8844
Sundek
of
Illinois
•
Owner:
Jake
Sundek of Illinois • Owner Jake Olson
Olson
3810
Industrial
Ave.,
Rolling
Meadows,
ILIL60008
Phone
(847) 392-3939
• FAX
(847) 392-8844
3810 Industrial
Ave., Rolling
Meadows,
60008
847.392.3939
•
FAX
847.392.8844
3810 Industrial Ave., Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
3810 Industrial Avenue • Rolling Meadows • IL 60008
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