Winter Potluck Blues

            The oaks and even some of the maples in our yard seem reluctant to shed their leaves this fall, despite our Halloween Trickster snowstorm.  They seem to hang on to autumn’s mild days that we are enjoying this year. But the calendar shows the approaching Holiday Season and with it the coming gatherings of community organizations with their various festivities. Each invitation arrives with the polite note: “Please bring a potluck dish”.  A great way to feed a large number of people with everyone preparing just one thing!  Except, with that many interesting looking dishes in front of you, it is hard to avoid overloading your plate. There goes ‘the diet”, we groan and take another bite.

            My personal attack of blues always comes several days before the event, when faced with the necessity to make something, I rummage in my mind about what to make?  Oriental chicken wings?  Cabbage rolls?  Sauerkraut with sausage?  Lasagna?  Baked rice pilaf? Tamale pie? Oven roasted sweet potatoes and squash with ham?  Stuffed grape leaves?  My rendition of these was something different when I first moved here many years ago, but by now I am looking for something new.  Some women don’t like to wear a dress several years old, just in case someone else remembers them wearing it,  Instead, I just get bored cooking the same old recipes.  Unfortunately it still needs to be portable, fit in my 9x13 inch glass casserole, keep for a time before being served and should provide a spoonful or two for 15 to 20 people. Besides, it needs to be solid food.

            Sometimes the answer is to invent something new. With luck, you have a captive audience to taste test your invention. Preferably without requesting a companion helping of Tums for desert.  I will have to confess on taste testing some of my improvisations on my friends at the Dutch Neck Community Club’s monthly potlucks, which always involve serious eating before the monthly meeting.

            Recently I was having one such blues attack, when it occurred to me that the tasty grilled  chicken thighs of the summer could be transformed into a pan and oven prepared winter dish.  It would retain some spice and zest and put on a bed of small pasta, could maintain eye appeal and feed a crowd.

                                    Zesty chicken thighs on pasta

            Trim 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs of any extraneous fat nd cut in thirds.  In a mini-processor pulse ½ inch piece of fresh peeled ginger cut in small cubes with 4 chopped garlic cloves until quite fine. Add 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 ½ tsp. sweet paprika, ½ tsp. smoked paprika and blend until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in 2 Tblsp. olive oil, 2 Tblsp. chopped Italian parsley and 1 Tblsp. dried oregano.  Add the chicken, toss well, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hr.

            Remove the chicken from the marinade, pat dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large pan heat 2 Tblsp. olive oil with 1 Tblsp. butter and quickly brown the chicken on both sides about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to an ovenproof dish and place in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

            In the pan in which you browned the chicken, sauté ½ chopped onion for 5 minutes. Stir in 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juice, 2 Tblsp, sundried tomato paste, 1 ½ tsp marjoram, 2 Tblsp. chopped dill (optional), a spoonful of the solids from the marinade, 2 Tblsp. chopped parsley, 1 tsp. sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid is reduced.

            In the meantime, cook small bow or wagon wheel shaped pasta according to package directions. Drain and layer in a 9x13 baking dish. Distribute the chicken pieces on top of the pasta and spoon the tomato sauce on top, leaving some of the chicken exposed. Cover and keep warm until served

            If more sauce is desired,  double the amount of diced tomatoes for the sauce and adjust seasonings. This dish could also be made with chicken breast, taking care not to overcook the chicken.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)