Chicken Fricassée and Olive Snobbery

If (insert colour of choice here) is the new black, then surely the Gaeta olive is the new Kalamata.

Once a sought-after niche item, jars of plump Kalamatas now grace the shelves of even the smallest American supermarkets. After those dark Greek orbs were widespread enough for the foodies to snub the slightest mention of Kalamata, in marched the Niçoise. It was French, and had a crazy letter C, which made the pronunciation intimidating enough to make the average American home-cook shy away from them. It was perfect. The foodies were happy with their Niçoise, that is, until the cooking magazines published enough retro Niçoise salad recipes, coaxing middle America to roll out that niswaaaaahhhz while ordering in chain restaurants and chatting with friends at book club. The foodies had to move on.

The Italian Gaeta is smaller than the Kalamata, and not as difficult to pronounce as the Niçoise, but nevertheless hasn't had a salad named after it, so is still somewhat under the radar. Now, I haven't seen too many recipes specifying Gaeta olives yet...but it will come. Of this, I am sure.

If, but more likely when, Gaeta olives present themselves to you, a great dish to show them off in is a simple and quick chicken fricassée. I've been falling harder and harder for this stove-top method of cooking whatever choice chicken pieces are fresh at the market. Anything but another pan-fried chicken breast is what my taste buds crave (have I mentioned the lack of oven at the moment? I thank my lucky stars I'm not a baking fiend, but I do miss my Sunday roast like something else.) A fricassée is such a great way to make a complete meal for two with minimal time and effort. I usually add in leeks and whatever else is seasonal. Here, rosemary, tomatoes, and the coming-of-in-vogue-age Gaetas make an appearance. It was savoury, the chicken wasn't soggy thanks to browning it well first, and the sauce was amazing. A repeat will be soon.

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The Perfect Weeknight Chicken Pasta {with Mushrooms, Prosciutto, and Spinach}

This dish was not meant to be blogged about (ehem, hence the evening kitchen lighting.) Sometimes, a girl just wants to make her food and eat it. No cameras, no running monologue on how am I going to link this one to whatever holiday or cultural event is on the horizon. Simply, cook, sit, and enjoy.

But one taste of this dish had me running for my camera. My goodness, I told myself, I've finally done it. I've reached weeknight-chicken-pasta perfection.



The key to this little happenstance lies in a secret. Now, let me ask you about secrets. Are they really meant to be kept? For me, not so much. Ah, before you shoot me an evil look, let me clarify. I meant MY secrets. Can't keep 'em. Others, sure, more or less...so keep them coming :)

The secret begins.

For a number of months I've been running. Really running, not merely going for a leisurely jog and telling myself it's running. And with all this time spent running with just my thoughts bouncing away between my ears, I've had time to make plans. First, personal plans, and then came the bloggy plans. Again, these are only secret plans, but I can't bear to keep them in any longer.

The plan started with the idea of a half-marathon this spring. The plan then progressed to a focus on eating to feed my newly increased appetite, and feed it well. The lists then came into formation. Food lists of course. Lists from every running / fitness source on what I should be eating to keep my body in tip-top form. Then the lists were coordinated, adjusted, and merged into a master grocery shopping list. For the last few weeks I've been taking my master list with me to the store and trying to buy nearly everything on it, nearly every week.

I'm not going to lay out the list now, as I promised myself not to mention such plans until they were a bit more concrete. But such promises of self-secrecy never really work with me. So readers will benefit - the ultimate weeknight chicken-pasta. Healthy, seasonal, fast, and super tasty are exactly what I've been looking for. And having a kitchen fully stocked with all my 'running' foods made it happen. It can be prepared in the time it takes me to run 5 miles - under 40 minutes. The main difference, of course, is that I can drink wine when cooking...I think the other runners would frown on me for such an attempt on the trails!

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