I made Jondude’s recipe for rigatoni. Here is the saga. First off, I didn’t have any rigatoni and made a special trip to the market. The recipe calls for rough shredding of the chicken pieces while you are sautéing, with a wooden spoon. I don’t have a wooden spoon. I used a plastic spatula. I felt guilty, thinking, perhaps, I was not being green.

Jon called for “a couple of handfuls” of rigatoni. Well, whose hands. His or mine? I split the difference but cooked the whole box. I forgot to set the timer, but I was in luck because when I tested it, it still needed two more minutes or so to be al dente. Later I will pan-fry the leftover rigatoni with grated cheese and butter. Ed won’t have any, just for me.

The seasoning called for was garlic powder, basil, cracked pepper (I love pepper and have been known to crunch on whole pepper corns with my meals). No mention of salt and I wondered if this is because Jon must avoid salt. Not us. I added salt. Ed’s doctor told him to definitely have salt on his food because of an obscure medical condition. How lucky can you be?

My boneless chicken, sitting in the freezer lo these many moons, had, to my horror, only been wrapped once. Freezer burn. What was I thinking? I defrosted it in the microwave, cut away and tossed the rubbery edges, and hoped the rest of the ingredients would mask an icebox taste. As it turned out, most of the pieces tasted okay.

I used a large bowl to toss the ingredients. I resurrected from the bowels of a cupboard a Le Crueset (sp?) casserole large enough to take all this and wondered why I couldn’t have just used that to toss the stuff. Did I need a separate bowl? The French ware is very heavy and I mostly just admire it and use other stuff, but this recipe called for the biggie.

I forgot to add wine to the chicken so it could soak up the flavor, at the end of the sauté process. So after I had combined everything, I remembered. I gave it a goodly dose of marsala. If Jon can say a couple of handfuls, I can say goodly.

I used asparagus instead of spinach and had to look up the term “braising” to be sure it didn’t mean more than sautéing. Well, yes, one must sort of simmer it in liquid after the initial phase. I used chicken broth and gave it 8 minutes simmering time after the initial sauté time. Overcooked veggies are not tasty. I did add grated cheese, but what I had was Romano and I didn't think using Parmesan was that written in stone.

Because I have a convection oven that shortens cooking time, I gave it 45 minutes at 300 and the last 15 at 275. Then, because Ed wasn’t ready to eat (It was only 5), I let it sit, covered, on top of the stove and took a bike ride. I came home a bit quickly since a chill wind had sprung up. I stopped to pet Buster, Curt’s dog, a pure-bred cocker spaniel, white with little patches of tan), lounging in Curt’s driveway, with his leash tied to a stump. He saw me and came sashaying over, wagging his body. He growls, but it is a pleasure growl. The dog’s easy. Curt joined us, laughing at us. He thinks our love affair is funny.

Ed said the “chicken stew” was quite good and I should add potatoes next time. Okay, okay. I can do that. I may even add peas. Ed put ketchup on it, that he does with everything except, maybe, ice cream. And people used to dump on Nixon for putting ketchup on his cottage cheese. Oh, you don’t remember that?

That’s my cooking story. Are you okay with all this, Jon?

xx, Teal