Braciole

Its just another Wednesday evening.  Work went fine.  Pretty easy livin'.  The most daunting thought that lingers is simply what to have for dinner.  As a perfectionist in some striking ways, she relishes in the fantastical thoughts where she creates a masterpiece to serve each night.  And truth be told, mostly she does this with ease and enjoyment.  Still...none of this answers the question: what will she have for dinner tonight?




The chicken thighs were taken out of the fridge early that morning in anticipation of 'something' for dinner.  At around 6pm when she realized nourishment was going to be a necessity for herself and her family, a light bulb glowed above her head.  BRACIOLE (pronounced bra-sh-Ole) is an Italian American dish that originated from Sicily, Italy.  The concept is the same:  thin pieces of meat layered with a mixture of cheeses, spices, bread crumbs, prosciutto, pine nuts, well, whatever it is you fancy you can add in yourself.


So there it was: bracciole, that's what she would have for dinner.  Her childhood memories of bracciole are quite nostalgic and at the same time different from what she was about to embark on this evening.  And here she took a brief pause to remember the past.  Growing up, her family made braciole with beef and a light stuffing mixture of grating cheese, herbs and spices, and the few with raisins too.  They were rolled up, tied with thread, and cooked in the sauce.


Tonight's dinner is a twist on the old way...


BRACIOLE DI POLLO
serving size 6


1-1.5 pounds of chicken thighs, boneless
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup grating cheese
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 t parsley
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t basil
1/4 t salt
dashes of pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 eggs, beaten well
1/4 olive oil
1 c cooked spinach, chopped


1 lb. spaghetti, boiled as per package instructions, dash of salt added to water
2 cups tomato sauce


Directions:
To begin gently lay the thighs out and place them between two sheets of wax paper.  Then thin out.  She started by rolling with a rolling pin but when that proved challenging, she used the end of a rolling pin as a mallet and gently but with strength, thinned the chicken.  Lay on plate, set aside.




Picture compliments of Mario Batali stuffed chicken legs braciole di pollo.
Cook the spinach and preheat the oven to 450.


Then to the mixture.  Its a stuffing, find your own flavor.  Here's what she did.  She mixed the bread crumbs with the finely grated cheeses.  Then the spices were added and the mixture tossed to blend well.  Next the crushed garlic and then the eggs.  She ended with a few heavy splashes of olive oil, for taste, moisture, health, and vitality!  Lastly the spinach was blended in well.


The mixture gets layered on top of each piece of chicken.  It should be about 1 cm deep and pushed in gently to create a unified bond to itself and the chicken.  She covered each piece of chicken with the mixture and then individually rolled each up, spiraling the chicken and the stuffing, creating a delectable union of tastes and a visually stimulating sacred spiral.  Each was tied with two pieces of twine, knotted for security.  A few pieces of chicken had broken off during the meat thinning debacle and now she used those strays to patch up areas on her braciole that needed covering.


A lightly oiled pan cooks these nicely.  They were laid in and then the extra mixture was used to top them.  This time a thin light stream of olive was dashed twice over of each braciole.


She baked them for 38 minutes.  Once in, the meal felt quite easy and was quickly unfolding into effortless success.  


 Last would be to boil pasta water and cook the spaghetti.


With a fire in the woodstove and her daughter next to her doing her school work, this woman could revel in more peacefaul, fulfilling moments of her life. She curled up in the papasson chair and jumped into her current love affair, a book she got for Christmas, The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.  Braciole, just the sound of it seems complicated and time consuming and wonderful all in one breath.  But alas, things aren't always what the seem.

The 20 minutes of reading, the quick dinner, it all seemed so perfect.


But wait...


Let's finish this recipe.


She let the chicken bracciole sit for a few minutes, then placed them on a plate and left the hot baking dish on the stove top.  She mixed the 2 cups of sauce into the pan to heat it up.  Then the spaghetti was thrown in and mixed.  Lastly the chicken braciole were sliced and laid on top of the spaghetti covering the dish with their sprials, and offering an image and contemplative idea about creation and growth, as spirals symbolize, and the comfort of food as the palate was revered and satisfied.

