Coq au Greek Vin.

For my mother-in-law, each turn in the road to her late husband's village (Mikrokleisoura) brings with it a story to share as we make the drive. "This is where we saw the hare!" she exclaims. Returning to the city after nightfall, their trip was once halted by this hare- he had become frozen in the headlights. They honked and honked, but the dear thing could not move for fear and shock. Finally she resolved to get out, but just as she reached the him, he snapped out of it and bounded off into the shrubby oaks. I'd never had her for an animal lover! It is wonderful how you can know someone for years and years, and still they can surprise you. "How kind!" I said. She turned, blinked twice, and patiently explained: "No, dear ...."

Stifado, a dish of stewed meat with wine, a little tomato, pearl onions, and gently sweet with allspice, is, apparently, so tasty that a sensible matron in a top-coat and beehive (it was the '70's), given the chance, will jump out of a car, wring a hare's neck, pop it into the trunk next to the 10 k tin of feta, and be on her way. (My second favorite mother-in-law story involves her inviting a neighbor over for coffee in the hopes she might offer to slaughter a chicken for her on the rooftop of their apartment building in downtown Thessaloniki. How do you not like a story with the line: "Put on some coffee. And bring me a knife." ?) I need hardly add that she is a wonderful cook.

It's a good dish, one of the more elaborate and slow iterations of the meat + onion/wine/tomato to be had. Coq au vin, faster but with a lot more ingredients, is another. Today's lunch combines the speed of the French dish with the simplicity of flavor of the Greek dish- not much stuff, not much time, everyone's happy. Just the thing for the chicken thighs in the freezer. All you need for them is an onion, the rest of last night's wine, a little tomato (fresh, canned, paste....) and some seasoning.

A warm steak has kept sauced rich foods from our table- it has been fresh fish and salads for days, and no complaining. After a week of this summer reprise, a softly overcast day- and a look at the calendar - made this warming hybrid just the thing:

We will need:

4 chicken pieces, with or without the bone

3 T olive oil

2 onions

a large glass of wine

a cup of pureed tomato, or tomato paste and water to make the equivalent

bay leaf

seasoning- either allspice and a clove, or sage and a little thyme

Thinly slice the onions and start softening them in the olive oil. After giving them a brief head start, add the chicken pieces, salt and pepper, and turn them until the chicken is no longer pink and the onions are softer and the pan has browned a bit. Add the wine, a little water, the seasoning, and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes. Add the tomato and keep simmering, uncovered and adding water from time to time as needed, until the oil floats free and the sauce changes from dirty-pinkish to a rich mahogany. If the chicken was on the bone to begin with, it won't be any more. The sauce will have benefited, but you may want to fish out the bones for more elegant serving.

If you go with the sweet seasoning, it is perfect on rice or on egg noodles, or- as here- the time-consuming, heavy, and absolutely delicious classic accompaniment of fresh french fries. With the more savory options, mashed potatoes, or a soft polenta are a good choice. I won't deny a frozen chicken does not have the flavor of wild game, but you cannot always count on running into a hare when you need one.

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Fresh Green Beans in Olive Oil- The Virtue of Subtlety and a Lovely Lunch.

Personal taste aside, some foods have an inherent "wow" factor. Your family asks "What's for lunch?" and you say... ? "Ravioli" and it's "ooooh!"  "Fried shrimp" -"oooh!" "French onion soup (or really anything) au gratin" -"oooh!"

Put a splashy thing on the table at our house, and it's all we can talk about. We love our meals.

String beans with fresh tomatoes and herbs is not a splashy thing. Still, it keeps everyone at the table, long enough for seconds, talking- admittedly not about the lunch. Although every now and then someone does say "oh, these are really good today." That's the point- they please; they please very much in their discreet way.

For enough for lunch for 4 plus evening snack, we'll need:

1 1/2 kilos /3 pounds string beans

4 or 5 potatoes

a large onion

half a large bunch of parsley and half a large bunch of dill

6 or 7 tomatoes

half a wine glass of olive oil

salt and pepper

Prepare the string beans by snapping off each end and, unless you're absolutely sure it isn't necessary, removing the strings from the sides. I use a peeler to do this quickly, removing a lot but then I use the trimmings for stock, so there's no remorse.

An ample tangle of strings smells bright and fresh.
And the beans, cleaned and snapped in half 

Mince the onion or grate it on the large holes of the box grater, and put it into a pan with the warmed oil, then throw the beans over the top with a big pinch of salt. Cover a moment to give the onions a head start, then uncover and turn, the idea being to let the beans steam a little with the onions at first.

Green onions- happened to be on hand.

As soon as these begin to soften a bit, add the peeled potatoes cut into pieces:

Potatoes are faster to get tender than the beans-
so go ahead and  make the pieces comparatively large.

While this is steaming gently, pick the leaves of the parsley and the fronds of the dill- a big fat handful of each, wash them and mince them. Grate the tomatoes on the large holes of a box grater. When the green beans and potatoes soften a bit- after about ten minutes- add the tomatoes:

Cook a while longer, then when the vegetables are almost tender, add the herbs:

See how the green of the beans has faded to khaki? 
Adding the herbs toward the end of cooking keeps their fragrance lively.

We don't want the beans to fall apart, but we do want them plenty tender, yielding gently to the teeth. It's a delicate meal in the mouth. We have it quite hot when it's just done, but it's very nice cooled down too. A slice of feta and a heel of bread makes it a meal, and a glass of wine will make it an even better meal.

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