SybilSez...

Sybil Bruncheon has been performing on stage, radio, TV, film, and in various Vaudeville, burlesque, church basement, county fair, and sideshow....uh..."venues" for most of her 29 years. She is available for bookings for just about anything and can be reached at bruncheon@hotmail.com and on her website sybilbruncheon.com. She is a proud member of the Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. Her erdo number is 16.

Girlfriends, do you find yourself running out of time between the office and the dinner table? Sure, who doesn't? Well, maybe, just maybe, Mummie can help you! We can't all afford the luxury to make elaborate French, Italian, or Uzbekistan gourmet meals during a day of creative semi-leisure like Martha Stewart and her billionaire gal-pals. But we CAN be clever with what our local grocer offers us and avoid calling in for a sad cardboard pizza from a corporate chain whose mascot is an UNstabbed Julius Caesar...

Here's what I'm doing tonight. I bought a pre-roasted chicken from my favorite grocery store. (I always choose the largest one!... perfect for reconfigured leftovers!!) I stuffed it full of lemon wedges, rubbed it with olive oil and butter, put it into my beloved All-Clad stock pot, surrounded it with huge chunks of parsnips, potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery, and poured a cup of chicken stock into the bottom. A bay leaf or two, and your choice of additional spices is optional. I'm putting it (covered!) into the oven for a couple of hours at 250. The lemon, vegetables, and stock will keep it all moist and actually bake the chicken to that fall-off-the-bone finish that I love. (The grocery always seems to undercook them, and I don't like chicken to be pink ANYWHERE!) By 7pm or so, it's done! I have done this after-work chicken-trick for ages, and it never fails! Bon appétit!!

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Well, Darlings, Mummie just finished making her fabulous roasted chicken thighs with onions.... Salt and pepper four thighs (organic!), and then brown on both sides in a pot with olive oil and butter (leave the skin ON!). Lift them out and remove the skin but throw it back in the sizzling pot with two large onions (chopped but not diced), seven cloves of garlic (chopped but not minced), and 6 heaping table spoons of tomato paste. Sauté them until fragrant, then throw the thighs back in with 2 cups of chicken stock and a large lemon cut in half. Cover it and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes. On top of your stove fill a large pot with water and put a handful of sugar and a large lemon cut in half into the water. Bring it to a boil and drop in 4 ears of corn. In five minutes, turn off the heat but leave them in. Check the thighs at 60 minutes to see how they're doing. If the meat is falling off the bone but looking cooked, good! If it's still a little pink but falling away, pull it off with two forks, and cover it with the sauce. Put the pot back in for another 10 minutes... Depending on your oven, it should be done. Don't bake it any more than 80 minutes!! The chicken should be unbelievably moist and flavorful. Carefully cut the corn off the cobs on a generous cutting board, preferably one of those plasti-sheet types that will catch all the kernels and juice. Dump all of the corn and juice into the chicken thighs and sauce, stir thoroughly. Follow with optional sprinkling of chopped scallions and/or parsley. Serves only about one very appreciative woman who's staying home on a cold Winter night....