The Endive Chronicles

I rose the other morning to walk my dog and trudged out to the street in a sleepy haze I noticed a gentle rain brushing against my face. I looked up through the trees at the sky and stood enthralled by it’s greyness against the fluttering green leaves of the old oaks. In my ears, Chopin’s Prelude in A major, Op 28, No 7 provided the theme for this peaceful, contented morning. I put the quiet Chopin on repeat and took in the morning as I have not in months or perhaps years.

Fall has arrived.

The night before I had taken a gamble that we would have roasting weather and marinated my chicken. I was pleased and relieved when the morning revealed my gamble had paid off. I have been wanting to test this recipe for a long time and as it is not exactly a meal for summer; it has been a painful wait.

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My Father’s Tomatoes

No one can grow a tomato like my father.One of my earliest and most fond memories is of standing next to the tomato barrel on the side of our house with my dad eating tomatoes right off the vine. I remember how the tomatoes smelled like the vine, how the juice would drip down my shirt and how irritated my mother grew when she found there were no fresh tomatoes for her salad. Thinking back, I don’t believe my father really intended the plant to be used for anything other than eating tomatoes fresh from the vine.

My father grew up in the Willamette Valley, his father tended cattle and his mother grew vegetables. After my parents were married and my siblings and I came around they moved us all to a suburb near Seattle, it had a beautiful yard with a forest at one side, but wasn’t exactly ideal for growing crops. That however never stopped my father from growing tomatoes in an old wine barrel on the side of the house.

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When I first came up with these sandwiches I actually had no thought that they would be posted on the website. It was a boiling hot August day and I was desperate for a new source of protein that did not require me to cook when I spotted some lovely roasted chickens at the market. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about buying one since I’m a bit of a do-it-yourself-er when it comes to food, but it was so hot and the chicken so enticing I just had to buy one for sandwiches.

I chilled my chicken in the refrigerator before picking it clean, shredding the meat and seasoning it all very simply. In the harsh heat I wanted to add a bit of freshness and so added a few shredded carrots and some fresh lemon juice to lighten the load. For an added twist I tossed in some capers for a little salty punch and went easy on the mayonnaise so as not to weigh it down. I served it open faced and piled high on a piece of cracked wheat sourdough bread that complimented the filling perfectly.

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