House specials
Some of Deval Patrick's favorite recipes, as dictated by Patrick while preparing dinner Thursday for 14:
Lemony chicken
Quickly brown a chicken on all sides in a little butter over very high heat. Put it in a baking dish, along with unpeeled garlic cloves and cipollini onions. Take a lot of lemon and squeeze it over the chicken, then put the peels around it. Optional: Put wedges of potatoes around the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put it in a 450-degree oven. When it's done, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
Osso buco
Dredge veal shanks in flour, brown them all over in olive oil in a skillet, then place in a Dutch oven. Separately, saute chopped onions, garlic, and carrots in olive oil until somewhat soft. Add those to Dutch oven, along with chicken broth, white wine, parsley, thyme, and marjoram. Optional: tomatoes. Cook it a long time. I might make it before church, put it in when we go. By about 3 p.m., the meat is falling off the bone.
Caesar salad
Wash and dry romaine lettuce. Mash a clove of garlic; rub the inside of a salad bowl with it. Add to the garlic the juice of half a lemon, a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, a couple of mashed anchovies, a little Dijon mustard, and a fresh egg. Mix it together, adding olive oil as you are stirring, until you have an emulsion. Toss with romaine and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
