This dish will serve more than one person! But it is also a perfect dish to prepare when you’re alone (providing leftovers for the next night). I’ve been reading a lot lately about how some people, especially older women, are beginning to admit that they really do prefer living alone. Surely there is a longstanding prejudice against loners. Society expects us to couple up and stay that way. Single people are often excluded from social functions, parties or nights out with couples. There is the not so subliminal idea that there is something wrong with being an uncoupled adult. But that notion is beginning to change.

Personally, I love living alone. I have moments when I wish someone else were here, but then I suspect most married people have moments when they wish someone else were NOT there! I find that when I tell people I vacation alone, most men react with sympathy or disbelief (… poor you! you can’t find someone to go with you to Jamaica!) Women tend to react with envy at the idea of spending a week on a beach with a stack of books and no one tugging at your elbow or telling you what to do. Frankly, vacationing with a man is like an extended baby-sitting gig. I have yet to encounter a man who can get through an airport without supervision, who can pick up the phone and order room service himself, or who can share a bathroom without being a pig about it.

So, while this dish will feed more than one person, why wait until you have company to enjoy it? This is a perfect no-recipe recipe because you just need to brown the chicken pieces, cook down the vegetables, make a roux and then pour in enough stock to cover the chicken for a long slow braise. While the chicken is cooking, it fills your house with an amazing smell! And you can make a nice side dish while the chicken is slow-cooking. And watch a movie. Or give your poodle a bath. Or paint something. Or open a bottle of wine. Or talk to your mom on the phone. Or work on your blog. Basically, you are free to do all the things you might not be able to focus on if a man were breathing down your neck, pawing at you or otherwise demanding your attention.

TO BE FAIR: I AM NOT ANTI-MAN OR ANTI-LIVING WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I AM JUST ANTI- SOMEONE ELSE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO, FEEL OR THINK. AND I AM PRO- DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AND BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN HAPPINESS.

Directions

Cook this in a big Dutch oven, preferably your beautiful Le Creuset pot. I found some great pork riblets for seasoning but you could omit those or use bacon on chunks of ham.

Step 1

Cut the chicken in pieces. Dredge it in flour that is seasoned with salt and pepper. I like to do this by putting some flour in a brown grocery bag, seasoning it, then dropping in the chicken, sealing the bag and shaking it!

Step 2

Heat some vegetable oil in the Dutch oven over medium high heat on your stove. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and fry until golden brown. Put the pork riblets in with the chicken pieces and brown them too. Then remove the meat and set aside on a rack.

Step 3

Now add your vegetables to the pot. You should have enough oil left to cook the vegetables but if not, add a little more oil (or wipe out any burned oil). Sauté them, adding the garlic last so that you do not burn it. Stir a lot!

Step 4

When the vegetables are soft and translucent, sprinkle the flour over them. Stir. Add the white wine and cook it down a little. Then, add the stock.

Step 5

Put the chicken back in the pot. Put the thyme in the pot also. Season with salt and pepper at this stage and also during cooking or whenever you do a taste test and decide it needs it!

Step 6

Place the lid on the Dutch oven and put it in the oven at about 350 degrees for a couple of hours, or longer if necessary. Check it every once and a while. The liquid should almost cover the chicken. The chicken should cook at a gentle simmer so adjust the heat if necessary. It will get so tender that it will almost fall off the bone. That's the way I like it.

Step 7

When you take the chicken out of the liquid, you can strain the liquid and cook it down -- that's if you want a beautiful fancy sauce! Or you can just plate the chicken and ladle the sauce over it like I did. Be sure you have plenty of good bread to sop up this gravy!