Spring Cleaning

I wanted to make an onion pie but realized I forgot to buy goat cheese. I decided to make chicken with olives and lemon instead.

The light in my kitchen isn’t bright so I put on reading glasses to read Nigel Slater’s recipe for chicken, olives, and lemon in Notes from the Larder. It goes something like this…

Chicken, olives, and lemon

Make the spice paste:

• Garlic: 3 large cloves (peel and crush with sea salt)

• Add: smoked paprika, a few pinches; ground turmeric, a tablespoon; cumin seeds, a teaspoon

• Stir in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to make the paste

Put 6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on, in a bowl and toss and coat with paste. Marinate in fridge for an hour or overnight.

When ready to cook, heat olive oil in a pan.

Peel and chop 2 onions and add to pan. Soften. Then add chicken thighs. Cook until colored lightly on both sides.

Add a thinly sliced lemon. Then add water to come hallway up the chicken pieces. Stir in good pinch of saffron strands. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. When done, toss in handful of green olives and handful of coarsely torn cilantro leaves.

As I was pulling out the ingredients I noticed on the date stamp in small print on the spice jar that the cumin had expired in 2022. I wouldn’t have noticed if I weren’t wearing my glasses. I checked the paprika. 2021. I pulled down a random jar of sesame seeds. 2021, June. I dragged over the wire milk crate I use as a kitchen step stool and pulled all the spice jars down onto my countertop. Basil, 2019. Gasp. Oregano. Why did I have two almost full jars of oregano? Both expired. And two jars of chili powder? One was good. I dumped the expired chili powder in the trash and set the jar aside. I had flavored salts from a trip to Barcelona almost ten years ago that I’d never used and never would use. Out went the salt. Who has two jars of caraway seeds? I did. They were still good. I kept them. I sorted expired spices from those to keep. Sorting and cleaning have always been a way to organize my thoughts. To get unstuck.

Onion, oil painting by Tiffany Dugan

It had been a tough week remembering my father’s birthday. He’s been gone for 15 years and would have celebrated his 75th birthday. And my mother was in town. She and I are like spices, sometimes sweet and other times we give one another strong reactions like rosemary or garlic powder.

This may be why I did a SUPER clean and sort and list making of spices so I could make the chicken recipe. I’ve never had turmeric. I needed turmeric and cumin, paprika, and saffron. I added Kleenex to the list. And goat cheese. I’ll make the onion tart eventually.

I opened my laptop and ordered the spices I didn’t need immediately but still needed to replenish my shelf. I was happy that Penzeys still does mail order spices. I dumped the remaining expired spices in the trash. I put few spice jars in the dishwasher. I could use them for something. Little jars are great to have on hand. The rest I put into the recycling bin.

The chicken, olives and lemon was good. I had plenty of leftovers. Next time I’ll add more than a handful of olives and won’t put in as much cilantro.

Here’s to delicious moments!

Warmly,

Tiffany