Fork-tender chicken with lemon and green olives

Here's something I've been working out lately. A scrumptious melt-in-your-mouth chicken recipe. Crockpot is strongly (and highly) recommended.

Ingredients:
16 chicken thighs, bones & skin removed
1 lemon, zest & juice thereof
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup (or more) green olives, pitted and halved
1 cinnamon stick
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
1 cup chicken broth
olive oil
2 T turmeric
1/2 t red pepper flakes
2 T flour

Assembly:
One great thing about crockpot cooking is there's plenty of time for the mise en place (i.e. getting ready in advance). Here's how I prep the night before:

• in 1 container, store olives, lemon zest and cinnamon stick
  
• in another, store onions, garlic and ginger
  
• in a 3rd, marinate chicken in the lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon plus extra juice)

Then, in the morning:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Dump in chicken and arrange so it's in a single layer (do more than 1 batch if you have too much chicken). Sprinkle on 1T turmeric plus the red pepper and flour.
   
2. When chicken is starting to brown on 1 side, turn it over. Sprinkle on other 1 T turmeric. (Feel free to go crazy with lots more turmeric. It helps prevent cancer!)
   
3. When chicken no longer looks very raw on the outside, transfer to crockpot. Do NOT clean pan yet!
   
4. Add olive-zest-cinnamon to crockpot. Spread around.
   
5. If needed, heat a bit more olive oil in pan. Put in onion-garlic-ginger mixture and saute for about 5 minutes. Then, pour in chicken broth and stir around to scrape up any tasty bits sticking to the bottom. Pour all into crockpot.
   
6. Cook 8-10 hours or more. I sometimes start on Low and stir halfway through, then turn up to high to really tenderize the chicken. Or you can just leave it on high (or low) the whole time.

Serve with couscous and a veggie. Serves 4 with minimal leftovers.


For radio listeners, here's the Beef Jerky Time playlist from last week!

• The Bed's Too Big Without You: The Police
  
• This Will Be Our Year: OK Go
  
• Isaac: Madonna
  
• I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar: Jonathan Richman
  
• Quedate Luna: Devendra Banhart
  
• Waves & Echoes: Portal
  
• Four Winds: Bright Eyes
  
• Bongo Bong: Manu Chao
  
• Mushaboom: Feist
  
• Mary Is Alone: Dry Ice
  
• Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above: Cansei de Ser Sexy
  
• Rich Girl: Gwen Stefani feat. Eve
  
• Sycamore: Bill Callahan
  
• Quiet Town: Josh Rouse
  
• Ezy Ryder: Jimi Hendrix
  

Failure to Shop

Recently I received a small tax refund. (Thank you, deductions!) I wisely put about 55% of it into savings. But I wanted to take the rest and SPLURGE, man! Just because I suffer from a shopping disability doesn't mean I can't keep trying! (This disability manifests as stultifying indecision and anxiety when presented with more than about 5 choices... or 5 stores... or more than 5 minutes in a store that has more than 5 choices.) So I asked my family to accompany me to the mall. It's an adventure--a drive of about an hour and in a different state.

I was so sure I'd make it this time, and come away with tens of dollars of new duds and a whole new style. I did some research by reading "Lucky: The Magazine about shopping." I figured what I needed was layers, A-line knee-length skirts, lace accents, grays and greens and creams with maybe some splashes of color. A New Look silhouette with some gauzy bits and tailored bits. Simple, eh? Except I was not so lucky after all. I just can't shop! I need to have all items presented to me personally by knowledgeable and slightly stuck-up sales people. I'm incapable of sifting through things by myself. I lost momentum after the 2nd store I went to--Banana Republic--and bought only 1 thing in the course of 3 hours. It was a nice camisole however, so that's a layer that's lacy and fulfills 2 of my criteria in 1 piece.

Fortunately it all turned out for the best. I'd forgotten I owed a big chunk of a medical bill, and that I would need to buy some new tires at the end of snow-tire season. I'll have just enough money left over from my camisole purchase to afford these things. Thank you "failure to shop"!

Here's the playlist from last week's (4/11/07) Beef Jerky Time.

• Charles in Charge theme
  
• Incredibly Drunk on Whiskey: Memphis
  
• Take a Chance on Me: Abba
  
• Candylion: Gruff Rhys
  
• Was a Sunny Day: Paul Simon
  
• Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op: Mark Mothersbaugh (Life Aquatic s/t)
  
• Destroy Everything You Touch: Ladytron
  
• Don't You Want Me: Human League
  
• Fat Children: Jarvis Cocker
  
• Maneater: Nelly Furtado
  
• MechaMania Boy: Devo
  
• Tea for the Tillerman: Cat Stevens
  
• Rehab: Amy Winehouse
  
• Step Aside: Tobias Hellkvist
  

No show tonight: April snow!

Dear listeners, if you are tuning in to wvew.org to hear me today, 4/4/07, my sincere apologies! I'm staying safe at home on a grisly slushy night. Presumably my last "bad weather" excuse of the season though. Please tune in next week for some songs of spring, dance music, strange electronic noises, all the usual treats.

Here's last week's playlist, while I'm at it. Keep it cozy and tuned to WVEW, mates!

• The Benny Hill Show theme
  
• Always Stuck with Leaving: Japancakes
  
• Ballad of Maxwell Demon: Shudder to Think
  
• The Only Man in Town: Moose
  
• You Can't Push Me Away: The Sinking Ships
  
• Roller King: California Oranges
  
• End of the Day: Beck
  
• Within You Without You: Beatles
  
• The Casio Fight Song: David Shouse and the Bloodthirsty Lovers
  
• Drivin' Thru My Heart: The Donnas
  
• Tele-fone: Godzuki
  
• Knock 'Em Out: Lily Allen
  
• Around the World: Daft Punk
  
• Marilu: Serge Gainsbourg
  
• Why Do You Have So Much Fun Without Me?: Barcelona
  
• edit: hollAnd