The comedy of maternal love is that its seismic intensity is expressed, most of the time, in totally mundane drudgery

 Elizabeth Bruenig for The Atlantic, here:

... My mother used to pick me up from day care in paisley dresses or broomstick skirts with slouchy boots, hair hot-rolled and blown out, with the lived-in scent of faded perfume: full glam for an eight-hour workday with a 45-minute commute on either end and then a second shift at home, cooking any number of demanding meals—fried chicken, smothered pork chops, breakfast for dinner with biscuits and gravy—and then helping me and my brother with our homework and loading up the dishwasher, all before she took her makeup off. I used to sit beside her and talk with her while she took her evening bath, watching while she rinsed her mascara off and finally breathed. ...

Your traditional chicken broth is probably contributing to all your aches and pains

Simultaneous Determination of Purines and Uric Acid in Chinese Chicken Broth Using TFA/FA Hydrolysis Coupled with HPLC-VWD :

Chinese chicken stock was prepared ... Briefly, yellow-feather chicken carcasses with the head, claws, and internal organs removed were cut evenly in half along the back, rinsed and drained in cold water, and cooked in a 5.6 L stainless steel stockpot ... with purified water ... at the meat to water ratio of 1:2 (w/w). The chicken carcass was placed in the stainless steel pot when the purified water was at 95–99 °C, and cooking was timed when the broth temperature again reached 95–99 °C. After 4 h of stewing, the top layer of fat was removed and the chicken stock was stored at −20 °C for further analysis. ...

Gout is the second most common metabolic disease affecting human health after diabetes. Gout is closely related to the content of exogenous purines and uric acid consumed in the diet. Chinese chicken broth is a delicious traditional meat soup, rich in protein, fat, minerals, and other nutrients, and is popular among consumers. Chicken broth is often considered a high purine food, posing a health risk to patients with gout and hyperuricemia. This work copes with the optimization of purines and uric acid content simultaneous determination in Chinese chicken stock when hydrolysis and extraction procedures, as well as HPLC, were studied. ... It has been demonstrated that Chinese chicken broth contains a significant amount of purines, with the highest content being hypoxanthine. It is also worth noting that some uric acid is also present in chicken soup, which can directly affect the body’s blood uric acid levels when ingested.

Happiness is Not Chick'n Bouillon Cubes

I use this stuff to rev-up my chicken stock/soup, which I do make from the carcass of the leftover chicken. It also works great mixed with extra virgin olive oil made into a paste for rubbing the inside and outside of the roasting chicken before placing in the oven.

Happiness is John Anderson singing "Chicken Truck" in February 2014 at the Redneck Country Club in Stafford, Texas

 

Happiness is a tender Italian turkey meatball "shell" during the pandemic

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground turkey

1/2 c milk

1 egg

3/4 c Panko bread crumbs

Seasoning:

1 t salt

1/2 t granulated garlic

1/2 t dried thyme leaves

1/2 t dried oregano leaves

1/2 t whole black peppercorns, or 1/4 t ground

1 t fennel seeds

1 t crushed red pepper flakes

1 T sweet Hungarian paprika

Method:

1) Whisk together the egg and the milk in a large mixing bowl

2) Grind the seasonings in a coffee grinder until fine-ish

3) Whisk the seasonings into the egg/milk mixture

4) Add the meat to the bowl and mix together using a fork or a potato masher

5) Add the bread crumbs and mix together

6) Form "meatball shells" using a fork and a nonstick ice cream scoop, which releases them easily 

7) Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and add enough canola oil to cover the bottom

8) Fry "shells" in batches about twelve minutes in the oil, flat side first, flipping them half way through

9) Serve with pasta "Orecchiette" if you can find them, for fun, and your favorite sauce

Pet Peeve: When the really nice looking white-skinned chicken thighs have just as much skin hidden underneath them by the butcher

Happiness is red beans and rice, even if you don't have any red beans, just use whatever beans you have

Red Beans and Rice (h/t Rosso & Lukins)

1 pound navy beans, soaked overnight in the frig
2 cups chicken broth or made from bouillon cube
2.5 cups San Marzano tomato puree
2 bay leaves
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t Tabasco sauce
4 andouille sausages
1/2 t salt
1 t granulated onion
1/4 t garlic powder
1 cup white rice, boiled, drained and buttered


1) Drain beans and parboil covered in fresh water in a covered 3 quart dutch oven: Bring to a boil and shut off the heat for an hour, boil it again and shut off the heat for an hour, then bring to a boil for a third time and let simmer for an hour or two on low until the beans are tender.

