Dear Reader,
Happy Canberra Day! Canberra is 109 today. We get a public holiday on Monday, but I’m on-call this weekend, so I’m hoping for not too many calls.
I planned to complete my annual CPDP submission today, but I had a huge lunch, and I’ve felt bloated all afternoon. It’s also stimulated the gas-forming bacteria in my microbiota. There’s a lot of gas formed from glucose metabolism in my enteric bacteria, especially those in the Order: Enterobacterales.
I’m just a simple bloke, so focussing and farting is not something I can do together. I elected instead to watch a movie on Netflix called The Ice Road starring Liam Neeson. If you like suspenseful drama, it’s worth viewing.
In other news today, I bought a new oven which cooks with microwave radiation. The old model was only 13 years old and developed a problem. The only keys I could use were the number 3 and the start cook button. I’ve been cooking things for 33 seconds, 3 minutes and 33 seconds for the last few months. The new oven is a 1000 W Samsung. Appliances don’t last very long these days.
Ingredients
- Chicken thigh
- Sourdough bread
- White onion
- Tinned tomatoes (Mutti)
- Capers
- Olives
- Pickled jalapeño peppers
- Olive oil
- Worcestershire sauce
- Cooking sherry
- Red wine
- Basil
Instructions
- Ideally the chicken thigh has been seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then vacuum sealed to flavours at least hours beforehand.
- Peel and quarter a white onion.
- Sweat the onion in a skillet with some vegetable oil. As the onion takes on some colour, add some cooking sherry and then some Worcestershire sauce until the onion begins to caramelise a little.
- Add in a small tin of tomatoes and simmer.
- As the sauce thickens a little add in the capers, olives, and pickled jalapeño peppers.
- Simmer with some stalks of basil and then add a good glug of red wine and simmer.
- Turn on the toaster oven to as high as possible.
- Lubricate the surface of a baking sheet with some vegetable oil.
- Place a piece of sourdough bread in the middle of the baking sheet.
- Pour some olive oil over the bread so in the oven it’s like it’s “frying” the bread.
- Remove the seasoned chicken thigh from the vacuum sealed bag and place it on the lubricated bread.
- Place the bread and chicken into the hot oven and cook on high heat for 10 minutes and then turn the heat down to a low heat and keep cooking for a further 20 minutes.
- When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for about five minutes.
- Place the chicken and toasted/“fried” bread in an shallow bowl and then spoon the tomato sauce around it.
- Use a serrated steak knife to eat this because the bread will be stiff and hard.
- Give thanks to the Lord and enjoy.
Thoughts on the meal
I cooked the chicken perfectly! It was still succulent and juicy. There was an abundance of juices oozing out from the folds of flesh as I penetrated it with my knife.
The sauce was pretty tasty; I like the acidity of the pickled jalapeño peppers along with the olives and capers. I forgot to add some Swiss brown mushrooms I’d also bought for this meal. The acid cuts through the oil and the chicken fat.
I know I said last week I was trying to reduce my meat consumption. I haven’t forgotten, and I have loved ones reminding me of my health. I’m grateful to them for looking out for me ❤️
Final thoughts
- Do you ever cook meat over oil soaked bread?
- Does it annoy you when you go somewhere for breakfast and they serve toasted sourdough which is stiff as a board and give you a butter knife?
- How has your week been?
- How long have you been using your microwave oven?
