It’s dinner time, and if you’re in a dinner rotation rut, Vivian’s Victuals has your back. Love the flavor-loaded dishes of the Mediterranean? This Sort of Greek Chicken recipe might just be the recipe you’ve been looking for.

Vivian’s (Sort Of) Greek Chicken

Eight pieces chicken or one whole one cut up
Jar of artichoke hearts, drained
About six fresh mushrooms, sliced
Jar of black or green olives, drained
¼ cup diced onion
4 (more or less) cloves garlic, diced
Greek seasoning, or thyme and oregano
2 TBSP lemon juice
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Spray a baking pan with oil and put the chicken pieces in the pan, with space between the pieces.

Mix the mushrooms, artichoke hearts, onions, olives, garlic, lemon juice and seasonings in a bowl and spread evenly over the chicken pieces. Cover with foil and bake about 30 minutes. Take the foil off, baste the pieces, and cook another 30 minutes.

Great served with couscous, pasta, rice or roasted potatoes.

Greetings from Matthews Cooks! We’re a ragtag group of home cooks submitting original recipes from our own kitchens and sharing the adventure with Matthews Beacon readers. If you’d like to add your own, please send them to renee@matthewsbeacon.com , and she’ll forward them to me (Vivian). When you send in recipes, add your family story, if there is one. It can add new dimensions to a dish. Please do not use recipes from cookbooks, as we need to respect copyright laws. If you first got a recipe from a book, then changed it over the years to suit your kitchen, that would be fine.

My Grandmother, Zinaida, was from a small village in western Ukraine. She and her family moved to Odessa when she was young, so they could attend school. About 1894, when she was 16, they migrated to New York. They took the required classes in English, hygiene, and citizenship. All her life, my Grandmother followed the rules she learned in those classes. She was always afraid she would be sent back to the Ukraine if she didn’t follow the rules.

She had difficulty with some words, no matter how long she lived here. The two words that she always mixed up, causing great hilarity in the family, were “kitchen” and “chicken.” She would announce that she was going to stuff and roast a kitchen, but had to clean the chicken first. I can still hear her voice and her laughter as she realized her mistake.

~Vivian’s Victuals

“[Zinaida] had difficulty with some words, no matter how long she lived here. The two words that she always mixed up, causing great hilarity in the family, were “kitchen” and “chicken.” She would announce that she was going to stuff and roast a kitchen, but had to clean the chicken first. ”

Oven-Fried Sesame Chicken

2 ½ lbs chicken
2 TPSP butter, melted
¼ cup sesame oil
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
3 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ cup flour

Preheat oven to 400F.

If your sesame seeds are not toasted, warm a small pan to medium heat and put the seeds in the dry pan. Stir often, and when most of the seeds are light brown, remove the pan and put the seeds in a small bowl (to prevent the heat in the pan from scorching the seeds).

Cut chicken into serving size pieces. Mix the melted butter and sesame oil and brush each piece. Put remaining ingredients in a paper bag. Add the chicken pieces and shake well.

Place the chicken in a foil lined baking pan. Bake at 400F for 50-60 minutes until browned, turning occasionally.