Poultry
imageMany moons ago when blogs were still young, I frequented the blog of a nice guy from Pennsylvania, btezra. His blog has gone the way of the dinosaurs (so don't bother clicking) but this recipe, which he originally posted there and graciously permitted me to copy, has survived. I've done a couple of things differently but only in the prep. The ingredients are the same.


This lasagne is whatchacall a special occasion dish. It's labour intensive and makes for lots of dirty dishes. I make this maybe once or twice a year but trust me, once you've tried it, you'll find it's worth the trouble. If you're especially industrious, double the recipe and freeze the second pan for a quick heat-and-eat meal when you're busy. It will take a good 3 months worth of freezing with no problem. And seriously? This is damned good. Really good. Really, really good. It's also very rich and very filling. Be prepared to need a nap after dinner. You can, of course, substitute all that low-fat ricotta, milk, etc., but why would you want to? I mean, it's not like you'd eat this everyday.

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter + 2 TBSP
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C flour
2 C milk
2 C chicken broth
2 C (8 oz bag) shredded mozzarella - divided
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1/2 C onion, diced
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning, to taste
1 packet G. Washington Golden
1 tsp Nature's Seasons
1 C cottage cheese
1 C ricotta
1 egg
2 boneless chicken breast
1 pkg fresh or frozen spinach **Important - see footnote
9 lasagne noodlesimage


Directions:

Cook lasagne noodles, dry and lay on waxed paper until ready to use. Slice chicken breast (easier if partially frozen) from the short side about 1/4" thick. Cutting from the short side creates little medallions. In a non-stick frying pan, melt 2 TBSP butter. Add sliced chicken and cook through, letting it brown a little. Remove to a plate and set aside. To the same pan, add your washed and dryed spinach. Slap a cover on it, let it cook for 2 minutes then turn off the heat leaving the lid on.

In a 3 or 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter. Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent. Whisk in flour and all the seasonings. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in milk and broth and bring to a boil. If the sauce is too thick, add more broth. Remove from heat, sauce will thicken as it sits so you might have to add a bit more broth. It should be thick and spreadable.

imageCombine cottage cheese, ricotta, 1 C mozzarella and egg. Mix well.
Spread about 1/3 of the sauce in 13 x 9 pan, top with noodles. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles. Repeat sauce/noodle/cheese mixture. Top with chicken, then spinach. Add last layer of noodles and then remaining sauce. Cook covered @ 350° for 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

**After the spinach has wilted in the pan and cooled, put it in a triple layer of papertowels and squeeze out all of the excess moisture. You do not want the spinach to be wet. If you use frozen spinach, thawed it out first then squeeze out the excess moisture. Even though the original recipe calls for 1 bag, I always use two. I like the extra spinach.

image
Posted by Donna on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 08:30 PM
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Comments (6)

So I saw this in one of Giada’s cookbooks and immediately thought, “Ewww.  Gross,” when I read what the word ‘tonnato’ meant. Roast turkey breast with Tuna sauce?  As one of my friends said after reading the ingredients “Sounds like cat vomit.” Gut it’s Giada and I’d probably eat dog food if she recommended it. Turns out that it’s damn tasty though.  The sauce gives bland-assed turkey a much needed flavor boost and would probably just as tasty on the lean, bland pork we’re forced by the health police to buy.  Be sure to have plenty of bread or rolls around to help soak it up.turkey tonnatto with semi-creamed spinach

Turkey Tonnato

Ingredients
* 2 lb turkey breast, skinless and boneless
* 1 Tbs oregano
* 1 Tbs thyme
* 1 Tbs basil
* 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 cup chicken stock
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tuna Sauce:
* 6 oz canned white meat tuna, packed in olive oil – do not drain
* 1 tsp anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, drained
* 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
* 1 Tbs capers
* 1/3 cup mayonnaise
* Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven 375.

Season the turkey with salt, pepper and herbs. Coat with olive oil, place in a baking pan and pour the chicken broth around the turkey. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch slices, on an angle. Allow to sit in baking pan with juices as you make sauce.

Toss the tuna, anchovy, lemon juice, mayo and capers in the food processor. Puree until creamy, about 1 minute. Pour the tuna mixture into a bowl.

