Chicken

This is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat.   Craig: I did a fair bit of casserole-dish cooking these last couple of weeks, including one of my favorite dishes for leftover brisket: shepherd's pie. All I do is crumble about 1-2 pounds of leftover brisket into a sauté pan with carrots, parsnips, leeks, peas, and garlic. Add half a can of tomato paste, a cup of white wine (or more, just to moisten), then layer into a casserole pan below some fresh mashed potatoes (about 2 pounds worth)

IN THE FOOD business, there's not much that's trendier than a food truck. Maybe gluten-free pastry. Or garlic scapes. Or waiters with mustaches. That's about it. Breakfast through dinner, mobile culinary units have in recent years multiplied nationwide. In our town, the campuses of Temple, Drexel and Penn have long been home to falafel, kielbasa and soul-food vendors. Today, they also host trucks and carts serving gourmet grilled cheeses, breakfast tacos, pork bulgogi and vegan banh mi. Last year, LOVE Park became a temporary residence to a mess of mostly newbie trucks proffering wood-grilled pizza, custom burgers, Trinidadian doubles, single-origin coffee, red velvet cupcakes and "Iron Chef"-approved tacos.

Strictly speaking, Quick White Chili is neither quick nor white. But quickness is a relative thing; an under-an-hour recipe for chili should fit even in busy cooks' schedules. And this chili's color, while far from faint, nevertheless pales by comparison with chilies prepared with browned beef, red beans and dark chili powders. This chili is quick and white because it is made from diced boneless chicken breast that is lightly browned in olive oil, then simmered briefly in a sauce of tomatillos, tomatoes and chicken broth that is spiked with shallots, garlic, canned green chilies and Mexican spices.

Not all that many years ago, a restaurant specializing in roast chicken might exist, but its location would be a busy highway and the decor pure truck stop. Roasters makes it perfectly clear that it is not that sort of restaurant. The address is an easy stroll north from Rittenhouse Square and its affluent neighbors, and the place itself is as warm and homey - pretty, even - as a country kitchen. Rough-textured white walls, tile floors and banquettes upholstered in cheerful provincial print are the basics.

When someone yelled, "Let's play chicken," Vithoune "Tune" Khamthoumy thought it was a great idea. He swerved his car into the oppoosite lane of traffic on Rising Sun Avenue and headed for an oncoming car. The other car veered off and wound up on the sidewalk. But the game wasn't over. Khamthoumy headed for another car. This time nobody veered and a grinding, head-on collision resulted. The other driver, Kevin J. Blackwell, 43, who was on his way home from his job with SEPTA, was killed.

With many people trying to eat light these days, chicken and fish have become menu mainstays. That's good. But many of those people just keep grilling that fish and chicken, serving them unadorned in the name of calorie- counting. They have become boring. That part's bad. Take a cue from restaurateurs, who earn their living perking up ordinary foods. Enliven fish and chicken with simple fresh vinaigrettes, salsas, cold sauces or whatever you call them. Tomato Basil Vinaigrette, chef Wolfgang Puck's creation, is served with grilled fresh tuna and has been on Spago's menu since the Los Angeles restaurant opened.

Q. I am, or have been, a great lover of all kinds of chicken. We seem to have no one in this part of the country raising chickens. We're subjected instead to Holly Farms and Country Pride, both of which raise chickens in either Texas or Arkansas, and they seem to feed them tremendous amounts of some sort of fish meal, which I smell while cooking and taste when attempting to eat these black-in-the-bones, fish-smelling and fish-tasting chickens....

The head chicken has a problem. Mainly, it's that there is no such thing as the head chicken, and even if there were, it wouldn't be her. "Oh, that one. She thinks she's the boss," says Turkan Demirden. "We're going to put her in the bag. " Demirden is the chicken wrangler on the set of Jason and the Argonauts, which airs on NBC starting Sunday. Exteriors for the two-part film were shot in Turkey last fall, and the ancient city of Ioclus, Jason's home port, was reconstructed here at an out-of-the-way place called the Sundance Campground.

Princess Caroline, in Miami this week to raise money for the Miami City Ballet and Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, found herself in the middle of a controversy over the value of California chickens versus the Florida variety. It seems that 300 California chickens are being flown in for a $2,500-a-plate benefit dinner tonight. Local chicken raisers wanted to know what was wrong with home-grown. Pressed on the matter yesterday, Caroline feigned concern and said: "Of course, I'm very sad for the Florida chicken producers.

Makes 4 servings 1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Place 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter with the garlic in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until the butter is melted. Cook for about a minute more until the garlic is fragrant, then remove from the heat. 2. Wash the chicken under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Brush the chicken with the garlic mixture. Season each chicken leg with one-fourth teaspoon salt and allow to stand at room temperature while you prepare the lemons and artichokes for frying.

