Ben's Day Wednesday

Bones or No Bones

Posted on by Liz

All of you social media-savvy readers will know that Noodle the pug is a Tik Tok sensation. When his owner holds him up in a standing position and lets go, sometimes he just flops over, as if he has no bones. That’s a no bones day. Sometimes, he stays standing. That’s a bones day. A bones day is for getting out of bed and tackling your day. A no bones day is for “self-care” and introspection. Apparently, millions of viewers follow Noodle’s daily lead. Why not? It makes about as much sense as anything else these days! And hats off to the generation that has rebranded laziness as self-care. Genius! 

We chose a bones day to make our caramel chicken, rice, and roasted broccoli. If you are having a no bones day, we recommend Chinese carry-out.

Bones day!

Caramel Chicken

8 skin-on, BONE-IN (obviously- it’s a bones day) chicken thighs

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

8 cloves garlic, minced

One 2-inch piece ginger, minced

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Pat chicken dry and season lightly with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add half the oil and place four pieces of chicken in skillet, skin-side down. Reduce heat to medium and cook, without disturbing, for 4 minutes. Remove to plate and repeat with remaining oil and the other 4 pieces of chicken. Reserve skillet.

Whisk together brown sugar, garlic, ginger, vinegar, fish sauce and soy sauce in a small bowl. Add butter to the skillet that you cooked the chicken in and melt over medium heat. Add sauce mixture to skillet and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Return all the chicken and accumulated juices to the skillet, skin-side up, spooning some sauce over each piece.

Bake 20-30 minutes, (check it), spooning sauce over chicken again when halfway done. Serve with white rice.

This dish was great! 

Roasted Broccoli

4 broccoli crowns, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400º F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Toss broccoli pieces with olive oil. Distribute evenly on sheet pan without crowding, and roast 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Ben’s knife skills are very gradually improving. Or maybe I’m just getting better at not expressing my anxiety.
If you love broccoli like we do, and roast way too much at a time, it may steam instead of roasting, but we just left ours in an extra 10 minutes, and it was great – toasty and caramelized without being soggy. Since Phil came home very late, Ben and I just kept snacking on it until he got home and we could officially eat. (Confession: unofficial eating happens ‘round the clock.)
Begging for seconds.
Cutting out the middle man of a spoon to lap up the sauce? That’s a bones day!
Ben’s humor, these days, centers around dessert. When he is done with his bath in the evening, he waves the ice cream container like a white flag.
When we come to the kitchen, we see that his other joke is getting the wrong implement to scoop his dessert. He thinks it is HILARIOUS to suggest that one should scoop ice cream with these tools.

2 thoughts on “Bones or No Bones”

  1. Awesome job to Chef Ben, alias the comedian, and the rest of the crew. Great photos! And can’t wait to try the recipe. :). Lee

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