It was Mother's Day Eve. At 5PM, we were hosting our moms for a mother's day dinner and a surprise visit to the Vintage Theatre in Denver to see their hilarious production, Leading Ladies. At 4:49, the house was silent.
Why, you might ask? Well, because we weren't home! We were at a graduation party, slurping down one last martini before having to high-tail it home and host our moms. What kind of kids are we, anyway?
We get to the house at 4:55, slip in the driveway just as they park out front. What timing! Lucky for me, I had the foresight to plan a fun and easy menu prior to departing for our martini-filled afternoon party and we were ready to go.
First things first: Pop that champagne! Nothing makes a mom feel more special (or is better after a prickly pear martini) than a nice sparkling wine. Glasses filled, the mothers retire to the living room and Brian and I roll up our drunken sleeves and get to work!
Grill warming: check. Bacon rendering: check. Veggies chopping: check! Chicken marinating? CHECK! Awesome, we were off to a great start!
Rewind 8 hours earlier: I am sober, in my kitchen, and recklessly tossing ingredients in my Cuisinart mini chop to make a smoky, citrusy marinade for grilled chicken to accompany one of my favorite sides, Cuban-style black beans. I toss in a few chipotle chiles with a serious dollop of the adobado sauce, the juice of two limes, some garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, and a little extra lemon juice just to round it out. Taking three chicken breasts, I slice them in half lengthwise, resulting in 6 thin chicken cutlets. Toss it all in a ziploc bag, massage heartily, roll that puppy up and stick it in the fridge.
Fast forward to 5:00, and rather unsteadily sipping my champagne I'm chopping up bacon (really, is this such a good idea???), cooking it down into lardons, and reserving the grease to saute a chopped sweet onion, bell pepper, and some spices. Once the veggies are soft and ready, you add some drained and rinsed black beans and re-introduce the bacon (well he-lllo!), and start supplying it with ladle-fulls of chicken broth and alternately letting it cook down, ala risotto.
Husband is on grill duty, the chicken looking delightfully marinaded and tender. Shred up some Cotija cheese (a dry Mexican cheese, kind of like a mix of feta and parmesan, we fondly call it feta-san), spoon some sour cream into a bowl, slice up an avocado, and... ole, mamacita! A feast for the two best moms in the world!
Delightfully tender and spicy chicken, sliced thin and spread across the top of the plate, surrounding a healthy spoonful of black beans, sprinkles with cotija, and fanned with avocado.
Who would have thought we could have pulled it off?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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