Saturday Beefcake: A Work in Progress

By Giovanni Vitacolonna - May 30, 2009

This recipe was created in the high tech kitchen of Column of Life this week. It was done two evenings in a row, because the first concoction was excellent even the next day at lunch. Dark meat chicken is a rather practical meat in that there's no need for extraneous fat, healthy or otherwise. If you get some excellent thighs from your local polleria, then you're off to a good start.

Pollo alla Birra di Giovanni

Chicken Thighs, six, skinless
Newcastle Brown Ale, twelve fluid ounces (355 ml)
Red Onion, one medium, thin slices
Garlic Cloves, four, whole, peeled
Lemon Rind, from an entire lemon
Basil, dried, to taste
Coarse Salt, to taste.
Broccoli di Rape, one bunch, about 500 grams (one pound, ends removed, ready (mondati)

1. Brown the thighs in a deep sauce pan. Turning them from time to time.
2. Salt to taste. Oh, what the hell, throw some black pepper in there.
3. Add the garlic and lemon. Toss the pan to get the ingredients distributed evenly.
4. Add the basil. Toss and distribute.
5. Then add the beer. Turn the heat up and bring to a brief boil. Then simmer.
6. At this point the recipe can go in one of two directions, both delicious. You can cook it down to a sauce or you can reduce it even further making the resulting sauce thicker and richer. The onion caramelizes quite nicely in the Newcastle. You could also remove the thighs at this point.
7. If you're going the sauce route, throw the broccoli on top of the mixture and cover. The greens pick up an almost sweet counterpoint to their natural bitterness. Cooking them to personal level of tenderness. When you've finished, remove the rind.
8. The difference in time for the two versions varies from twenty to thirty minutes.
9. The sauce version would be perfect for rice or pasta perhaps adding some peas.