Where's my head at?

I do not appear to be doing too well at basic reading comprehension this week. Which, as I've my thrice-yearly awards panel, pinnacle of months of work, on Thursday, bodes amazingly well. There have been... glitches.

Firstly, this marinaded sticky chicken wings dish from Simply: 

Chopped dates, ginger, garlic, a tidge of yoghurt, a splash of water... Marinade, then bake.

It was only when I got to this stage (halfway through cooking) that I thought that the very chunky marinade wasn't really sticking as it cooked and realised that it should all have been blended before marinading. Considering that, they turned out brilliantly, sticky and tasty and moreish. But it would have been better as an overall sticky sauce rather than on the side. 

Then I made a lentil, sage and chestnut soup, which was fine except...

At this point I got narked with myself, as I hadn't bought fennel as needed for the recipe. Nor, wait, chickpeas? Reader, I was working from the recipe on the opposite page. 

To be utterly fair, both start with a mirepoix and some pancetta, and I'd done relatively little damage by following the wrong one, but I did add the bay leaves early, and (ahem) four cloves of garlic that belonged to the wrong recipe. I'm sure it'll be fine. The rest of the soup is chestnuts added now, sage and ricotta added for serving (except I cooked in some sage here because why call it sage soup if it's not in the main flavourings), small lentils, and liquid cooked long and slow. Which should be chicken stock and red wine but was actually tinned consomme, vermouth and a hefty swig of balsamic. I do have red wine to hand, but only full bottles, and I caught myself being Far Too Cheerful at the prospect of illicit Tuesday finish-it-up booze. No. 

It looks pretty decent. Lunches for the remainder of the week, sorted. With extra garlic, but there's no one around to suffer, after all. 

Yeah, I don't know where my head is. I am worried about mum, who isn't doing well, but I'm also quite down and tense about the covid situation despite continued decent news. It's like the prospect of some small freedoms has given me hope and now I'm desperate not to have it snatched away. Wish me luck for panel...

Anyway. Tonight's dinner was not full of mistakes, if you overlook buying bone-in chicken thighs for a recipe that needs boneless, and therefore having to haggle out the bone before marinading [THIS RECIPE REQUIRES MARINADING]. But otherwise, all good. It's a variant of Diana Henry's frequent faves, spiced chicken thighs with a crunchy side. In this case:

Turkish spiced chicken with tomato and parsley salad

Boneless chicken thighs are put in a simple marinade: garlic, oil, seasoning, plus (for 8 thighs, but don't be scared to go hefty), 1tsp ground allspice, 1.5tsp ground cumin, and 1tsp pul biber or other relatively gentle chilli. It doesn't need that long - an hour is fine, but do give it a bit of time to percolate through. 

I'm sure these can be oven baked, but I only do 2 at a time, so it's a stovetop frying for me - start on a highish heat to get some colour on, then turn to medium and give them about 8 minutes in total, turning several times. 

You'll be in the kitchen anyway, making the salad. Blissfully simple: chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, a chopped onion, and a dressing of oil, lemon, pomegranate molasses and seasoning. 

I may have added some illicit winter purslane for salady thrills. There's no onion in this on account of boring digestion. But it's still crunchy and joyful.

Pop the chicken on top, some bread on the side, and it's a very good anytime of the year dinner. And hard to mess up, which is helpful.