January 21st

Nothing Like Medieval Times

The cookbook claims that this is an old-time favorite with roots in medieval times.  I have been to Medieval Times a couple times, and this is nothing like the food they serve there.  So, who do you believe; Ruth Van Waerebeek or Shaumburg, IL's Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament?

Braised Chicken with Grapes
or Kip Met Druifjes (Dutch)
or Poularde Aux Raisins (French)

recipe from: Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook by Ruth Van Waerebeek and Maria Robbins

Grapes and chicken sound weird together, but this tastes good...trust me.  I guess in medieval times the mixing of fruits with meat and a little tart wine was a common combination.  Today, sometimes apples will be with pork, but other than that most fruits sound strange with meat.  Especially grapes.  Be brave with this one and you won't regret it. 

The recipe calls for a cup of canned, peeled grapes.  I just assumed the store didn't have these because I've never heard of such a thing, so I didn't look.  Maybe they do.  If they have them, I think they would make the dish even better.  Doug made this and since I didn't get the canned grapes and he didn't want to peel grapes, he just cut them up and put them in there, which worked just fine.  We also didn't have any fancy watercress leaves for garnish.  And, it says it's best served over potato croquettes, but you should have noticed by now that I am not big on spending time making side dishes (and apparently neither is Doug), so we served it over brown rice.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pounds of chicken (we just used chicken breast, but you could use the whole chicken cut into pieces)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 TBS vegetable oil
• 3 TBS butter
• 1/2 C minced shallots
• 1/4 C cognac
• 1/2 C fruity white whine such as muscadet or riesling (we used moscato)
• 1/3 C chicken broth
• 1 C canned, peeled green grapes, drained but 1/2 cup heavy syrup reserved
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 lb fresh seedless green grapes
• watercress leaves for garnish

Directions:

1. Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil and 1 TBS of the butter in a large saute pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot.  Add the chicken pieces, a few at a time so as not to crowd the pan, and saute on both sides until golden brown.  Continue until all the chicken pieces are browned.  Set aside. 
2. Heat the remaining 2 Tbs butter in the same pan over low heat.  Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned.  Add the chicken pieces.  Flambee with cognac.
3. Add the wine, chicken broth, and reserved heavy syrup from the canned grapes.  Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes.  Turn the chicken pieces over and simmer, covered, until the chicken is tender, about 20 minutes longer.  
4. Remove the chicken pieces.  Reduce the liquid in the pan over high heat by one-third to concentrate the flavor , 1-2 minutes.  Add the cream and reduce further until the sauce is smooth and nicely thickened.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Reheat the chicken in the sauce, turning the pieces over carefully so that every bit is covered with sauce.  Add both the canned and fresh peeled grapes.  Arrange on a platter, surrounded with grape clusters and watercress leaves and serve.

Grades: 

Megan - A (The flavor of the sauce was so good and the grapes brought a nice sweetness to the chicken.  The only thing I would do differently is make double the amount of sauce because I wished there was a lot more.)

Doug - A-

Noelle - A (Noelle was happy to be eating something daddy made once again.  She loves grapes so she ate all those first.  Then she ate all the chicken and rice and was really into it. Yay - she's finally eating again!)