Place the slices of turkey on a platter with some of the pan juices and pour the tuna sauce on top. Garnish with chopped parsley.

China: Lenox Tosca. crazy ornate, eh? 

Posted by Mike on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 02:05 PM
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This was originally a recipe for the grill but, well, it’s too damn cold out to grill so I adapted it for the oven. It actually turned out to be more sweet than spicy, but it was still pretty good. Next time I may add some cayenne pepper or chili powder.  Maybe some horseradish too.

Chili Sauce Chicken
Ingredients:
1 bottle chili sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth (plus a little more)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 tsp pepper
4 1/2 tsp basil
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
12 cloves minced garlic
8-10 skinless chicken thighs
1/2 Tbs unsalted butter
dash balsamic vinegar

Directions
Place the first seven ingredients in a large zip-lok bag and moosh around to mix. Remove 1/3 cup of the marinade to use for basting and add the chicken.  Put in the fridge and let marinate for at least 2 hours.Chili Sauce chicken

Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking dish.  Pour a little of hte marinade from the bag onto each thigh and add enough chicken broth to just cover the un-chickened areas of the pan and bake 40-50 minutes, basting with reserved marinade once.

When chicken is done, put the chicken in a platter and keep warm.  Pour juices in the baking pan into a saucepan along with a shot or two of balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced and kind of thickened.  Add butter and whisk till melted.  Serve chicken over rice and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce.

Posted by Mike on Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 07:03 AM
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Having experienced the piss-poor driving habits of the Bubbastan-area natives after last week’s tiny snowfall, I opted to stay home after getting off of work at 6:00 am.  The only pizza delivery place in town is both overpriced and unparalleled in it’s its general suckitude and nastiness of taste so I foraged around the kitchen.  This is what I came up with.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of citrus unless it’s with seafood, but this turned out pretty okay. The soy and ginger gives it a bit of an oriental flavor that you can emphasize further if you want, and you could use grapefruit juice if you prefer a sauce that is a bit less sweet.

Kinda Oriental Chicken

Ingredients
4-5 skinless chicken thighs*
1 1/2 cups orange juice
4 Tbs soy sauce
2 clove minced garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
4-5 Tbs soy sauce

Directions

Score the chicken pieces with a knife and place in a gallon-sized zip-top storage or freezer bag.

Add remaining ingredients to a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine. Add to the chicken in the bag and squeeze to remove all possible air before sealing. Throw the bag-o-bird parts into the fridge and allow to soak for 30-40 minutes up to all day, turning and squishing occasionally to make sure the liquid has circulated.

About 2 hours before you want to eat, pull out the chicken and allow to come to room temperature.DSCF2568

Preheat the oven to 350.  place the chicken parts in a rectangular baking dish and pour the marinade over them.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until done (bone-in pieces will cook a bit faster than boneless).

Place the chicken on a warmed plate and cover to keep warm.  Transfer the liquid in the baking dish to a saucepan.  Simmer over medium heat until reduced to the consistency you like and spoon the sauce over the chicken.  Serve with steamed or sauteed veggies. Noodles with butter and a bit of cheese would work too

* I prefer dark meat.  It’s got a lot more flavor and is boatloads more forgiving of overcooking as opposed to chicken breasts, which turn into chicken jerky if you don’t get ‘em out of the oven or frying pan exactly on time.

Posted by Mike on Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 02:06 PM
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Here’s a quick and easy dish to help use up the leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  It’s tasty and definitely qualifies for comfort food status.  image

Ingredients:

1/3 C butter + 2TBSP
1/3 C flour
1 stalk celery
1/2 a small onion
1 packet G. Washington Golden
1-1/2 C turkey broth (You did boil your turkey carcass for broth and stock, right?) or 1 can chicken broth
1/2 C half & half
4 oz fresh mushrooms
2 handfuls frozen broccoli florets
1-1/2 C cooked turkey
1/4 meat leftover pan drippings
salt & pepper or Nature’s Seasons, parsely
1/2 to 3/4 of a bag cooked wide egg noodles

imageMelt 2 TBSP butter in a frying pan.  Add sliced fresh mushrooms and cook until brown and all liquid has been given off.  Melt 1/3 C butter in 3 or 4 quart pot.  Cook celery and onion until tender.  Add flour, G Washington and Nature’s Seasons all at once.  Stir well.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Slowly add about 1/2 the broth while whisking briskly.  Add the half & half and simmer for 5 minutes or so.  Add more broth as necessary to make a creamy sauce.  Add meat, mushrooms and broccoli to sauce.  Add noodles until you like the consistency of pasta to sauce.  Re-season to taste.  Add parsley.

