I’ve never met Ari Weinberg. But after making his Chicken Chasseur, a 70s retro-recipe with ancient history, I’d like to cause this guy can cook! Back story: His recipe was published in a community cookbook, source unknown. A friend copied his page to share her fave, Chicken Marengo, similar to Chicken Chasseur but not a match. “According to Larousse Gastronomique, Marengo was created by Napoleon’s chef after the battle thereof. The original was garnished with crawfish and fried eggs.” (1)   Who knew?  I didn't.

Way back, back story: “on the origins of Chicken Chasseur. A fascinating excerpt from Aguecheek’s Beef, Belch’s Hiccup, and Other Gastronomic Interjections: literature, culture, and food among the early moderns [is] online. It begins with Europe’s “earliest post-Roman cookbook” - written, mostly in Danish, although with Latin headings and smatterings of other languages, in about 1300. Among its recipes is: About a dish called Chickens Hunter Style. One should roast a hen and cut it apart; and grind garlic, and add hot broth and lard, and wine and salt and well beaten egg yolks, and livers and gizzards. And the hen should be well boiled in this. It is called “Chickens Hunter Style.” which apparently squares with a version of the dish still found in southern Italy.” (2) Chicken cacciatore (hunter's chicken) anyone? 

(1) The New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne, Harper & Row 1990
(2) Natalie Bennett @ www.philobiglon.couk

When I shared the recipe for Gertrude's Green Sauce, I learned about Michael of Michael’s Table (1121 Hill Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405 310-450-5667 www.michaelstable.com ). If you care about how you feed and fuel your body, you must check out his website. Michael’s culinary credits (“a graduate degree from Cornell’s Hotel School, work at Moosewood Restaurant, Café des Artistes and with Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, as well as, with her protégé, Mark Miller, who started the Fourth Street Grill in Berkeley and the Coyote Café in Santa Fe”) are as impressive as his “commitment to the art of healthy eating and entertaining. He has spent the last five years developing simple yet ‘fine’ cuisine that’s also immune-enhancing.” (1) 

Michael feeds body, brain and soul through cooking and Qi Gong classes, links for cooking essentials, and an inspired reading list. Some of his picks include: Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Harold McGee’s, On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen; What Color is Your Diet? by UCLA’s David Heber, M.D., Ph.D. and Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.
 

(1) www.michaelstable.com/about_michael.html