Pos Peds and Chicken Tagine

Last week was a busy week, though it didn't include any riding.
Friday, April 30 was Positive Pedaler Day in San Francisco. While I was disappointed no "mainstream" press attended, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. After all, what audience would want to see a group of healthy, fit men and women who are HIV positive talk about raising funds and awareness for HIV prevention and education?
Yes, I'm being a bit sarcastic, but it does point to the complacency surrounding HIV and AIDS, and people still continue to get infected and people still die from this disease. And the number of women being infected is climbing. At the event, a woman, Kaya Dzambic, spoke about coming to terms with being HIV positive. She really wants to reach other women who are ashamed and feel like victims. There are a lot of women out there who are in hiding with their status, and that shame and secrecy can't be good for them. Or for their families. She is truly a role model.
The event was wonderful, but my real work began when it ended. After the event, I picked up Jerry and we headed to Restaurant Depot to finish shopping for the Jonathan Pon Memorial Ride weekend, held every year. It's a two day bike ride and for the last several years, I've done the dinner and breakfast for around 150 riders and roadies.

Jerry and I had ridden Jon Pon a few years ago and the food, well, let's just say I thought I could do better, and I felt that the riders deserved it. So with the help of Jerry and a couple of others, I have planned and prepared these meals for the past three years.

I'm happy to say that each year it seems to get a bit easier. This year two of the three ovens in the kitchen worked, and they added another griddle, making the job far more manageable. I also simplified the menu a bit. It seemed a bit risky not marinating the 60 pounds of chicken ahead of time-- I worried a bit about its tenderness and moistness, but it came out great.

I made a chicken tagine, with apricots, chick peas and a melange of spices that included ground coriander, cumin, cinnamon and fresh ginger. Jerry and Hunter cooked the chicken on the griddles, and then the sauce, which also included chicken stock, onions and garlic, was ladled over the boneless breasts. I served it with couscous, roasted zucchini and a Greek pasta salad. For dessert we had brownies and oatmeal bars. I took a standard oatmeal cookie recipe, added a bit more butter and pressed it into pans.

In addition, since riders would be arriving hours before dinner, I set out some munchies. We had hummus and pita, raw vegetables and I made a dip from goat cheese, olives and sun dried tomatoes. In addition, I had frozen pesto palimiers left over from my fundraiser, and they got eaten as well.

For breakfast, we served scrambled eggs with chicken sausage and cheese. For the vegetarians, I sauteed shallots and mushrooms for their eggs. We also had roasted potatoes, buttermilk biscuits and cantaloupe and grapes.

Exhausted but happy, we cleaned the kitchen in record time and were out of Cassini ranch a bit after nine.

The success was do in no small part to all the help. Drew, Hunter, Tracy and Kathy, along with Jerry and me made for a lively, hard-working crew. I think we all enjoyed ourselves, and from the comments we received, our hard work paid off in great food.