I always save the pan drippings from the turkey that I don’t use for gravy.  It will form a kind of jelly consistency.  This stuff is full of yum.  Seriously.  It adds so much flavour.  Save this and add it by tablespoonfuls to this sauce and other turkey or even chicken based dishes.  Good stuff.


image

Oh and the pan I cooked this in?  My new best friend.  I do not kid.  I love this pan.  You can check it out on the sidebar in the Amazon ad.  You want one.  Really.

Posted by Donna on Thursday, December 03, 2009 at 09:10 PM
Filed in: EntreesPastaPoultry • ◊ Permalink
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Okay.  I wasn’t sure about this one, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Cranberry Chicken
image
Ingredients
5-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cranberry jelly
1 pack onion soup mix
8 oz bottle italian dressing

Preheat the oven to 350. and pour yourself a glass of wine.

Place chicken in a rectangular baking dish.

De-can the cranberry jelly into a bowl and marvel at its ability to tower over the bowl while quivering as if it’s going to collapse. Once you’ve become un-hypnotized, mash the jelly and spread over the chicken.  Sprinkle the onion soup mix on top of the cranberry jelly and top with the Italian dressing. Toss in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes.

Despite my misgivings, this turned out to be damn tasty and it made my kitchen smell like autumn. I think that the next time I try this, I may substitute a balsamic vinagrette for the Italian dressing and chopped fresh onions and herbs for the onion soup mix. 

Posted by Mike on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 06:59 AM
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Ingredients
About 2/3 of a box of spaghetti (I use linguine)
5 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1-1/2 C cream
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch long, thin slices
1/2 lb mushrooms (or 10 oz package)
4 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 C grated parmesan
Pepper (I use Nature’s Seasons)
1 packet G. Washington Golden
4 Egg yolks, lightly beaten

Directions:
To more easily dice bacon, freeze it hard, at least 8 hours or overnight.  It’s much easier to dice.  Same with the chicken breast...it’s easier to slice when it’s partially frozen. 

Pecorino romano can be substituted for parmesano reggiano.  Buy the good stuff, I beg of you.  It costs more but there are some things you don’t skimp on.  This is one of them . Don’t use that crap in a can!!  Also, parmesan is a salty cheese.  You don’t need to add salt to this dish.
image

Boil spaghetti to your liking then drain.  Run hot water over to rinse off some of the starch.  Drain well.

Sauté mushrooms in 2 tbsp butter until golden brown and all moisture is cooked off.  Set aside.
In a another large saucepan, sauté the bacon bits and onion until golden.  If there’s a lot of bacon fat, drain off some drippings but be sure to keep at least a tbsp or so.  Add 2 tbsp butter and the chicken.  Season with pepper and G. Washington.  Sauté until chicken is fully cooked.  Add cream and heat until just simmering.  Stir in the the cheese.

Lightly beat the egg yolks.  Slowly add some of the hot cream to the eggs, stirring well.  Turn heat to low to stop the simmer.  Add egg-cream mixture back into the pan and stir well and continuously for a few minutes.  Mixture will thicken as it cooks.  DO NOT BOIL OR YOU MIGHT SCRAMBLE THE EGGS.

Add mushrooms to pan and heat through.  Turn off the heat.

Using a slotted spoon, remove some of the chicken to a plate.  Spoon some of the cream mixture over the spaghetti until it is thoroughly coated.  Plate the spaghetti and top with chicken and the rest of the sauce.

Makes about 4 servings.

Posted by Donna on Tuesday, November 03, 2009 at 12:42 PM
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I like chicken thighs because they usually wind up much more tender and have a lot more flavor than breasts but if that’s your thing, more power to you.  I’ll admit that they’re fattier, but if you unfold the thigh and trim away the main glob, there’s surprisingly little fat left.

