here on the day after the last day of october, and for the record,�let me just put forth that i am the halloween grinch, which more or less goes with my overall dislike for kids.� ok ok – all you great folks out there with beloved children… i’m just not the one dying to hold your baby or smile at your tantrum throwing toddler – especially in a restaurant or at 35,000 feet.��but before you jump on me, i happen to have raised one great and impressive (step) kid and i am in love with one particular 5 year old who calls me “granclaud”.� so i’ve not�led a totally kid-less life.� plus my�boyfriend comes with�not one, but two�rather appealing�tweens that i’m�quite partial to.� still, overall i don’t like kids much. i just like certain�individual people who i’ve come to know and respect – who happen to be under the legal drinking age.

i (happily) live on a road that does not allow for trick-or-treaters.� it’s trafficky and i’ve got a very long and winding driveway that goes way up into the woods. so last night, safe from the barrage of cuteness�i made dinner for some friends.�

i’m still on my ‘eating down the house’ kick.� so last night’s dinner was in keeping with what was available to me within the current confines of my pantry and my fridge/freezer.� a quick trip to the�market for a head of garlic�and some shallots – along with a 4 pack of mediocre mini bottles of pinot grigio for cooking – and i was set.� my dessert required a 14 oz. container of whole milk and a baguette so i grabbed those too. �oh, but that’s worthy of a whole other post…

i had searched the freezer to see what meat i had in stock and i began defrosting 4 very large locally produced, super organic chicken breasts from ‘west wind farms‘.� then in my mind i�assembled the ingredients and decided�to bake the breasts due to their sheer size�and�proceeded down a mediterranean path.� i had a few naked lemons in my egg tray that had been zested for a batch of gremolata and they needed to be used stat.� i chopped a few large shallots, used some wonderful dried-on-the-vine oregano from sicily, added some lemon juice and finely sliced rind -��as well as thinly�sliced lemons that were peeled of their nearly 2 week old hardened pith.� (hey it’s lemon in nearly every form imaginable!)� then�salt, pepper and a�mini bottle of pinot grigio and into the oven it all went.

i baked the chicken at 400 for about 30 minutes or so.� then i broiled them for a few extra minutes to slightly brown the skin a bit more.� they came out great.� not dry.� thank god.� dry chicken breasts are the worst.� it seems to always be a crap shoot for me�with bone-in chicken breasts.� i also used the cooked shallot and lemon mixture�when i plated everything.� it was way too good to toss.� i especially loved the�thin slivers of lemon rind.

while all that was going on i opened a bag of moretti polenta from market hall foods.� the bramata polenta is a coarse yellow flour that takes about 40 minutes of nearly constant stirring.� when it was�close to�done i added a very buttery spanish olive oil that i have become�quite attached to and a large handful of finely chopped parmigiano, both from zingerman’s.� the polenta was sublime.� cary commented that he could live on just that.� for like forever.

and the last�element on this plate�was quickly executed.� i already had a big leftover bag of the 3 mixed greens that i had used in my sweet potato stew.� about 5�cloves of garlic�were�minced and then added to some italian olive oil and the chopped greens went in about a minute later along with a bit of water and a cover on the pan�to steam them down.� the trick here is not to burn the garlic even a little, hence the use of the water which disappears.� it’s my own little method and it works for me.

not a sexy plate of food.� but a hearty autumn dinner that worked out just like it was supposed to.� and that right there for me is a big deal.

i’ll take a little fleeting success in any form.