Summer Braise

"Makes me feel fine. Running through the jasmine in my mind." Remember that song? Sure you do. Seals and Croft, although of course it was called "Summer Breeze." It was a seminal song for Annalena's youth, and she is somewhat surprised that she still remembers it. Must be the jasmine in her mind. They were an odd pair: used to be called "The Champs," and those of you who dance, MUST remember their hit "Tequila." Well, somewhere along the line they discovered religion: Ba'hai to be precise. And they also sang a number of songs that all of we progressive children listened to. "Ruby Jean and Billy Lee" was the one that was the eye catcher. The title and the lyrics were not revelatory, but it was about something that was still shocking back then: it was a song about the relationship between one of the pair, and his wife, who is a woman of color. Now, those of you who are children of the new millenium will probably say "so?", but in the 70s, this was still a novelty. So much a novelty that the band members parents did not approve of the relationship and were very vocal about it. Well, Ba'hai places very high importance on the relationship between parent and child and, essentially, the songwriter was telling everyone in the song that, while he loved Ruby Jean if his parents continued to disapprove, he would not marry her.
Well, of course they came around and everyone lived happily after, except for Seals and Crofts fans, because they then issued another album about a core section of their religious beliefs. The album was called "Unborn Child," and (I swear), the album had a picture of a fetus in a uterus on it. And, as you might guess, they were opposed to abortion. So, notwithstanding the lovely songs, including "King of Nothing" (look it up, it's quite lovely and you've all felt that way, I know you have).

So, thank you for indulging that discretion. Now, let's move to food. Braising. You all think of it as a winter technique, right? Well, it is. If you cook with something heavy. And you all know that I am not adverse to heavy food in the summer, you just cut back on what you eat of it. But braising something like chicken is really a perfect thing to have when the weather is warming up. You only use high heat for about ten minutes, and then the temperature of everything goes down. You can do it in the morning, when it's cooler, and the stuff will keep very well. And you have enormous latitude in how you cook it, as I will try to get across to you here.

This recipe is inspired by something similar I ate at Chez Panisse, during our recent SF visit there. It isn't their recipe exactly, but it sure is good.

You start with 3-4 pounds of chicken. Use legs, either whole, or drumsticks and thighs. Why? Because this stuff does not admit to easy, quick cooking. The legs are better if they are slow cooked, and you can treat that as a rule for every bird. If you can remember, salt them and leave them exposed in the fridge overnight. If not, salt them when you're getting ready to cook.

You're going to need 1.5-2 cups of liquid. At least half of that should be chicken stock. The other half could be anything you want, and in this case, I used sherry. You can use white wine. You can use red wine, you can use marsala, you can use more chicken stock. Don't dilute it with water, though. Please use something flavorful.

You will also need garlic. How much? Well, how much do you like garlic? I used a whole head of spring garlic that I chopped up, but I could have used more. If you use bulb garlic, I would say at least 6 cloves, and don't peel them. Why not? Well, they are going to get nice and soft, and if you leave them in the skin, you can squirt the sweet goodness out when you're done. Use lots more if you like. The dish won't mind.

You also need fresh herbs. I used oregano, but you can use any of the "tougher" herbs. Thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram all come to mind. Marjoram would probably be better, and I think savory would be good too.

Finally, you are going to need oil. This dish proceeds in two steps. First, put about 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet, and get it really hot. Put as much chicken as you can in the pan , without crowding it, and brown it. How brown? At least five minutes. Maybe longer. I like the longer browning, but the dish in Berkeley was with very lightly cooked chicken. You do have to do some browning, though, otherwise, you get boiled chicken. Turn the pieces and brown on the other side. Just keep doing this until you have all the chicken cooked.

Now, in a large, heavy pot, pour in the liquids, with half the garlic, and half the herbs. Put in half the chicken, and finish off the herbs and garlic here, then put in the rest of the chicken. Cover the pot tightly, and cook this at a very gentle, low heat. After 20 minutes or so, move the chicken out, and move the top pieces to the bottom and bottom to top. Cook for another twenty and then check. This is plenty cooked for me, but if you like the meat softer, go for another 20 minutes or so.

After the 40minutes-hour, pull out the chicken and bring the sauce up to a boil and reduce it a little. You can stop here, or you can do, what I did, and dissolve a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch in cold chicken stock, and add that to the pot and stir. The sauce will thicken immediately. Taste it, and you'll probably want to add salt. Put the chicken back in, stir it all gently, and you're ready.

This is great the night you make it, even better warmed up a day or so later.

In many ways, it is a very close cousin of that French classic, coq au vin. It's not as complex, but it doesn't need to be. Give it a try. I think you'll be pleased.