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
1 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 2-3 inch hunk of ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 cup chopped peanuts for garnish
1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Unfold the chicken and trim away the main glob of fat.  Fold back up and arrange chicken in the crockpot.  Combine the next 4 ingredients and whisk until well mixed.  pour over chicken, cover and cook on high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or low for 6 to seven hours.

Serve over rice.

Posted by Mike on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 05:17 PM
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Oh stop it. Yes, You. I can see the look of horror and disgust on your faces after reading the title of this post.  I even hear you thinking that this sounds like something that should appear in one of my odd and/or disgusting foods posts. I, however, love those creamy little poultry-based poison filters.  Give it a shot.  Like most casseroles, it’s not much to look at, but it’s darn tasty in a retro 50’s sorta way.

Ingredients

2 10 oz packages of frozen french style grean beans
4 slices bacon, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound chicken livers, nasty connective tissue removed and cut in half
2 Tbs sherry or marsala*
1/2 tsp seasoned salt **
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup crushed barbeque potato chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Cook green beans according to directions. Drain well and spread out on a rack or paper towels to dry.  Once they’re dry, spread them into the bottom of a greased 8x8 baking dish.

Saute the bacon until crisp and spread over beans.  Add the garlic and sautee until golden.  Add the livers to the fat and garlic in the pan and fry/simmer until they are no longer pink (the livers will give off a fair amount of liquid). Add the next four ingredients and stir until heated through. Once heated, pour inot the pan of bacon and beans, spreading so that it makes a fairly uniform layer.  Top with crushed potato chips and bake for 15 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serves 5-6

* It goes without saying that you should spring for a bottle of sherry or marsala from the wine aisle rather than the salt-laden swill that styles itself “cooking sherry” found elsewhere in your grocery store of choice.

** I don’t like to use much salt when cooking.  In the future I’ll probably take a pinch of various herbs and grind them together instead.

Posted by Mike on Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 11:15 AM
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1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3-1/2 to 4 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces
8 TBSP butter, divided
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 C orange-flavored liqueur
1/4 C honey
2 TBSP orange zest
1 TBSP soy sauce

Whole cooked baby carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, salt and pepper in large plastic bag. Add chicken pieces a few at a time, to bag; shake to coat completely with flour mixture. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in large baking pan. Roll chicken in butter to coat all sides; arrange skin side down in a single layer in pan. Bake 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice, liqueur, honey, orange zest and soy sauce.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture.  Remove chicken from oven; turn pieces over. Pour remaining honey mixture over chicken. Continue baking, basting occasionally, 30 minutes or until chicken is glazed and tender. Toss reserved honey mixture with cooked carrots; serve with chicken.

Makes 4 servings - two piece of chicken per person.

Posted by Donna on Monday, May 11, 2009 at 03:34 PM
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I may be biased but this is the bestest ever chicken concoction I have ever concocted…

6-8 chicken breasts
1 jar of salsa
2 - 3 cups shredded cheese (don’t matter what kind)

A NOTE BEFORE CONCOCTING:
Now this may just be me, but chicken breasts are icky unless you put them in a pot of water and boil them a bit to get all the ickyness out of them. So yeah, that’s what I do before baking.

DIRECTIONS:

Place chicken breasts (pre-cooked or not, that’s up to you) in an 9x13 oven pan. Pour salsa over the top of the chicken breasts, to cover. Top with shredded cheese.

Cover lightly with foil.

Bake at 300 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Posted by Tracy on Friday, March 23, 2007 at 04:06 PM
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3/4 cup crushed saltine crackers
1/4 cup toasted sesame seed
2 1/4 oz. pkg. (2/3 cup) slivered almonds
1 TBS. dried green onion
1 tsp.  bouquet garni* (WTF???  Yeah, that’s what I said too- see below for explanation)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup melted butter
3-3 1/2 lb. frying chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Heat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients except butter and chicken.  Dip chicken in melted butter, then coat with crumb mixture.  Reserve remaining butter.  Place chicken in ungreased 13x9” baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.  Pour remaining butter over chicekn.  Bake for 65 to 75 minutes or until chicken is fork tender.  Serves 4

*1/4 tsp. EACH dried parsley flakes, thyme leaves and 1 crushed bay leaf can be substituted for 1 tsp. bouquet garni.  Thank god because I searched Publix high and low and the only bouquet I came up with was a bunch of roses and that probably wouldn’t have worked well....

