in good taste, vol. 59: amuse-bouche
thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season; crab rangoon; lemon chicken
A couple of disparate thoughts knocking around my brain lately:
I really love the TCM rebrand. Have you watched TCM lately? Granted, some of the current programming isn’t to my taste (westerns, horror/thrillers during October), but man I think about the brand refresh a lot. It looks so pop, so revitalized, so cool. They have also begun hosting some commentary on films that … how do you say, haven’t aged well in the current discourse … that I find very fresh and thoughtful.
Procrastination solution: anytime I’m really avoiding work, I come into the Google Doc of This Newsletter and start thinking about what I will write for this intro section. And wow! Pop! All of a sudden, I am ready to turn on my heel and get to work again. Inspiration really can come from anywhere.
TIME TO CLASS UP THE JOINT WITH SOME READING MATERIAL
1978:
“The fact of the matter is that if I worked a straight job I wouldn't have time to do the serious business of my life, which is to amuse and delight, giving my rich friends a feeling of largesse, my poor friends a sense of high life and myself a true sense of accomplishment for having become a fixture and a rarity in this shark‐infested metropolis.”
News from the Arctic: “There’s one kitchen and nowhere else to eat. The food better be good.”
The Wes Anderson-designed train carriage
Sensory cooking is the opposite of technique
The art of not taking things personally
“No modern food conglomerate would ever come up with something as deranged as crab rangoon, and if it was new today, nobody would buy it. And yet somehow it survived, watching food trends be born and die, outliving them all.”
LEMON CHICKEN WITH COUSCOUS
Can I interest you in a very clumsy video tutorial on this very recipe? I may have slowed down on Idea Pins, but dammit if I’m not going to keep trying.
Anyway, this is an incredibly simple weeknight dinner that can be iterated upon to your little heart’s content: use dill instead of rosemary, orange slices instead of lemon, turmeric couscous instead of standard. Live out loud!
INGREDIENTS
3-4 chicken thighs (boneless, skinless, seasoned with salt and pepper)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lemon, sliced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 cup, pearled couscous
⅓ cup, white wine
2 cups, chicken stock
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
WHAT TO DO
Pat chicken dry. Heat oven to 400. Brown chicken in butter and oil in a large, oven-safe skillet, both sides 5-6 minutes. Set aside.
Add lemon slices to the pan. When browned, set aside on the chicken plate.
Sauté garlic and shallots for a few minutes, until fragrant and golden.
Add couscous, toast for a minute, mixing to combine with the alliums.
Add chicken stock and wine, boil for a minute, then add lemon and chicken and rosemary to the pan.
Stick in the oven for 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.