Teacher Potluck

For the 4th Ms. Whatsit is organizing a teachers potluck, and I’m coming. I think she will link us all together, carnival-style, when the day is out and before any fireworks are launched.

I’m bringing oniony lemon/pepper chicken.

It is an accident, an experiment from years ago. I was trying to recreate an ethnic dish that I hadn’t eaten in over a decade, and I got it badly wrong. But the result was kind of good. So I keep making it, and it always comes out different, since I don’t measure anything, and since sometimes I leave out the tomato, or use cut up breasts instead of thighs, or change the heat, or cook it longer or shorter, but it’s always good.

(directions beneath the fold —>)

Thighs and legs work best. Maybe 3 pounds? Separate legs, break the thighs in two (I like little pieces – would have to use the heavy scissors to chunk the breasts). Place in bowl. Juice of lots of fresh lemons. Just keep squeezing. I’d go for 6 – 12. Dice up 3 or so onions. Maybe 4. I like red onions. Start grinding black pepper. And keep grinding. Needs to be fresh-ground. One of those electric grinders might be nice. I’m talking about a lot. Like a quarter inch layer, than mix it in, than another quarter inch layer. And another. If you’re not sneezing, you’re not done. And then maybe a few plum tomatoes, cut up, but not necessary. If you use them, make sure the juice gets in, too. So, mix it all up, let the stuff marinate (in the fridge is what I do. I think it’s bad to let raw chicken stand).

After a day or a few hours toss it all into a (what do you call one of those low pans with edges about an inch, inch and a half high?) If you’ve got enough lemon juice, it should be rising about half to three-quarters of the way up. Put it in the oven on highish heat. Check when the onions start to burn and the juice is partly boiled out – turn the chicken pieces over. Put it back in for another 20 minutes or so – until the new onions are blackening up. That’s it. I put some parsley on top (really do) but that’s not necessary.

Oh yeah, with a recipe like this, never comes out the same twice. But super juicy, super lemony chicken. And the lemon carries the pepper into the meat (really into the cracks around the bones). Nice with salad. When I lived on the second floor, friends smelled it from outside and rang my bell one time…

I bet someone will eat this…