Chicken

Chicken backs and necks make great, full-bodied soup, but they’re not always available. If you buy whole chickens, save the giblets (except the livers) in a plastic bag in the freezer and make the soup when you have enough. Chicken wings are a terrific, inexpensive alternative. Pour boiling water over them before you cook them, then transfer the wings to the pot; this helps produce a clear broth. Peel the carrots but leave them whole in the soup (cut them up later when they’re cooked). Cut onions into wedges.

Hardly show-offs, the Bordeaux wines priced less than $20 are workmanlike, perhaps a little brash, but they are fine to accompany a straightforward plate of food. A chicken casserole that is satisfyingly sturdy, a little rustic if you will, is thoroughly appropriate for the modest Bordeaux. For the earthiness of the wines you have lentils. For their whisper of spice, cumin. The radicchio insinuates a bitter edge, to confront the tannins in some of the wines. In keeping with the price, everyday chicken thighs soak up these flavors.

Many of us regularly season food with a sprinkling of black pepper, but rarely do we use it as a bold flavor stroke. Black pepper, when it’s more than a background note, can engage the senses with a warming bite and an aroma that reminds me, to varying degrees, of chili, cloves, and citrus. Many Asian cuisines, including Chinese and Vietnamese, feature versions of a spicy black pepper sauce for stir-fried meats and fish; my recipe has Thai accents, and uses chicken rather than the more common pork. If you use white-meat chicken, reduce the time you cook it by a minute.