yummy.

I tend to try out new things on the weekend. Tonight’s dinner was incredibly tasty, so I thought I’d share: Chicken with tomatoes and honey served with a rice and quinoa medley with dried fruit and cardamom and sauteed green beans.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Honey

4 chicken thighs (with skin and bone)
4 tbsp butter
1 onion, grated or finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated ginger or ginger paste
1 can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp honey
salt and coarse ground black pepper

Place the butter in a large dutch oven. Add the chicken and cook over medium heat about 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.

Add the onion, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and heat gentle until the tomatoes begin to bubble.

Lower the heat and then cover the casserole. Simmer very gently for about 1 hour, stirring and turning the chicken occasionally, ot until it is completely cooked through.

Lift out the chicken pieces and transfer them to a plate. Increase the heat and cook the tomato sauce until it is reduced to a thick puree, stirring frequently. Stir in the honey, cook for 1 minutes, then return the chicken pieces to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes to heat through.

Serve.

It’s not very often that I whip out the cast iron and fry chicken. It’s tedious work - hot, greasy, and messy. Occasionally, however, I like to treat my friends to something they may not have ever had outside the bounds of fast food. Last night was one of those occasions.

The menu consisted of:

• fried chicken
• homemade mashed potatoes
• sweet milk gravy
• a mess of greens (collard and mustard)
• buttermilk biscuits
• pralines

It was a lofty goal, I admit. I was surprised I even found the greens at Mollie Stone’s, but find them I did. A little cleaning and a pound of fried bacon later and I had a taste of home I can’t find anywhere in Marin County. It’s been well over a year since I last had greens, something I have to have when I go back to visit my family in Memphis. It’s been longer than that since I fried chicken.

So yesterday, I made the greens. I boiled and mashed the potatoes (and used some nifty tricks Padma taught me - such as adding an egg to them). I fried. And fried. And fried. I baked. I eyeballed the sugar mixture (since I don’t own a candy thermometer and couldn’t find one at Mollies). The end result was well worth the effort. And the best thing? I have tons of leftovers for lunch.

Well, except the pralines. There aren’t any of those left, though that is probably for the better. I remember almost making myself sick off of them as a kid. I’d like to never do that again.