Sunday dinners with family! Recipe for City Chicken

Sundays with family!


Sunday, we gathered at my Mom and Dad's home to celebrate my daughter and son-in-law's first anniversary. My Mom prepared a beautiful meal. The star of the meal was the city chicken. Her city chicken falls off the stick when you put a fork to it. My Mom has always been a good cook which makes her home the natural choice for gathering. More important than the food, my Mom and Dad have created a place where children and grandchildren can gather full of confidence that they are loved and accepted.

Our family gatherings have dwindled. We use to gather every week together when our children were younger. We now gather to celebrate milestones. This has made the gatherings all the more precious! Certain elements are constants. My Mom always cooks enough food as if she's expecting a small army to show up! The food is always home cooked, to die for comfort food, artery busters. There is typically conversation about which ballgame to watch.. This Sunday football was on in the living room and tennis was on in the kitchen. Catch up conversation is a must and includes everyone's work, school, and new endeavors. We also share memories of past events and highlights from previous dinners.

Starting her own memories my 2 year old grandaughter included everyone in her game of "swipe dog". This game is what inspired her nickname for Alex, Uncle Sneaky Fox. Its pretty simple someone swipes her dog from her and hides it. She then puts her finger to her chin and says, "Mum, this is a mystery." We then have to find dog. This caused alot of laughter as poor dog was passed around from person to person and hidden and sometimes found.

My parents have a record of everyone's height on their kitchen wall. This always prompts a measuring contest on who has grown most since the last visit The kids always look forward to when they have passed my Mom in height. Sunday my niece officially passed my Mom. It seems to be a milestone into young adulthood. My nephew presently holds the #1 position for being the tallest of the grandchildren. My two younger sons have hopes of passing him up. My girls never passed their grandma.

Family dinners are a dwindling tradition. I sometimes wonder if the dive in the economy has to do with a need for us to get back to basics, rediscover the important things in life. I cherish my memories of family dinners growing up. I learned about family and the importance of them in my life.These times are priceless. These family dinners create memories for our minds, hearts, souls and tastebuds!

City Chicken is an odd name given to this dish that originated in the 1700's but became popular during Depression in the United States when chicken was ridiculously expensive, and pork and veal were cheaper to buy, go figure! The cubes of pork and veal are sewered on a wooden stick and thought to resemble a drumstick.The only meat market in Wheeling where you can buy "real" city chicken is Miklas Meat Market, http://www.miklasmeatmarket.com/ . I say "real" city chicken because the city chicken in the grocery stores is made with pork and beef cubes. Miklas uses veal. Miklas' is located on Edgington Lane, visit their website for more information, http://www.miklasmeatmarket.com/ .

Below is a recipe for my Mom's City Chicken or rather what I think is her recipe.


City Chicken

Ingredients

2 pounds of city chicken

wooden skewers if they're not included in the meat pack

salt and ground black pepper to taste

4 eggs

3 tablespoons milk

2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs

1 cup water

1/4 vegetable oil

Directions

Alternate the pork and veal on the skewers. Sprinkle each skewer on all sides with salt, and black pepper. Set skewers aside.

Whip the eggs and milk together in a bowl. Crush bread crumbs in another bowl. If baking after frying place water in a baking dish.

Preheat oven to 350 F if frying on the stove in a skillet and then baking. Heat oil in a electric frying pan or skillet.

Dip each skewer of pork into the egg mixture, then dip in crumbs. *Optional dip the skewers a second time into egg mixture and then crumbs. Place the skewers into the hot oil, and brown until the coating is crisp and golden brown. Once the skewers are all browned either add water to electric skillet and cover or place in baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Simmer an additional half an hour in electric skillet or bake in oven aproximately a half an hour. If you prefer them a little crunching uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. I like to cover mine in marinara sauce instead of water.and bake.