Neither here nor there ... Chicken on Chickpeas ... Randomly

And the Oscar goes to ...
How am I supposed to know. After all I have probably seen only two of the films that have anything to do with this years Academy Awards taking place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, U.S.A. I guess in a few more hours we will be richer of a bit more knowledge that won't be of any use for us.
No worries, in the end it will make all sense. It's like a puzzle. There are thousand pieces that relate someway to each other, but in the beginning you have no clue. However, as time goes on you put piece next to piece. First you get a frame and in the end you have a full picture.
Let's do it slightly different this time ... or not. Here you get a full picture at least.

Sometimes I do things and I don't do that on purpose, but somehow it all fits together.
Back to this years Oscars. Will an Australian playing a French person in a British movie win? Who knows?
For Best picture we find the nomination of Les Misérables. I already made a connection somehow in my last post.
At least this is one of the two movies I saw. It was only in between my last post and this post. Now I'm not all good as to these things as some might know from school like ... What was it that Shakespeare wanted to tell us with Macbeth apart from that he wanted to make some money and apart from "Fair is foul and foul is fair"?
I managed school anyway. Fine, don't mention what has become of me ...
Les Miserablés. Consequently I'm not filling you in to what was Victor Hugo's intend in that direction. Some people - either in the theater or in the cinema - go on crying most of the time. I find it easier to do so while watching an episode of MASH.
Well, some might claim, men have no feelings. I do not know nothing about such phrases or generalisations in general.
Anyway, most stories are fabricated in such a way, that the reader, listener, watcher etc. can identify with certain characters or at least relate to them in a certain way.
Now, as it comes to Les Miserablés it can get quite deep and complicated. I can relate to almost any of the characters portrayed.
Jean Valjean slaving most of his life and being on the run and not really finding peace in his life.
Fantine, her live going down the drain and seeing only misery.
The students crying out for justice.
Cosette being afraid to go alone in the dark into the wood to fetch some water.
The unrequited love of Eponine.
Finally also Javert, who sees his life not making any sense anymore, when all he was fighting for didn't work out in the end.
Marius sitting alone in the ABC cafe grieving all his friends that are gone now ...

Fine, what to say? For a change it was possible to go and see a movie in the right language. At times I really feel like being in the wrong place. Then again I don't want to be neither here nor there. In the end it will make all sense. But then again, who knows?

 

Let us go towards a subject we know a little bit more about: food!
This month, in Belleau Kitchen's Random Recipe challenge, the theme is 'the choice is yours'. 

At least a little bit of choice. Was it really a choice? Well, I simply took the book without thinking too much. This as well implies that I didn't make it all up, but in the end it makes all sense.
I'm not sure, though, whether that would be the place to be, but as the book I choose Jamie's America. Now the random part of this challenge brought me to the recipe Chicken on Chickpeas as you have seen on the picture above already.
Funny enough, the recipe is under the section Los Angeles. Some years ago I checked out this place myself and had a look at the Hollywood sign as well.
A friend of mine was driving the car and I had the duty to read the map. He was only a bit afraid we could end up dead if we take a wrong turn. So I better be reading the map properly. Obviously I did just that or ... it isn't that bad to end up in the wrong neighbourhood.
Chicken on chickpeas then is what we are having this time. Can we go wrong with that?
Pieces of chicken marinated in garlic, parsley, lemon and olive oil.
Chickpeas stewed up with onions, yet more garlic, peppers, tomatoes and green chillies. Just look at them going ...

I was supposed to put in red any yellow tomatoes, but I didn't bother to visit more than one shop. 
At least I had plenty of green chillies.
As to the chicken pieces, I didn't bother putting them into the oven, but just fried and cooked them in my special pot and it turned out fine and juicy and not dry and everything.
With the chicken arranged on the chickpea stew and finished off with some fresh basil leaves, it was just beautiful and delicious.
Taken everything together it didn't even take one hour and I still have some food for tomorrow. How good is that!?
Once more it has been a pleasure to take part in random recipes, although I know that the day will come when luck evades me in this department as well and I will end up with a totally painful cooking and eating experience.
However, not today, not yet. But why worry about the things not here, when there is plenty to do with worrying about the things already being present.

Little did I know that the 85th Academy Awards will be taking place in February 2013 while I was having the Bloggers Around the World challenge making a stop in the U.S.A. 
Why not then kill two birds with one stone and make this stop in Los Angeles and have this Chicken on Chickpeas for Bloggers Around the World as well.

Finally, remember one thing: "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." ... but where? Neither here nor there?

Or simply dig in ... and don't relate the food now to Les Misérables and the 'Master of the House' part!