Thighmaster

For some reason, chicken thighs are unbelievably cheap. These are a great source of protein, and they can be very tasty if you know how to cook them. I often find them in the meat section for under 50 cents a pound. When they're that cheap, I tend to buy a lot and freeze them. I like to freeze them wrapped individually so I only have to thaw the amount I want to use. I usually buy them with the bone in and skin on. They're pretty easy to bone, especially while they're still a tiny bit frozen, and I save the bones and skin for stock in a bag in the freezer.

I generally use thighs in place of pork. Now don't get me wrong, I love pork, but my sweetheart is Jewish and, though she is not a kosher Jew, she still won't eat any pork beyond bacon. She's "kosher style" as my friend Mike used to say. The dark meat from the thighs is a pretty decent substitute, though. Here's a recipe for meatballs that I like. I stretch ground beef with equal or greater parts of ground chicken for this, and it's not bad. You'll need

1 & 1/2 pound each of ground thigh meat and ground beef (the thigh meat can be chopped fine in a food processor or by hand. I chop up the skins in there too if I'm using lean ground beef)
2 Tbsp each of crushed fennel and oregano
1 Tbsp each of basil and ground black pepper
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
Salt (to taste and according to your health concerns)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg

Squish everything together in a mixing bowl until everything is well blended. You'll have to use your hand. It's loads of disgusting fun. Form the mix into golf ball sized meat balls set them in a shallow baking pan (like a jellyroll pan) with a bit of olive oil. Cook at about 350 for 30 minutes, then take them out and turn them, then bake for another ten or so. you can also fry them in a fryng pan, but that takes too damned long and makes too much of a mess.

Here's something else to remember. When you make your spaghetti sauce (you do make your own spaghetti sauce, don't you?), throw a thigh bone in there while it cooks on the back of the stove. It helps give the sauce a really hearty flavor.