A Camden man who authorities say fatally shot a bystander at a fast-food eatery last month was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of aggravated manslaughter. David Porrata, 33, was found by the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday night hiding in a Camden apartment, where a relative had been bringing him food. He had ignored calls from family members to turn himself in, Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah told Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder. Porrata allegedly shot Franklin Parker, 36, also of Camden, at a Crown Fried Chicken on the 200 block of South Broadway around 5 a.m. on April 27. The shooting began as an altercation between Porrata, a friend and a group of other men. Parker and a woman, who had been sitting together in a booth, tried to escape the restaurant when violence broke out, but Parker was hit by a stray bullet.

Here is an excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " No one can say I did not try. I spent an entire afternoon giving my children a lesson in what I would like for my Mother's Day meal. But did I get miso-marinated cod with mushroom risotto? Of course not. Since my oldest son was the only one able to make it home, my husband pitched in. And what did they make? Chicken fajitas. Well, I do love chicken fajitas. And Tim added his first blog post. Tim: My mom asked me to take over blogging duties for my sister who is heading to medical school in July (congratulations Sally!

Company description: Savor the combination of creamy ranch sauce, sliced chicken strips, crispy bacon, fresh sliced onions and tangy buffalo sauce. Chain: Papa John's. Calories: Oy. We ordered ours without the bacon and onions (on Buffalo Chicken Pizza?) but order it the Papa John's way and one slice of this large pizza has 370 calories, 160 of which come from fat. There are 17 grams of fat (6 of which are saturated), 39 grams of carbs, 15 grams of protein and only 1 gram of fiber.

IN THE FOOD business, there's not much that's trendier than a food truck. Maybe gluten-free pastry. Or garlic scapes. Or waiters with mustaches. That's about it. Breakfast through dinner, mobile culinary units have in recent years multiplied nationwide. In our town, the campuses of Temple, Drexel and Penn have long been home to falafel, kielbasa and soul-food vendors. Today, they also host trucks and carts serving gourmet grilled cheeses, breakfast tacos, pork bulgogi and vegan banh mi. Last year, LOVE Park became a temporary residence to a mess of mostly newbie trucks proffering wood-grilled pizza, custom burgers, Trinidadian doubles, single-origin coffee, red velvet cupcakes and "Iron Chef"-approved tacos.

Chain: Saladworks. Company Description: A mix of crisp romaine and iceberg lettuce, wheat pasta, craisins and chicken, plus Manchego cheese, jicama and almonds. Topped with strawberry capri dressing. Calories: 382 calories without the dressing, 13.6 grams of fat, 46.2 grams of carbs, 253 mgs of salt and 20.5 grams of protein. It's almost too healthy for chain food. Location: Food Court at the Bellevue. Order time: They make it while you watch. Price: $6.99.

An excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " I have long wished for a good marinade for chicken on the grill. My requirements: that it be not too sweet, not too gloppy, not too complicated, not too expensive. I wanted a flavor profile that would appeal to adults and children, that could easily be expanded to feed a crowd, and would be an easy go-to, that could be thrown together with little effort, with ingredients already in the pantry. With this recipe, from Nina Simonds new cookbook, Simple Asian Meals , I have found the winner.

Company description: Subway's "fresh take on Italian. Juicy chicken, zest-errific pepperoni, and our signature recipe marinara sauce toasted with melty cheese on your favorite freshly baked bread. Molto buona!" Chain: Subway. Calories: For a foot-long, 900 calories, 30 grams fat, 150 mgs cholesterol and 2,500 mgs salt. Yikes. Location: 1701 Ben Franklin Parkway. Order time: Three minutes. Price: $6.75. Review: This is an interesting idea for an unhealthy sandwich that would be worth the grief with better ingredients.

Food: Vegan Vietnamese, starring banh mi hoagies ($4-$5) and rice noodles ($5), both starring deliciously fake (soy protein) chicken, ham and beef, dressed in cilantro, homemade pickles, coconut and/or jalapeños. Find it: For now, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 33rd and Chestnut; Saturday-Sunday at Clark Park, 43rd and Baltimore. Look for: A hand-painted hotdog cart with a red umbrella and kung fu trimmings. Eat on: The grass, or standing by a tall table balanced on milk crates.

Being the nation's third-largest egg producer means Pennsylvania should pay close attention to a proposal in Congress to improve the living conditions of egg-laying chickens. The state, though, has not yet joined the movement to ban so-called battery cages, which can house as many as 11 hens in a space little bigger than a microwave oven. That's an image that should spoil your breakfast. Ohio, Michigan, and California, where voters in a 2008 referendum mandated hens have enough room to stretch their wings, have banned new battery cages.