Mexican-style Spiced Chicken and Rice
2002-06-05 @ 11:22 a.m.
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Things are getting back to normal at the Rancho. You know when you go through an upheaval of some sort and it changes things in a disruptive way for a while. Your emotional reactions are different. Your timing and your priorities are different for a while. Then suddenly in a specific moment you realize that everything is back to normal. I had that moment yesterday evening when I was in the kitchen making supper for Badsnake and Jake (sounds like members of a biker gang, doesn't it? Prepare to lose that image.) while they were in the living room laughing hysterically over Shrek on HBO. Shrek is one of our favorite family movies. We really should own a copy, but as soon as I go buy it on video some gadget freak in my family is going to get DVD and make the video obsolete. It was that shared couple of hours of silliness that assured me that the Rancho is back to normal.
By normal, however, I don't mean unchanged. We are a growing group of girls, and grow we did. I feel closer to Sara than ever. There is an interesting new depth to my relationship with Jake that I am enjoying very much. And I think Bad and I are about to step into a new realm as well (now I'll have to reassure my girl who hates change). But as far as the dependability of day to day comfort zones, we are home.
For supper last night I made chicken and rice in a Mexican style (apologies to better Mexican cooks than I am). I coated four chicken breasts with a mixture of salt, cumin and chili powder. It's a mixture I've started keeping handy in a shaker - an idea I got from Laura Esquivel's book Between Two Fires (It's kind of a food-related memoir. I loved it.). Then I browned the breasts in a skillet with a bit of olive oil. I added some minced garlic to the oil for more flavor. After the breasts were browned I put two cans of chicken broth in the skillet and reduced the heat to medium-low for about an hour.
While the chicken cooked I got to sit on the front porch next door for a little while to read and feel the breeze of a storm that was blowing up. When I got home from work after a long, hot day, the air was still heavy. But I was determined to be outside for a while. I get very restless sometimes from being cooped up inside all day. So I started out on the deck until I realized it was about to rain. Bad and I fed the boys (Jake and Sara's dogs) and let them out just in case it was raining hard by the time Jake got home. Then I had a few minutes of relaxed reading on the porch watching the storm come in.
After Jake got home we all made our way to our house where Bad was watching the beginning of Shrek.
I pulled the chicken off the bones with a couple of forks since it was getting late and I didn't want to wait until it cooled. There was a good cup and a half of broth left in the skillet. I added some more of the cumin mix and a couple of tablespoons of flour to the broth to thicken it. (Take some of the liquid out of the skillet to cool a little and mix the flour into that. It makes it easier to blend the flour without it clumping.) Heat the liquid, stirring often if not constantly as it thickens. Tear the chicken down into manageable pieces and add it to the liquid in the skillet. Let it all heat on medium to continue to thicken and flavor the chicken. Serve with rice. I also made salads. Jake and I had a dry ros� with it. Beer or cider would have been good, too.
We had a great evening. I wish Sara could have been there. We will have a family dinner tonight, though. Sara is taking a sick day today (a well day? Or maybe a much needed stress-relief day so she doesn't punch her boss in the nose.) and Jake's plumbing class should be over early enough that we can all get together. I am looking forward to that. I know that we all enjoy our family time. But I think it's possible that I need it more than the others. I think part of my grumpyness over the weekend was related to not enough family time. But I know others of us get grumpy over not enough alone time. So when we have a weekend packed with people, we have to compromise a bit.
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