Today is the day I plan to make “Chicken Scarpello” and let the world enjoy first making it, then eating it!

Today is the day I plan to make “Chicken Scarpello”, a dish  I created over 50 years ago! since I never liked chicken breasts, I wanted to follow what my mother always told me about the meat inside the bones (marrow) of the chicken! The flavor from it adds more taste than the chicken meat itself! So I went even further, in making this meal, I wanted to chop open the bone in many places to allow that piece of chicken to be enhanced by the marrow being free to add its flavor! Actually it has more health value than any other part of the chicken, the skin being next! Two parts most people don’t get to eat!

So, onto the next steps!

First you wash and dry the chicken legs and thighs and then you need to chop them 1¼” apart with one blow! So, the first thing you need is a heavy chopping block knife. Make certain that the pieces and bones have completely separated and a cracked opening of the bone is to allow the ingredients of the inside of the bones to be cooked and that flavor to go into the meal.

(A side note here: When on my visit to Fresno California in 2021, I found in a drawer, this knife that was made in 1864! As it turns out, my brother-in-law, Dominick, was working in Manhattan, N.Y. with us, hauling meat to local butcher shops and had found it and kept it without realizing how valuable it was.)I have to find a picture of it!

To Begin: 

You lay the leg down and use an old cutting board one that can take abuse. With the leg being held at the thick part you chop the other side 1 inch from the end with this little piece you save it for Bella(My Black Lab). The next cut is important and you need to make certain that when you chop it you get the meat equal on both sides. You’ll find you need to do it often to get better at it being that I am a pro and the best , as it’s no problem for me. Do I need to inform you who created this dish, you can call him Sal, thank you!

After you’ve cut six legs, can you go onto the 6 chicken thighs! You take the thigh, holding it so that the leg  is facing perpendicular to you. Now you feel with your hand for the bone, and with your other hand you push the meat on the left side of the bone and use your knife to cut that portion off, so now you have one piece of meat on one side and a bone and it’s piece of meat on the other. Take the piece of meat without the bone, cut it in three. Now you take the bone section, placing it perpendicular to yourself and proceed  to chop it directly in half! Again, it’s very important the bone gets smashed so that the red inner portion leaks out. Again please don’t remove the skin, as its flavor is most important! If you have to give it to your animal friend, but you’re making a mistake in not eating it yourself!!!

With that all done, put it aside in a bowl ready to cook. Now you must take a potato and peel it, cut it in half, and cut the half-in-half, cut the half in half and now you have six pieces. Do the same for the other half. Put it in a fat dish and microwave it under potato, open the door and feel the potato. It should feel squishy, not hard! Take the dish out, put it aside, then take a large frying pan that has a 3 inch lip and place it on the stove. It is important that you put ¼” of oil in it before you turn on the heat. So turn on the heat, after the oil starts to heat up it is smart at this time to throw in three 1/8 inch pieces of butter and squish it around with a wooden spoon that has a flat edge, as a wooden spoon with round the edges is a piece of junk! So with the flat edge you squish the butter around so it melts evenly now you have oil with butter as the oil heats up the butter it will start to want to burn, so lower the heat. I use 4 large garlic pieces cut up in 4’s and throw them in. Now take all the chicken that you’ve got including the parts for Bella, slide it into the frying pan with the wooden spoon, and separate them so they are evenly distributed. Now you raise the heat on high,  let it go for  two to three minutes, turning each with a wide handled gripper, to grab each piece, flip it over. Let it go, do it again. Now onto the others. At this point add all the spices making sure they are Italian mixes, second parsley and third pepper sterring as you do it ! Do that until you see the chicken beginning to become white. You need to take the sweet Italian sausage that is sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, and add them to the mix. Now check the potatoes and if they are soft, but not cooked, and put them into the mix placed evenly throughout and let all continue to cook slowly.

Now you get a fresh bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, hey that came out correct. Pour the wine, until all the juices are 1 inch high in the pan. As it cooks, the juices become very hot, but before it boils, cook very slowly for another 10 minutes or so, maybe even 15, and as you do it making certain that the chicken has no roar ends and making certain that you turn the sausages enough times so they become cooked, you continue to do this watching that everything is cooking properly and then come the “Peace de resistance”. Now you take “fresh” white flour, as it can’t be old as old flower will curl and not blend to become part of the oil and wine. The flour will now turn the juices into a sauce for Killing.  Now you’re stirring with the flat ended wooden spoon, constantly turning so that the liquid mixture becomes part of the chicken mixture as the chicken turns enough the liquid creamy liquid touches it and becomes part of the chicken you keep doing that so that there’s enough flour but not too much, as you do not want to get it too thick.

Now you have “Chicken Scarpiello” 

Once I put this on Facebook and Nextdoor.com, and Storyworth.com, people will come back and say how wonderful it tastes, but I don’t really like praise, praise is for people who are in need of it, but I do want praise just to see “how many” people really appreciate what a master can do! I am saying master and I don’t really mean master I mean professional chef!!! Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoy this menu. In case you don’t know my name it’s Sal A. Bianco Jr. Thank you for your interest, just try this and become a chef like me.