Baked Chicken Bok-Bok Choy.
Best with skin-on leg quarters. Find an Amish farm and barter with them.
Rub vigorously with many dry, powdered spices - I used black pepper, paprika, rosemary, thyme, garlic, onion, and salt.
Arrange in a pan so the skin lays flat, not folded up on itself anywhere.
Let sit uncovered in the fridge for a few hours, or while you're at work.
When you're ready, oven to 350 and stick the bird in.
Chop up a bunch of bok choy. If you don't have enough, supplement with cabbage. Toss with salt & lemon juice.
When the bird's been in for 30 min or so, pour some of the juices out into your skillet, and use that to saute the bok choy.
By the time the bok choy is ready, the bird should be ready. Shred the meat & crispy skin into the bok choy - done.
Skate Wing with Brown Butter Caper Sauce.
Skate wings are really cool, and fucking delicious. Hopefully you can get them filleted, so they don't have that cartilaginous ridge. Otherwise, hey, free cartilage. They're really tender, and the texture & flavor is not unlike crab legs.
Pat them dry & sprinkle with salt, letting them sit in a single layer.
Mix up some flour (I went with corn meal) with a bunch of black pepper.
Heat up a good layer of oil in the skillet - not quite smoking hot, but shimmery hot.
Dredge the wings in the flour, and place gently in the skillet. Fry about 3-4 minutes on one side, flip carefully and fry about 1 min on the other side.
You will most likely have to do these in batches (A pound of filleted wings is about three), so reserve each wing onto your keep-warm plate and keep going.
When the wings are all done, wipe out the pan to get rid of all the floury chunks and burnt oil.
Return the pan to heat, and throw in some capers. Let them sizzle out a bit, then drown them in butter.
When the butter is just turning dark gold, it's done. Remove from heat, toss in some fresh capers, and pour it all over the skate wings.
When you serve it, remind your guest that it's an old French recipe, and you expect reciprocity in the French style. You're welcome.