Dinner & TiVo with Miki-san

No slouch on the rink herself, Miki Shimada asked us this Spring to TiVo the World Ice Skating Championships for later viewing. Photos of dinner at Cafe Drake followed by TV viewing appear above: we began with a small appetizer of Parmesan Toasts, made even tastier through the use of home-baked bread and drizzled with a Spring Garlic cream sauce redolent of the seasonal flavor of ramps fresh from the greenmarket. Our entree was a simple affair of Broiled Tahitian Chicken Thighs (recipe below) with a cucumber salad and whole wheat couscous tossed with onions and parsley and lemon zest. Miki provided the dessert, a traditional but hard-to-find delicacy from Japan called Yama Natsuhashi - sweet, cinnamon-dusted strips of chewy moist rice cakes. A spicy Australian Shiraz (2002) worked splendidly throughout the meal from start to finish.

TAHITIAN CHICKEN THIGHS

8 chicken thighs (we used boneless & skinless, to better soak up the marinade) / Salt & Black Pepper / 1/2 cup coconut milk / 1/2 onion / 1 clove garlic / juice of 1 lime / 1 green chile pepper

1. Place chicken thighs in a ceramic or glass dish and season with salt and pepper.
2. In a blender, puree all the remaining ingredients.
3. Pour 3/4 of the mixture over the chicken, covering well. Save the reserve as drizzle to garnish the finished plates.
4. Marinate chicken at room temperature (cool) for about 1 hour.
5. Remove chicken to a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven at about 400 degrees.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, basting frequently with the marinade from the ceramic dish.
7. Move chicken to the broiler, and CAREFULLY cook until browned on top and cooked through. This should take no more than 5-10 minutes.
8. Serve drizzled with the reserved marinade, not the stuff you soaked the chicken in however!