And the leftovers the next day....divine. In the end, another masterful meal was created as art.

Writing Feels Right

For some of us, writing is an excellent form of healing.  It is the opportunity to have the conversation, to let the thoughts that seem trapped within – escape onto the paper.  I use several forms of writing therapy to move me through various experiences.

The medical journal

When you suffer physically it is a stress on your life, especially when you have weird symptoms and no one in the allopathic world can name your problem.  I started journaling 2 years ago, mostly in an effort to have something to show my doctors when some medical issue would come up again with no apparent warning.  What I discovered was really a gift.  My own journaling tells me a story of my life.  It helps me to know how I am treating myself, how better to treat myself, and even gives light to what I can expect.

Things to include in a medical journal:

-        Wellness Gauge (How are you feeing? physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually)

-        Daily symptoms

-        Repetitive symptoms

-        Current medications and supplements

-        Hours/quality of sleep

-        Drawings (to depict where it hurts)

-        Doctor’s appointment notes

Each of these will help form a matrix of understanding about how, why, what you are feeling and can be used to engage in a healing relationship with yourself.

The feelings journal

This one is my FAVORITE.  I’ve been journaling, basically, since I knew how to write.  This past weekend with my family we discussed a journal I got for Christmas when I was 4 years old!  So you see, journaling is my life.  I’m proud to report that my dautgher now practices this healing writing technique.  It is always amazing to me- when she’s pouty and agitated and runs to her room- that I often find her there calm and content about ½ hour later.  She retreats to her room and writes in a composition book labeled PRIVATE. 

As I’ve discussed with her, a feelings journal is a great way to release, record, and remember moments of NOW.  But I am always so clear to state:  you must write not only of the bad, but mostly of the good.  When Athena hears this, she always smiles; it’s the smile that says "who are you reminding of this mom?"  I have to admit, for years (especially the teenage ones) I wrote of the tragic, sad experiences.  A boyfriend no longer, a best friend at bay, whatever the script for the teenage drama queen, I recorded. 

Somewhere along the way, probably after a semester abroad in Italy, I realized that I was missing out on the other side of my experiences- the good!  I began journaling about the positive side of my experiences.  My journaling morphed into drawings, poems, songs, doodles.  Words now could be strewn together by vines or rays of sunlight, branches on a tree or crests of waves.  The connection between thoughts, art and nature helped me grow in my ability to journal and feel good.  It is here I would like to stop for one moment and suggest: start a good feelings journal.  It’s a great way to embrace yourself for a moment each day and a fun way to recollect times passed.

The psychic journal

I do understand that everyone isn’t a writer, so maybe journaling will never be your thing.  My point here is to simply share my techniques and maybe one or none of these can be shared by you.

I’m reading a great book called, “Psychic Pathway” by Sonia Choquette, PhD.  http://www.soniachoquette.com/excerpt_path.htm  In her book, Sonia suggests a different kind of journaling: psychic.  This is real simple and fun.  Your task is to journal instances of what would normally be brushed off as - coincidences. 

The phone rings, you pause, breath, and see your friend’s face, then you answer the phone and it is that friend.  Or you get a chill one evening while sitting on the couch, only to find out later that night that a storm is brewing in your vicinity.  Maybe you record bigger ideas; your sister is having a baby that you believe will be a boy.  Write it down and go back to it months later.  For each or any of these instances, you are simply connecting yourself to the present.  What you know at this moment.  It is fun to go back and see that we actually know much more than we think we do (wink).

The novel

This form of journaling is a great place for realistic fiction to live out its dreams.  I like writing so for me, writing a story about a young woman in Tuscany, experiencing life, is an excellent way to break out of negative thinking patterns and exercise breath and freedom of the mind.