Chicken Scarpariello

After a visit to New York three years ago to visit my elderly aunt and favorite cousins, I was determined to recreate a dish I had eaten in an amazing Italian restaurant on Arthur Avenue  in the Bronx.  All of the recipes I found online contained sausage and peppers.  The dish I had at the restaurant did not contain these things.  This sounded more like Chicken Murphy, which I've only seen on menus in Italian restaurants in New Jersey.  Don't worry, I don't get it either.

But, I digress.  Back to the Chicken Scarpariello.  I read bunches of recipes and took a little from here, and a little from there to come up with a version that's pretty close to my Arthur Avenue experience.

Chicken Scarpariello

chicken parts (I used about 3 lbs of thighs, with the bone, without the skin)
1 cup flour
salt & pepper
1 tsp oregano (dried)
4 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp rosemary (if I had fresh I would have used it, but alas, I only had dried)
3 cups chicken broth (I used the kind in the box)
1/2 cup white wine (plus another half cup for sipping while you cook)
juice of 1 lemon
3 TBSP butter, melted
1 TBSP flour

Combine the flour, salt & pepper and oregano.  Dredge the chicken in this mixture.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (I use my electric frying pan).  Brown the chicken on both sides.  Remove the chicken and set aside.

Add onion and garlic.  Saute until soft and translucent.  Add wine and reduce by about half.
Add broth.  Bring to a boil.  Add rosemary and put chicken back in the pan.  Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken.

Turn heat to very low and cook until chicken is done.  This can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken parts.  The meat should be starting to fall off the bones.

Remove chicken.  Bring remaining sauce to a boil.  Add lemon juice.  Mix melted butter and the 1TBSP flour. (Please don't skip this part because you're scared of the butter.) Whisk this into the sauce.  Pour over the chicken.

I serve this over pasta -- a shape with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the sauce.

Of course, I forgot to take pictures while making this the other night.

More Spring Inspired Jewelry

The rest of my package of goodies from Artbeads was a bunch of Hill Tribe Silver Beadcaps.  I've used these before and I'm in love with them for the way they dress up any old bead.  The ones I chose have a floral motif engraved on them -- so perfect for spring.

I made this bracelet (yes, I'm keeping it for myself!) using white and peachy-pink freshwater pearls.  These beadcaps don't make a tight fit on the pearls I chose, but that's ok.  It gives the bracelet a more casual look.

If you are a regular blog reader, you already know that I like asymmetrical designs.  This bracelet embraces that.  I have included a small section of chain, from which I dangled a bunch of smaller white freshwater pearls.  I think the effect is lovely.

And here's a photo of the entire bracelet, which I finished with a simple toggle clasp.

Disclosure: Artbeads invited me to join their blogging community. I receive these products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for doing this.

The Beauty of Spring

While spring is still a long time away for me, Artbeads has given me the opportunity to enjoy it a bit early.  I made some choices from their website that evoked feelings of spring.

I chose some old favorites, Swarovski Pendants, from the Swarovski Crystals section of the Artbeads website.  I adore the flat briolette shape and selected some in spring colors: ruby, light rose and olivine.  I had a friend in college named Jane.  Jane's mother shared this wisdom with her at an early age:  the color green goes with everything because it's the color of the stem of a flower.  You would never claim that a flower "clashed' with it's stem, would you?  I can find little to argue with here.

These earrings feature the briolettes in olivine and I've topped them with 2 other Swarovski beads: the lovely flower shaped margarita and a traditional bicone.

On a more traditional note, colorwise, these two additional pairs of earrings use those same briolettes.  I can't get enough of them.

 

 

Tune in tomorrow (or the next day!) to see what I've done with some lovely Hill Tribe silver floral beadcaps.

Disclosure: Artbeads invited me to join their blogging community. I receive these products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for doing this

Artbeads Sweepstakes!

Artbeads is has a fantastic offer going on right now.  It's their 10th Anniversary Sweepstakes which is for a $1000 shopping spree.  How cool is that?

The sweepstakes is open to US and Canadian residents (except Quebec).  Entrants must be over 18 years of age.  The sweepstakes closes on Thursday, March 4 at 11:59 PM (PST).

Follow this link to enter:


Artbeads Sweepstakes




Good luck!

Moose on the Loose!

I was recently whining about how I haven't seen many moose this season. Then, suddenly a moose appeared in my yard yesterday morning.  We think he/she spent the night somewhere on our property and we caught it getting a bit of breakfast.

 

  

  

The last photo shows the moose exiting our driveway and heading across the street where our neighbors have a nice pile of willow branches ready to be munched on.

Of course, I forgot to set my white balance before I started taking pictures, so I had to do a bunch of editing afterward.  Not so pleased with those results.   Oh well.

Later that same day ... the moose was still hanging around the neighborhood.  I took this photo through the kitchen window.

Brand New Fluorite Earrings

I've been having more fun with my new beads.  I created these lovelies with the cardamom (?) cut fluorite briolettes.  I can't find any reference to this cut online, so I think that gem dealer may have made it up!  We're just going to call it a marquis cut, k?
 

Anyway, I wrapped them and suspended them from some of my fine silver fused circles.  After fusing the circles, I hammered them flat and patterned them with little circles.  I think it's kinda cute.

The only bad part about those fluorite briolettes is that those 2 pictured above is one of only 2 pairs I was able to get from that strand.  The rest don't seem to be close enough matches to make pairs.  The rest are destined to become necklaces.  Oh well.

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing!