alexist

Usual dullness abounded this weekend: the most we did was errands.

Yesterday was some food experimentalism. I tried a recipe for Devil's Chicken Thighs that I'd copied from the NYT a few months ago. (I'd link to the recipe, but it's now in the pay archive.) It was a somewhat-elaborate variation on Chicken a la Diable from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (chicken dipped in mustard, topped with breadcrumbs and browned under the broiler). This one was marinated, done on a bed of braised leeks and had a more complicated dip. Quite tasty, but not simple! The leeks were lovely, though--they'd been browned in olive oil, then baked with wine, chicken stock and shallots. Plus they got all the juices from the chicken. Shame Neil wouldn't even try them (they came too close to "green and leafy" for his liking).

Anyway, very nice, though a bit much for an ordinary weeknight (containing, as it did, vermouth, wine, shallots, ridiculous quantities of fresh herbs, and fresh breadcrumbs. The last aren't expensive, just more time to dry the bread in the oven [not toasted, you want fluffy breadcrumbs rather than dry, just dry enough that they can become crumbs instead of a doughy mess] and grind them up.)

As I was loaded down with chicken and leeks and mashed potatoes, I went to bed early. :-)

The New York Times has changed the layout of its website!

It had the same layout for, ooh, must be 5-6 years.

Now the sections are in a top bar instead of a side bar, it's all in Georgia instead of Times New Roman and it generally looks a bit more modern. It's not exactly a quantum change, but given how long it looked the same I was somehow shocked when I loaded it up.

Banana Republic are now doing size double-zero!