August 04, 2004

On The Menu

Dinner tonight was something simple, as Mrs. World Wide Rant was going out with some other motherly friends.

Yes, that means I am currently on diaper duty, and the wee Fiona is standing at the entertainment center inserting sundry objects into the VCR. In the past, this would have been a cause for alarm, but here, in the year 2004, it's rather like watching her pound away on a rotary dial phone.

That is: so the hell what? We'll buy another one with some pocket change.

Anyway, due to the time constraints outlined above, I took a couple of chicken breasts, lightly coated them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Worcesteshire sauce, then wrapped them up in foil packets with some diced potatoes (also salted, peppered, and Worcesteshired). Put those in the center of a large pan.

Took a variety of vegetables (green and red peppers, asparagus, corn on the cob, red onion, garlic, yellow squash, and more), tossed in fresh rosemary, some basil, thyme, olive oil, and sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper. Gave it a good shake (or swirl or whatever your mixing bowl of choice calls for) to coat the vegetables in the oil and spices. Spread them out around the chicken packets (or "chicken parcels" as the limey wife would say).

Slip the pan with the chicken and veg into the overn at 400F. After about 30 minutes, give the vegetables a good stir, then put the lot back in the heat for another 15-20 minutes. Retrieve and serve.

I paired it with an inexpensive Aussie Shiraz, which was ok but whose name shall remain, uh, nameless, as it didn't really do much for me. Decent enough, and I'll use it for cooking tomorrow night, while breaking out something better to actually imbibe.

The end.