Evan's Own Chicken and Beans Concoction

Hello folks! It's time for another update. As has been a trend in my previous posts, I've become a fan of pairing chicken with beans. And again, I've decided to post another chicken + bean delicacy. This time, however, instead of following some sort of recipe, I decided to make up my own!!!

Ingredients: 

Left to right: Pepper, Salt, Crushed Red Pepper, Olive Oil, Oregano, Thyme, Chicken Thighs (8 to be exact)

Not pictured: 30 oz. Cannellini Beans

1) Pour the beans into a casserole dish. Evenly distribute it out among the dish. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. You want to make sure the beans are slick and oily, but not to the point where it gets disgusting. Then, add salt and pepper, oregano, and thyme to taste.

2) Now, toss everything together with two spoons...because that's how master chefs do it. Again, you want to evenly distribute the spices and oil among the beans. As always, make sure your wrists are dextrous! 

* I also decided to add garlic last minute. I sauteed them and then mixed them into the bean mixture. While mixing, I decided to mash it up to get a nice garlic-y flavor for the beans. :P

3) The beans are done for a while. Heat up a wok on a high setting. Then, add about a teaspoon of olive oil into the wok. Grab about 4 cloves of garlic and let them sit in the wok first. Then, add your chicken thighs to the mixture and cook them in the wok for about 25-30 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, add salt and pepper to taste. You want to achieve a nice golden color on the skin of the chicken. A tan chicken is better than a pasty white chicken.

* chickens are in the process of getting "tan." Unfortunately, my fat, wide chicken thighs are hiding my garlic cloves.

4) When the chickens are done cooking, sit them atop the beans! Then, drizzle the chicken juice that's accumulated with the garlic! This will give the entire dish a nice, moist, juicy flavor to it. Juiciness is the essence of happiness.

* this is a portion I gave myself for dinner.

Woohoo! Another dish bites the dust. Stay tuned for most titillating recipes!

 

Mattituck Wine Tour!

Yipppeee! I visited a winery this past weekend in Long Island at a city named "Mattituck." In 43 BC, a man by the name of Mattituck roamed what we now know as Long Island. He found an area full of bountiful crops and grass and decided to name this newly discovered place "Mattituck." Just a bit of history for the uncultured....

So I visited the Harbes Winery...and to my pleasant surprise, not only did it have wine, it also doubled as an organic farm, filled with fresh vegetables, corn, apple cider donuts....the works!!!! Here are some pictures from the trip:

 * my girlfriend is frolicking towards the wine tasting area

 * what we thought was the wine tasting place. this "barn" was actually a deception; the real wine tasting area was behind the building! duuh!

 * freshly baked pies! and freshly made jams! and freshly made hot sauces....what wasn't freshly made at this place?

 * my girlfriend :)

 * attractive. my girl's actually a very ecstatic farmer.

 * this is an organic sangria. what makes it organic? the fresh ingredients used to make it. honestly, it was the most delicious sangria i've ever had!

 * my girlfriend is a photo hog!

 * meet blazer, the pony! he/she (i don't know what gender blazer was). he really liked me in that he bit my pink brooks brothers shorts! and this was after reading the sign that says "beware of biting!"

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of wines in my excitement...but if anybody's severely disappointed, I have the perfect solution for you. Just google "Wines" into your search, and you'll be gifted with 1029334108234 pictures of wines! 

Toodles!

Lemon-y Chicken with Arugula Salad!!!

This week, I decided to put the cookbook my mom sent to me for good use. After perusing the book for a good 10 minutes, I decided to cook Lemon Chicken and Arugula salad with a twist: instead of using drumsticks (like the recipe says), I used chicken wings!!!!

Ingredients:

Left to right: Canellini Beans, pesto, chicken wings, arugula salad, lemon, and olive oil

1) Place the chicken in a big huge mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to the chicken and toss it around to make sure the spices are evenly dispersed amongst the chicken.

2) Once that's done, you'll want to place them in a skillet. Drizzle some olive oil into the skillet and place it on a medium-hot heat setting. Let the chickens sizzle in the skillet until they're thoroughly cooked!

* what a nice brown color.

3) Meanwhile, slice the lemon into thin pieces. Why? Because it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

4) Meanwhile, place the arugula and beans in a mixing bowl. Season it with salt and pepper (like everything else) and mix it around!

5) Then, add pesto to taste and toss it around...or shake it like a polaroid picture. Whatever floats your boat. Remember to use your dextrous wrists. The salad is now done! Easy, delicious...and it looks like it took a lot of effort when really, it took 5 minutes!

6) Now, place the beautiful lemons into the wok with the chicken oil. Let it brown on each side for about 1-2 minutes. This'll give the sauce a nice lemony taste. Plus, who doesn't like brown lemons?

* This looks like a dandellion flower!!!

7) Now, add this entire concoction onto the freshly cooked chickens. The liquid should poor down the chicken, much like lava flowing down a volcano. You'll know you've completed the dish when it looks like an executive chef prepared the food!

* pretty pro, right?!

Yummy. I love wings. And it's healthy...ish, I think. Most importantly, it's succulent and delicious.