AMARETTO KITCHEN DAY

just a day in my kitchen

AMARETTO KITCHEN DAY 

what to do with eight skinless chicken thighs

does not seem an insurmountable problem

yet,

some days it is,

 like today,

standing over the stove

slowly stirring water, brown sugar, vanilla and orange extract,

i become aware of voices whispering,

use me, use me, use me,

baby sounds from the new red potatoes,

small and firm and round

i retrieved from the garden this morning...

 

the pot on the stove has reached the simmer stage,

the brown sugar all dissolved

and the spices well married...

time to add the large bottle of brandy

and bring the liquid to simmer once more,

 turn off the burner after a few slow stirs,

cover and let the final coupling into amaretto begin ...

another voice a little deeper but still childlike,

you have to taste me

to be sure the seasonings are correct

since you never really measure anything,

i dip out a cup or so and taste,

and hear the chicken demanding a taste as well,

me too, me too, me too

the baby potatoes shout,

but with a little butter please...

 

so into the deep ten inch skillet

three large soup spoons of butter

that demand a good healthy splash of olive oil

so as not to burn,

melted and married and about 400 degrees,

i drop in the new potatoes for a quick searing swim,

some fine chopped garlic and a bit of salted pepper,

now drop in the chicken gently,

no cannon ball dives here,

brown slowly turning chicken thighs

add a full cup of the amaretto

and

watch the glaze form a fine chestnut color...

almost done now, but...

 

the granny smith apple in the fruit basket

saying, with a sages wisdom,

“i would add the perfect tartness

to balance the sweet of the childish amaretto” 

so i slice the apple

and add it just before the end

slowly mixing the simmering ingredients

so the glaze covers everything well,

like a fine silken amber cloak...

 

time for dinner everyone

and when they ask me

“what’s for supper?”

i can only laugh and say,

“i don’t know,

but you can blame it

on the spifflicated potatoes,

the chicken,

and homemade amaretto!”

 

Reviews

[Isabel25]

Im hearing about amaretto for the first time from you so I googled it :)

You have cooked up this poem perfectly..I could heard the childlike voices of the ingredients, I got reminded of a class full of eager first graders, who can barely sit on their seats because of how excited they get for everything.....reading this made me hungry.
Your choice of words are excellent-the well married spices, the final coupling. ...this is a scrumptious concoction. ..beautiful :)