When Chicken Thighs Get Your Own Thighs Open Wide

Cap’n was working late last night.  A psycho decided to kill his stepfather, girlfriend and her mother, then stab a random pedestrian, then carjack someone and stab her too.  Since he was tearing around Brooklyn in a stolen Pontiac with every cop in the NYPD looking for him, it was Cap’n’s job to find out if he had any prior arrests.  And he had four, two of which were sealed because he was a juvenile… at the age of 20! How ridiculous is that?

So, the joy of my Valentine Party Basket was somewhat diminished in his office after this, which irked me.

There are few restaurants in his gritty precinct, and he wasn’t going to order in, so he’d be ravenous when he got home.  I decided to do it up even though I’d likely be asleep.

Chicken, Risotto, Broccoli feast

4 chicken thighs, skin on

1 shallot

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice (1 medium lemon)

2 tablespoons sherry

Black pepper to taste

Sea salt to taste

Fennel seeds

½ tsp. thyme

½ tsp oregano

Peel and slice the shallots thin.  Insert the slices under the skin of each chicken thigh.  Whisk everything else together in a small bowl.  Line a small roasting pan with parchment paper and arrange the thighs on it.  Pour marinade over it. Sprinkle with more pepper, if desired.  Roast at 425 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Risotto: I use Rice Select Italian Rice and follow the package directions, BUT – I use chicken broth instead of water, and the last cup of liquid added is sherry.  I also add mushrooms and cooked shallots.

Broccoli – frozen florets, blanched for 2 to 3 minutes in water at a rolling boil, then plunged into ice water.  To serve, microwave for one minute with 1 tbsp. butter and the juice of half a lemon.  Serve with lemon wedge.

I whipped all this up, covered it carefully, and left a note about the really good chardonnay in the fridge door and the bagged salad in the crisper.  Then I took a place setting of the china he got me for Christmas out of the cabinet and stacked it next to the serving dishes, along with a linen napkin and one of our crystal wine glasses.  Then I took shower #3 of the day and went to sleep.

At 2 AM, I should not have been surprised to find my ear being nibbled and a scruffy chin running down my neck as the long t-shirt I sleep in was expertly removed.  But I was.  I mean, we both put in long days and Sex Night is usually Saturday.  Spontaneous Sex Night usually happens when we’re both home at the same time.  But there we were, and ’twas glorious.  More glorious was going to the kitchen for the last of the chardonnay and finding that he’d done the dishes.

I make no guarantee that making this dish will result in what P.G. Wodehouse would call “the pash”.  But it will increase your chances.  If it does, plan on Saturday being a Lazy Day.