And then I thought, why not set the record straight? "Let's find the orange binder," I ventured. Years ago she had typed her revised version of the recipe into her computer and always cooked using that. She hadn't seen the binder for years.
I thought she'd balk, but she was game.
The orange binder was gone, replaced by a blue one that she found on a shelf. And there was the recipe, a bit yellowed, but in surprisingly good shape.
And darned if that didn't sort of look like a New York Times magazine typeface. Could she have been right all these years? In the Internet age, it wasn't hard to find out -- nor to get a copy of the original article and recipe.
As it turns out, the recipe was indeed from the New York Times magazine -- it accompanied a Craig Claiborne story called "Chicken Is Champ." The one-paragraph feature starts out, "Year in and year out, there is probably no single food served more often than chicken. Countless people for one reason or another have an aversion to lamb or pork or beef or fish and all forms of seafood. And veal is still relatively unknown to many people in this country."
How far American cooking -- and American food writing -- has come. Oh, Mr. Claiborne, all those years, everyone thought you were God!
OK, Mom. For the record: You were right. Aunt Judy, you can open your eyes now.
brenner@latimes.com
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The chicken that killed Grandpa
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
2 pounds assorted summer squash (zucchini, pattypan, etc.)
1 chicken (about 4 1/2 pounds), cut up (cut each breast in half)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine
2 tablespoons red wine
vinegar
4 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut into large dice (6 large Roma tomatoes, about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro, plus
additional for garnish
1. Trim the squash, and cut into one-half inch slices. If using wide-body squashes such as big pattypans, cut them in half first. Zucchini should be simply sliced, unless they're gigantic garden zucchini. Pat chicken pieces dry, then sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper.
