I agree with Joan--it would be lovely to have a potluck or progressive dinner with the Nebraska Kitchen group.
I decided to experiment with Monday night's dinner. I used as my basis the recipe for chicken braised in white wine with artichokes, which I have used before with mushrooms replacing the artichokes that my husband does not like. This time, I replaced the white wine with 2 cups of apple cider. I also peeled and cut up two small butternut squashes which I roasted at 375 F for 45 minutes. After coating the four chicken thighs with a mixture of ¼ cup flour, ¾ tsp. smokey paprika, ¼ tsp. onion powder, and some freshly ground pepper, I browned them in olive oil, for 5 minutes per side, then removed them and added the apple cider and scraped any bits off the bottom of the pan. I added the roasted butternut squash, then nestled the chicken thighs into the pan and simmered, partly covered, for 15 minutes. Once the chicken was done, I stirred in some cooked faro (1/3 cup dry cooked in 1 cup chicken broth and let it rest for about eight minutes. We had half of it for dinner. The flavor is good, but the butternut squash, even roasted, was not as sweet as I expected, and its flavor was a bit overwhelming. I will try the recipe again, but next time, I will go back to using mushrooms.
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