I got home from work and started on dinner a bit earlier. I placed chicken in a pot with the skin side down. I wanted to fry the skin to render the fat. This meditative activity was also buying me some time to think about what I would actually make for dinner. After the meat was seared, I kept frying the skin that became a snack. I was left with the most beautiful “fond” or base. In our home, such pots and pans lined with this highly flavorful browned bits of meat stuck to the bottom of a pan after sautéing are put aside to cook with it. If I am not using it, I cover them with a lid and let them sit until time to make rice, beans, vegetables, and eggs. We used such pots to make “farofa” seasoned roasted cassava.
My mom always sauté garlic, onions, and skins to “season the pot” and gave us those bits. She would call us from where we were to come to have a taste. I don’t have memories of my parents saying “today I am going to teach you to make…” but instead we were around to push out lunch or dinner. Extra hands are so helpful in the kitchen and I was always willing, now that I look back, to chop, to add, to taste, to stir. And most importantly, to keep time– a job that made me feel very responsible, even at a young age. “Watch the clock and when it reaches 11:50 turn it off,” she said. I was cooking! I remembered to turn it off and I didn’t let the rice burn. We always ate at noon, so that gave the rice enough time to finish in its own heat.
I thought that was a big deal. We cooked with a gas stove connected to a 25 pound propane tank, so not only did I have to turn off the flame, I also had to cut the gas to ensure there were no gas leaks. This actually goes back to when I was a toddler and could barely reach the stove top knobs. My mom always said the expression: “leite derramado é uma doença” or "spilled milk is a disease”. She loves to recount the story of the day when I reached for the propane valve, shut it off, and said, “I arrived before the diseased.”
Back to my seasoned pot, I added celery, carrots, onions, some fermented vegetables, and fermented garlic, stirred to caramelize them. The vegetables helped clean the pot, and then I added a can of coconut milk, paprika, cumin, coriander, and ginger. I filled the can with water to get every last bit of it. I folded in some cooked chickpeas and let it all simmer on low, while I made cornmeal and wheat biscuits.
Cornmeal Biscuits:
1 ½ cups Madina wheat from Maine Rusted Rooster farm , plus more for rolling out dough
½ cup corn flour (or cornmeal)
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅔ cup mix of yogurt and water
Oven 425 for 15 minutes or until golden.