A Word From The Other Parsimonious Chef...: Some Things Are Better Left As Is... Smothered Chicken with Pancetta, Rice & Zucchini.....

Smothered Chicken With Rice

Somethings are better left untouched, unfinished and unrefined. Do you remember your first kiss, not that I'm prying but was it dry, too wet or was it special simply because it was your first? I'd bet that as time has gone on you have romanticized that so much that it's hard discern fantasy from reality. How about a piece of furniture that you find at an antique shop? When you first see it you have ideas of stripping it down and refinishing it as a weekend project but once you get it home you realize that it has a stand alone quality that actually has a place not only in your home but more importantly in your heart.

Food can be the same way, some dishes are better left unrefined and have more eye appeal when in the form that you most recognize. Of course there's a way to deconstruct any dish to bring it into the future as a work of art but there are a few questions that you have to ask yourself as a chef or foodie; Do you sacrifice function for eye appeal? Does the change take away from the tradition of the dish? And finally, is anyone going to get the point? If the answer is yes to the first two questions and no for the last one my suggestion is to leave tradition alone and plate it as it was intended to be eaten.

On the menu today: Smothered Chicken with Pancetta, Rice and Grilled Zucchini

Smothered Chicken with Pancetta & Rice

For this menu we will need the following:

Chicken (any parts)
Onions (2-3 ea)
Pancetta (1/2 cup)
White Wine (1 cup)
Chicken Stock (32 oz)
Garlic (2 Tbs)
Sage (7 leaves)
Thyme (3 twigs)
Rice (1 cup)
Zucchini (4 ea)
Flour (1/2 cup)
Butter (1/4 stick)
Coarse Kosher Salt (t t)
Olive Oil (3 Tbs)

There are some dishes or recipes that need little to no tweaking, no forward thinking and no over thinking, smothered chicken happens to be one of them. While there may be some that add oregano others may add sage instead but these are subtle nuances and not considered as change. When I talk about change I mean an overall change in the functionality of a dish or recipe. For example I went to a fairly reputable restaurant in San Francisco that I shall not name and ordered roasted chicken. A simple dish it would seem, but for some reason the think tank at this spot decided that presentation was the star of this show. When my food came the chicken was broken down into separate pieces and beautifully arranged on my plate but cold as a salad. In this case the chef should realize that what keeps the chicken warm is the fact that it is one big piece of heated chicken , especially since the chicken is served without a sauce. In other words the chef and owner decided that it was better for the consumer to be visually stimulated than to be blown away by the taste of the dish, temperature has a huge role in that equation. Some things can stand on their own as time has shown, it's nice to be cute as long as it doesn't take away from the functionality of a dish. A cold salad is to be served cold and hot food is to be served hot in order to throughly enjoy the dish. Not too long ago I was asked a simple question, what's more important presentation or taste? My answer was complex in its' simplicity; "You will taste a dish first with your eyes, then with your nose and finally with your tongue, if your tongue doesn't confirm what your eyes and nose already know then as a chef or foodie you have missed your mark and the point of cooking for others!" "The answer is they are all of equal importance, plain and simple!"

Smothered Chicken & Rice With Grilled Zucchini

Take the chicken and marinate it in a mixture of garlic, olive oil and thyme for 1-8 hrs. Once done sear the chicken skin side down allowing the skin to brown and remove from the pan and set aside. Add the diced pancetta and once it starts to brown add the julienne onions allowing to slightly brown with the pancetta. Deglaze the pan with the white wind being sure to scrape the fond (bits of food stuck to the bottom of the pan) to incorporate. Add the chicken back to the pan, add 16 oz of the chicken stock and place the pan in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

For the rice just add double the amount of liquid as you add rice, be sure to substitute chicken stock for the water used and salt your water.

The zucchini will be cut on the bias and sautéed with olive oil and salted.

Presented in a Cast Iron Skillet

To make the gravy, remove the chicken from the pan with the other ingredients and add roux, Roux is a mixture of heated butter and flour that forms a paste (look at the video for liver and onions on my earlier post) to your desired thickness adding chopped sage as you cook the gravy down. Add the chicken back to the pan and plate as your heart desires, just remember the hotter the better.