2) Drain the beans and return to the dutch oven; add the broth, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and Tabasco, sausages, salt, onion and garlic; bring to a boil, cover, and bake in a 350 degree F oven for an hour.

3) Boil the rice in 6 cups or so of salted water 15-20 minutes, just like pasta, stirring frequently but gently; drain and reserve rice in a buttered bowl covered in the warm oven (h/t James Peterson).

4) Add more Worcestershire and/or Tabasco to taste, if desired. Serves 3-4 over rice with plenty of beans left over for the morning toast.

Happiness is a cat with heart disease who wants to live

Here she is, all sick like, trying to catch some rays before judgment day.

Well, it's judgment day, and wouldn't you know it, she bestirred herself, rose up from the sick bed at 06:00, ate some dry food and trotted upstairs. Then she jumped to her happy place on the coffee table for a little rubdown, and then to the fountain for a good long drink like she hadn't drunk in two days. Well, she hadn't drunk in two days, nor eaten. And then she turns up in the kitchen at her feeding spot, looking at me like what's for breakfast, tender tuna or chicken? 

She's definitely turned a corner. Judgment day, postponed.

Happiness is a 6-pack of game hens

When two game hens just won't do.

On sale no less, at Sam's Club for just $2.71 each, through November 25th.

Happiness is chicken for 77 cents per pound

On rainy days alone I dine,

Upon a chick and pint of wine:

On rainy days I dine alone,

And pick my chicken to the bone.

-- Jonathan Swift

Happiness is low-sodium barley lentil soup for lunch

Barley growing in Provence to the right, lavender to the left

3 cups turkey stock from Thanksgiving, made from the leftover bones

6 cups water

3/4 cup green lentils, rinsed

3/4 cup hulled barley, rinsed

2 bay leaves

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 small carrots, chopped

1 large garlic clove, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon French sea salt

2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

 

1/ bring the stock and water to a boil and add the lentils, barley and bay leaves

2/ simmer at a low boil one hour, covered

3/ chop the onion, carrots and garlic and saute in the olive oil until softened, set aside

4/ to a spice grinder add sea salt, black pepper, rosemary and thyme leaves and pulse until powdery

5/ when the barley and lentils are soft, add the sautéed vegetables and the spices to the soup and stir occasionally while simmering, twenty minutes more

makes about eight cups, approximately 310 mg sodium per cup (lentils 15 mg, barley 15 mg, onion 10 mg, carrots 105 mg, salt 2325 milligrams = 2470 mg/8 = 308.75 mg/cup)

Happiness is fast and easy grilled Mexican lime chicken cutlets for fajitas

The recipe is here:

2.0 lbs chicken cutlets (from Omaha Steaks, thanks Gramps!)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Whisk ingredients together in a large bowl, throw in the thawed chicken and marinate up to 2 hours, grill it, slice it and serve it with your favorite salsa in a warm flour tortilla.

Happiness is Chef John's roasted Greek chicken thighs with potatoes

Adapted from Chef John at all recipes dot com here.

10 chicken thighs with skin on

1 T kosher salt

1 T dried oregano

1 t black pepper

1 t dried rosemary leaves

1 pinch cayenne pepper

.25 cup lemon juice

.5 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 cloves fresh garlic pressed

4 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

1. Combine salt, oregano, black pepper, rosemary, cayenne, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic in a bowl. Whisk until blended.

2. Lightly Crisco a large roaster.

3. Dredge each piece of chicken in the spice mixture in the bowl and place each in the roaster. I could have used a little more lemon juice, but .25 cup was all I had. The last two pieces of chicken got shortchanged. Chef John's original recipe calls for less chicken than I used, but mine still turned out just fine.

4. Position the potato pieces around and between the chicken pieces.

5. Preheat the oven to bake at 425F while you tidy up.

6. Roast the chicken and potatoes for one hour.

7. Reduce heat to 350F and roast another 10 minutes.

8. Switch to broil for a few more minutes if additional browning is necessary.

9. Serve chicken and potatoes on a large plate, topped with some of the pan juices if you like, and steamed petite peas and butter.

