Chicken in Cava* *Spanish sparkling wine 4 servings 1 cup dry cava or other sparkling wine 12 fresh thyme sprigs or 2 teaspoons dried, crumbled 2 T fresh lemon juice 4 large garlic cloves, chopped 2 large fresh rosemary sprigs, or 1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled 4 chicken breast halves Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Add chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate chicken at least 6 hours, turning occasionally. (Can be prepared one day ahead.) Preheat overn to 350 degrees F. Remove chicken breasts from marinade and place in small roasting pan. Reserve marinade. Roast chicken breasts until just cooked through, basting occasionally with marinade, about 35 minutes. Arrange chicken breasts on platter. Tent with foil to keep warm. Pour pan juices into medium saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat until reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve. (Hilary notes: Bon Appetit May 1992. If it's not evident yet, that was an edition dedicated to Spain. Twas a big year for Spain! World's Fair, Olympics, Cultural Capital. It was the summer after my first year of college, and I was fortunate enough to spend it going to school in Madrid. I pretty much lived on gazpacho and tortilla then. Lucky me! As far as this recipe goes, I'd not tried it before the day I took this photo. I'm -- ahem -- always looking for the easiest route. And I tend toward the disorganized. So I forgot to baste occasionally with the marinade while it was in the oven, and I don't think it suffered any for it. Also, I used more chicken than the recipe called for -- about 3 or 4 full breasts, I think -- and there was still plenty of sauce. Served it with a yellow rice from the store, believe it was Mahatma brand. Ususally found with black beans and rice mixes, etc.)

Tonight's adventure in the kitchen... ******************************************* For the marinade 250g natural yogurt 3(2) tsp hot chilli powder 3(2) tsp garam masala 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper For the rest of the curry 3 medium onions, sliced 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 3(2) red chillies, sliced 5(3) tsp hot curry powder 2(1) tsp cinnamon 350g apple, diced ******************************************* First, combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir in a couple of cubed chicken breasts. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking (the longer the better). Heat 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan (low heat). Add the onions, garlic, chilli and spices. Gently cook with a lid on until the onions are well softened. Turn the heat up a bit and add the apple. Cook for 5 minutes before adding the chicken/marinade mixture. Turn the heat back down to low and simmer for around 40mins. ******************************************* Notes/Amendments Although, nice I think the recipe needs some of the spices reduced. I do like a hot curry but the balance of flavours wasn't right and the amount of spiced distracted from the taste of the apple a little too much. Reducing the amount of spiced as indicated in the brackets might give the sauce a better flavour and texture. Maybe a bit of ginger would be nice in there? The apples used were just the ones that grow on the tree in my back garden. They are eating apples about mid-way between sweet and sharp. They seem to work quite well I think.