Posted by Michelle on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 09:16 AM
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1 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk
3 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
8 slices bread- no crusts
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup oil

In an airtight container, combine buttermilk, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper.  Place a chicken breast between two peices of plastic wrap and using a meat pounder, pound chicken until just more than 1/4 inch thick.  Lather, rinse and repeat with each chicken peice.  Place in buttermilk marinade and chill for 20 minutes in fridge.  Place bread, remaining 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. black pepper and cayenne pepper in food processor.  Pulse until fine crumbs form- about 10 seconds.  Transfer mixture to a shallow bowl.  Remove breasts from marinade and dredge both sides in bread crumbs and place on a plate.  Line a baking sheet with double thickness of paper towels.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  When hot, put in chicken and fry until golden brown and cooked through- about 2 minutes per side.  Transfer to paper toweled pan. 

Posted by Michelle on Friday, February 23, 2007 at 12:24 PM
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Serves four

I modified this recipe from the Ship to Shore charter yacht cookbook to feed fewer people and to suit the ingredients I had on hand.

It's a great recipe that uses few ingredients, can be prepared in a quite small kitchen, looks great and tastes delicious.

The ship to Shore cookbooks are a wonderful resource for anyone with limited space who still wants to create tasty meals with just a few ingredients.
(Disclaimer: I do not make any money from the sale of the above-mentioned cookbook. I just really like its overall simplicity and the recipes.)



Ingredients:

1 package chicken thighs, bone-in
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 Tbs lemon or lime juice (I like key limes for their tartness)
1 clove garlic, minced
Hot sauce (Marie Sharp's Fiery Red Hot Habanero Pepper Sauce is my brand of choice after a sojurn in Belize), salt and pepper to taste

1 cup panko bread crumbs (1 cup crushed saltines were used in the original, but panko makes the coating much lighter and crunchier)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dry mustard, plus a dab more
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 stick butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine sour cream, juice, garlic, pepper sauce, salt and pepper.

Skin thighs and add to marinade, coating them. marinade for one hour or overnight in the fridge (recommended)

Combine Panko (or saltines), thyme, mustard, paprika and cayenne and mix well.

Dredge each thigh in the coating mixture and place in a buttered, shallow baking pan and drizzle with melted butter.

Cook at 375 for for 35 minutes or until browned and tender.
Posted by Donna on Monday, January 08, 2007 at 06:01 PM
Filed in: Poultry • ◊ Permalink


Ingredients:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 3-3 1/2 pound chicken (or whatever parts you like)
5 thick slices of bacon
20 pearl onions, peeled
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup red wine (wine that you would actually drink, not cheap swill)
2 Tbsp brandy (optional)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 pound smallish mushrooms, sliced if you want
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chicken in one layer and fry until about 7-10 minutes, or until browned. Move the chicken to a platter. Remove all but two Tablespoons of the from the pan. Return it to the stove.

Add the bacon and onions to the skillet and saute until the onions begin to brown. Add the minced garlic and saute for another minute. Stir in the chicken broth, wine, thyme and tomato paste. Plae chicken back in the skillet and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about half an hour, or until chicken is tender to the fork.

Remove the chicken to the platter again. Add mushrooms to the skillet and simmer another 10 minutes. While that's simmering, blend the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour until you have paste. Add the paste to the broth and stir until it thickens (about 1-2 minutes). Before returning the chicken to the skillet, I usually remove the fat from the broth and any remaining fat and skin the chicken at this point.

Put the chicken back into the skillet and simmer another 5 minutes or so

Serve directly from the skillet, or place chicken, onions and mushrooms on a platter and pour the gravy/sauce on top.

Serves four

Suggested cooking music: Dig out your Edith Piaf compilation and a pack of Gauloises
Posted by Donna on Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 04:17 PM
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