sautéed chicken, tarragon; cabbage, leeks; roasted carrots

This time I mean it: Chicken, really good chicken like this, responsibly raised chicken, will show up on our table and on this blog more frequently in the future.

This one was was really delicious.

The excellent, very simple – and simply-outlined – ‘recipe‘ I used is from Mark Bittman.

  • two 10-ounce chicken thighs, Cascun Farms‘ Cornish Cross breed, from Eataly Flatiron, browned well in two tablespoons or so of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ inside an oval enameled high-sided cast iron pot, then covered and cooked over medium-low heat, turning occasionally, until the internal temperature is 155-165 degrees, or the juices run clear, 15 to 20 minutes, transferred to plates resting on top of the hot oven (mine is a 1934 Magic Chef, with the oven above and to the left of the 4 burners, and so very useful for the purpose), one minced Camelot shallot from Quarton Farm and about a third of a cup of white wine added to the pot, the heat raised to medium high and the liquid reduced a little, and more than a dozen tarragon leaves form Stokes Farm, chopped, added and stirred in before the sauce was transferred to a glass sauce boat, from which some of it was poured over the chicken

  • most of a small, very sweet ‘conehead’ cabbage (also known as ‘caraflex’ or ‘arrowhead’ cabbage) from Alewife Farm, washed, drained, and sliced crosswise into 1/2″ ribbons, sautéed in little more than a tablespoon of olive oil inside a large antique, high-sided heavy copper pot in a little olive oil along with two halved and chopped small to medium size leeks from from Hawthorne Valley Farm, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage had wilted but was still crunchy, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, adding also a little more than a teaspoon of toasted cumin seed and half of a teaspoon of Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar, the mix stirred and cooked for another couple minutes

  • twelve ounces of small dragon carrots from Tamarack Hollow Farm, scrubbed, dried, halved lengthwise, tossed inside a bowl with a little olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a teaspoon of ground Italian fennel seed and a bit of crushed orange/gold dried habanada pepper, arranged, not touching, on a medium size ceramic Pampered Chef oven pan, roasted at 400º for about 20 minutes, or until tender, arranged on the plates and garnished with a spray of long-stemmed pea shoots from Echo Creek Farm in the Saturday Chelsea Farmers Market

After the main course, there was a taste of a single very interesting cheese, one we’d never before experienced; it was delicious.