Pasta with Broccoli and Spicy Apples

I know there are some people (Mom? Dad?) who would never, ever make this, because it includes fruit in a main course pasta dish. HOWEVER: it's extremely good. Good enough that I wanted to eat it right away rather than taking a picture. The original plan called for everything but the apples, but it just was looking like it was going to be too high a pasta-to-vegetable ratio... and we had apples... Seriously, apples sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes might be my new favorite thing.

Pasta with Broccoli and Spicy Apples

3/4 pound small tubular pasta
1 large head broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 red & green apple (i.e., Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, or Braeburn), diced
2 large cloves garlic, diced
4 tbsp olive oil
a few stale saltine crackers, crushed
red pepper flakes, to taste
Swiss cheese, grated, for sprinkling

Start the water boiling for the pasta, and in another pot, start water boiling for the broccoli. Chop up the broccoli, garlic, and apple, if you haven't already. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. (When the water boils, add the pasta and broccoli.) Add the garlic and fry just until the garlic begins to color; immediately add the apples and red pepper flakes (about three dashes) and stir well. Continue to cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently; you may need to add another tablespoon of oil. Check the pasta and broccoli. This is not the time to undercook your broccoli; you want it to be soft so it begins to fall apart as you stir it into the pasta. Drain the broccoli when it's done. At that point, add the crushed saltines to the apple/garlic mixture and stir thoroughly. Continue to cook another two or three minutes. Meanwhile, drain the pasta. Combine the pasta and broccoli; add a tablespoon of olive oil and stir thoroughly. Then add the apple mixture, stir thoroughly, and serve immediately. Top with grated Swiss cheese just before eating.

Serves 3-4.

Basic Baked Chicken in Wine Sauce

Don't be put off by the purple sauce -- very easy, very tasty.
Kind of an embarrassingly easy 'recipe' to post.

Basic Baked Chicken in Wine Sauce

5-6 chicken drumsticks, skin on or skin off
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
big pinch dried thyme
small pinch dried tarragon (or instead of these herbs, use whatever herbs)
1/2 cup leftover red wine
salt + pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch if desired

Preheat oven to 350. If you want to be really fancy, you can brown the chicken in a pan on the stove, but because we never eat the skin anyway I do not. Scatter half the onions into the baking dish. Lay the chicken drumsticks on top. Scatter the rest of the onions, and the herbs, on top of the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the red wine over and around the chicken. Bake, covered, about 20 minutes, then uncovered 30 -50 minutes, until done. (50 minutes if, for example, the 'fresh' chicken you just bought turns out to be partially frozen.) Take out the chicken and onions and keep warm in the turned-off onion. Pour the juices/wine into a sauce pan and boil for a few minutes, until reduced and thickened to your liking. Add cornstarch, made into a slurry with cold water, if you'd like a thicker sauce. Arrange chicken and onions on a platter; pour sauce over. Serve immediately with a sharp green salad.

Serves 2.