10. A glass of cold Moscato was perfect with this.

11. OK, two glasses.

When the wind chill is 5°F (-15°C), happiness is a hot rotisserie chicken for $4.98 from Sam's Club for dinner

With some Basmati rice and butter and a nice romaine and spinach salad with avocado and sweet peppers.

Happiness is a 12-lb. Thanksgiving turkey for seven bucks at D&W Fresh Market

Gott sei dank! Thanks be to God!

Ours looked just like this, too, and was done in just three hours at 325 degrees F., because we never stuff our turkey. And was it ever delicious!

At the two hour mark we oiled the skin and baked it another half hour, then covered it with aluminum foil for another half hour.

The neck and gizzard were stewed separately for two hours, from which we made the giblet gravy.

Wunderbar!

The turkey was served with sautéed whole green beans baked for five minutes in the oven topped with french fried onions, and red garnet yams with butter and dark brown sugar.

A meal fit for a king, easily enjoyed by hoi polloi.

It's National Burger Day today, but we made stir-fry by mistake dontcha know

We use a Cantonese style wok with a lower base ring on a gas stove without difficulty

We grill burgers on Sunday evenings like clockwork, but not today!

And to think it was the National Day to celebrate our custom. Oops.

We made stir-fry in the wok because we had accumulated leftovers from . . . the grill!

But not beef! Pork and chicken, mostly.

Here's the basic ingredient list for our stovetop stir fry (you can get by without the celery if you have 1/4 tsp. celery seed):

2 cups leftover cooked meat, like pork and chicken, diced small without the skin or fat

1 cup fresh mushrooms, about 4 oz., diced and then sautéed in butter or oil

3/4 cup diced carrot, about 2

2/3 cup diced onion

1 green onion chopped

2/3 cup diced sweet bell pepper, orange or red

1 cup diced celery stalk, about 2

1 cup sweet baby peas or pea pods

1 can drained bamboo shoots

1 can drained sliced water chestnuts

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger root

3 slices bacon already cooked, chopped

1 cup prepared Jasmine rice in a pan, left covered off the heat (1 cup rice, 2 cups water, a little salt, brought to a boil in a heavy covered pan and then simmered on low for 20 minutes--easy peasy)

1/2 to 1 tsp. sugar

ground black pepper

San-Jay Tamari sauce

2-3 tablespoons Sesame or Canola oil

Here's the cooking order:

Heat oil in the wok OVER MEDIUM

Add carrots and stir

Add celery and stir

Add onion and stir

Add mushrooms and stir

Add garlic and stir

Add sweet pepper and stir

Add black pepper and stir

Add meats and stir

Add fresh peas or pea pods and stir,

And bamboo shoots and water chestnuts and stir,

and cover and steam 3 minutes ON MEDIUM LOW.

Then add ginger and more black pepper

Add 1/4 cup Tamari sauce and the sugar in a pool in the bottom, mix together and stir everything

Add the cooked rice and stir until well blended

Add more Tamari sauce as desired (but you want to keep the mixture on the dry side)

Stir in cooked bacon and green onion

Turn off and cover and prepare to serve immediately 

Happiness is the Devil's chicken for dinner, with fennel parmesan and sweet baby peas

For the Pollo alla Diavola and the Finocchio alla Parmigiano see Michele Scicolone's 1,000 Italian Recipes.

Happiness is Jennie-O Hot Italian Turkey Sausage on pasta night

You get five fresh sausages for $4.49, about $.90 apiece.

Sear quickly in a hot skillet to brown, but then simmer on low to retain the juices and spices.

The original 14 superfoods

yogurt

beans

blueberries, salmon, spinach

oats

orange

pumpkin

tea

tomato

soy

turkey

walnut

broccoli

AP investigation discovers slaves in Thailand peel our shrimp, so buy American instead

From the story here:

"U.S. customs records show the shrimp made its way into the supply chains of major U.S. food stores and retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Dollar General and Petco, along with restaurants such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

"It also entered the supply chains of some of America's best-known seafood brands and pet foods, including Chicken of the Sea and Fancy Feast, which are sold in grocery stores from Safeway and Schnucks to Piggly Wiggly and Albertsons. AP reporters went to supermarkets in all 50 states and found shrimp products from supply chains tainted with forced labor.

"European and Asian import and export records are confidential, but the Thai companies receiving shrimp tracked by the AP all say they ship to Europe and Asia as well."

Fight slavery. Source your shrimp from US waters. It will say so right on the package.