Savory Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
• 3 red peppers, roasted, skinned, chopped into 1/2" squares
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, oven-dried and preserved in oil (you could probably fudge this, but I had 'em)
• 4 cloves garlic, diced roughly
• 1 large onion, sliced medium-thin
• 1 14-oz. can foul mudammas
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 c. stock (I used veggie, you could also use chicken)
• olive oil

Procedure

1. Heat oil to low in a large saucepan with a lid
2. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant (~1 min.)
3. Add onions and stir; cook until they begin to soften
4. Add tomatoes and peppers with a bit more oil (from their containers works nicely)
5. Stir all ingredients together and add a bit of stock (~1/2 c.); stir again to combine and cover
6. Cook covered for several minutes, then open and add chicken
7. Cook chicken for several minutes, turn over, and add foul mudammas, stirring to combine
8. Cover again, and cook on low for about 10 min.
9. Uncover, and cook for about an hour on low, stirring occasionally and adding stock when the sauce gets too thick or starts sticking to the pan
10. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Verdict

Really, really good. Just really good. Still-thinking-about-it-now good.

Rhubarb and links

I saw the stems from the corner of my eye at the store, such a soothing, beautiful pink colour! I love rhubarb from way back in the day, it grew on the side of our house, was easy to identify and easy to cut, it was ideal for kids-turned-kitchen assistants--"Go get me some rhubarba!" Off I'd go with the smallest kitchen knife, on a mission. Last night it made me a little sad to just have to pick them up from a basket and stuff them into a plastic bag, I missed out on the cutting noise, the juiciness, comparing the leave sizes... Ah well. Such is life these days. You can grow rhubarb easily, but you have to wait 2 years before you consume it, I don't have that time.

My instinct recipe for rhubarb: rhubarb-strawberry crumble. I made this one, intrigued by the inclusion of port (I only had dry sherry). But I made two mistakes: I couldn't find/was too lazy to look for rolled oats, so I replaced it with steel cut oats. (Turns out, if you replace an ingredient with a better ingredient, you don't necessarily get something better). And: I didn't reduce the sugar. So my crumble was decent, but not spectacular, too sweet, and a tad too crunchy, even though it smelled enticing. But maybe I'm a bit blase about it, so many rhubarb-strawberry crumbles in my life...

This morning I found this recipe: orange-coriander ice-cream and rhubarb pop-tart. Now that caught my attention! I still have a couple rhubarb stems sitting in the fridge. I'll try that (especially the orange-coriander ice-cream), and report soon.

Vichtenaar Flemish Ale

Sour nose, sour body, sour finish. Just sweet enough with strong tart-cherry flavors, it's a great sour ale; recommended if you're into that sort of thing (which I am).

One-line Beer Reviews Vol. II

Kind Belgian Red Ale: not bad, well-balanced and tasty, but nothing special and not especially Belgian – drink it at a party if it's there but don't go out of your way for it.

Victory Helios: super-refreshing, nice edge of the Belgian yeasty base and crisp but not overwhelming or floral hop finish – highly recommended, especially on a summer evening.

Stoudt's Gold Lager: just a great beer - crisp, refreshing, perfectly balanced, great hop finish; very highly recommended.

Stoudt's Karnival Kölsch: not bad, but a little too sweet for my tastes – probably not a repeat buy for me, but it could just be that I don't like Kölsch ales that much.