Kotopoulo Rapama me Hilopites (Chicken in Tomato with Noodles).

If you haven't noticed yet, my family has a love affair with the Mediterranean...music, foods, poetry and writing, art and passion. How I would love to visit the little villages in Greece, sample the pure, pure olive oil, the cheeses, fresh yougurt...olives.....ahhhhh....sigh.

Meanwhile... I am content to read the poetry, listen to the music, dine out in good restaurants and then I try and recreate the dishes at home for our own enjoyment. This is our dinner tonight.

Chicken in Tomatoes with Noodles
(serves four to six nicely)

• 4 chicken breasts (de-boned, skinned and chopped into 1 1/2 inch cutlets)
• four cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 medium zucchini
• about ten mini carrots (or equivalent large carrot cut into sticks)
• 1 small can sliced black olives
• 2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes in paste
• 1 cup fresh or can chopped tomatoes (if using can...add the juice- the fresh
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (you can cheat and use spaghetti sauce but please don't use ketchup)
• pinch of tarragon
• herb goat cheese
• 1 cup cooking sherry (or wine...I had leftover red wine from the day before)
• salt, pepper to taste

• Wide egg noodles
• Chicken broth

Put butter and olive oil in deep pot and heat on low heat.Chop garlic cloves and saute. Add chicken and stir fry to light golden brown. Add sundried tomatoes, black olives and chopped onion. Stir fry lightly and then turn up heat. When sizzling add the sherry/wine and stir constantly on high heat. Turn heat to low when the wine/sherry has mostly evaporated. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and stir. Add zucchini cut into thicker slices (you don't want to lose the colour or texture) and the small carrots. Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile....quickly cook wide egg noodles in chicken broth (they do taste better and if you don't want to waste the broth....save it and make soup with some of the leftovers).

Drain, toss with olive oil and fresh pepper. Place noodles on serving plate with hearty helping of the chicken dish. Crumble yummy goat cheese on top. Eat with a fresh green salad.