Lemon & Chicken

Several Christmases ago we were given a coffee-table book with chicken recipes from all around the world. In the years when we shared the cooking – usually week and week about - this was a lovely book to browse through. The numerous photos were eye-catching – though what relevance is a camel market in north India in a cookbook – and the various chicken dishes seemed legion, the ingredients to add flavour varying from region to region.

Two Greek recipes in particular took my fancy and I used them frequently. The first needed preserved lemons. The second had a lemon and mild mustard sauce that was made at the last minute. If left it separated. Both recipes call for fresh thyme. Anne cooked the former last night. It was yummy. Lemon adds a tartness to the taste. The weather was so foul we couldn’t be bothered to go out to the shop to buy olives which normally are part of the dish. Olives like garlic have an affinity with chicken.

Speaking of the foul weather there has been wave after wave of cold southerlies over the last week. Snow storms in May seem unseasonable. Some forecaster said that they’ll pass and it will soon be mild again. Probably the same guy who predicted a very warm summer. After about a week ahead, he, like everyone else, hasn’t the foggiest.