Miscellaneous Drawer

A little of this, a little of that...

Hi all!

I thought this week I’d answer some of your reader questions + share a little of this + that…a ‘miscellaneous drawer’ of sorts. Let me know if you like this format! (…am I a blogger?)

READER QUESTIONS!

From Taylor: What is your go-to chicken marinade and recipe? (I literally search for one every time I make chicken - which is weekly!)

My go-to is the ‘Indecision Chicken’ from Small Victories. I named it that because it’s from when I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to do honey mustard, herbs + olive oil, or lemon…so I just put them all together. It’s really good! Here are the measurements from the book but feel free to double, triple, whatever…

I like this for grilled chicken, but you could also broil it…

• A minced garlic clove

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

• A tablespoon of minced fresh sage

• Finely grated zest + juice of 1 lemon

• A tablespoon of Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons of seeded mustard

• A teaspoon of honey

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• Salt + pepper

I am also a big fan of just coating chicken in olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper and grilling it or roasting it, then serve it sliced with a delicious sauce or spoonful of salad dressing…think pesto, caesar, a garlicky vinaigrette, etc. This means less planning ahead and also your chicken is less likely to stick to the grill! Plus you get a big POP of fresh flavor rather than having the marinade disappear.

Also from Taylor: What is over-rated and under-rated in the food world?

Overrated: ramps / underrated: garlic powder…just my two cents!

From Carol: What are some of your favorite cookbooks at the moment?

I am really enjoying Love Japan which came out in May and can’t let the month of June go by without a shoutout to Nicole A. Taylor’s wonderful book Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations (which came out last year). A not-as-new book I’ve been revisiting and love as much now as I did when it came out in 2018 is Diana Henry’s How to Eat a Peach — her menus, beautiful recipes + the photos are just so evocative. And I am so grateful for Matika Wilbur’s book Project 562, which is not a cookbook but I can’t answer a question about favorite books without mentioning it! Here’s a bit more about the project:

“Created by Matika Wilbur, Project 562 is a multi-year national photography project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized Tribes, urban Native communities, Tribes fighting for federal recognition and Indigenous role models in what is currently-known-as the United States, resulting in an unprecedented repository of imagery and oral histories that accurately portrays contemporary Native Americans. This creative, consciousness-shifting work will be widely distributed through national curricula, artistic publications, exhibitions, and online portals.”

A TIP!

I’ve shared this before, but it’s always worth repeating when cherry tomato season is around the corner…make your life easier by cutting a bunch at once rather than one at a time — use two container lids and a serrated knife! Swipe right on this IG post to see a video!

AND A COUPLE OF RECENT MOMENTS…

From left to right:

• a perfect dry gin martini with blue cheese-stuffed olives + potato chips = heaven after mowing the lawn (my favorite hobby — any other enthusiastic mowers out there??!)

• a tub of freshly harvested lettuce at Long Season Farm last week — so beautiful!

• Our bird Papaguy enjoying tofu from Full Fridge Club!

  • Full Fridge Club is the prepared meal service I do with my pal Emmet on Mondays — if you’re in the Kingston, NY area, check us out! We change the menu every week, source from local farms, and put at least one meal per client in the community fridge…and we’re very queer + fun!

  • you can read more about Papaguy here if you’d like!

  

  Okay that’s it for today! Hope you all have a great weekend + something really good to eat. xo