During the summer months, Mrs. Koch … well, she really doesn’t cook.
She helps out a lot in our restaurants, though. The other day, right before her 80th birthday, she was helping in the kitchen at Kringle’s Kafe. Until, that is, she saw a Guest waving frantically to catch her attention.
As Mrs. Koch approached the front line, holding her gloved hands high (not unlike a surgeon after scrubbing up for an operation), she could hear the Guest’s urgent question:
Mrs. Koch – we have to know! You look so young – what brand of face cream do you use?
Without missing a beat, our octogenarian replied simply: “I just get whatever’s on sale.”
Just because she’s not home stirring the pots this time of year, doesn’t mean she couldn’t produce a yummy recipe when asked a few years ago…
The following was originally posted to the HoliBlog on 10/8/08
Following a tweet about a magazine requesting a recipe from Mrs. Koch, we were asked to post it here.
Santa’s Daughter’s Christmas Citrus Chicken and Rice
Cook time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1-3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsleySautéed orange slices.
1. Cook chicken in medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat for 10 minutes or until browned. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
2. Add the broth, orange juice, onion and rice. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Return chicken to skillet. Cover and cook 10 more minutes or until the chicken and the rice are cooked. Stir in parsley.
4. For appearance, sauté orange slices in a hot nonstick skillet until lightly browned.
5. Garnish chicken with orange slices.I’m rather stunned the recipe didn’t include one more step:
6. Clean up the kitchen … and the rest of the house while you’re at it.
