Chicken Veronique

Pierre Franey's 60 Minute Gourmet cookbook gave me this delightful meal, although I did alter his cooking technique somewhat. This is supposed to be prepared in a skillet, which isn't really possible in my world. This was ready in 30 minutes, and my husband's first reaction was, "Wow! Hot grapes are good!" Mr. Franey also suggests that this be served with curried rice, but I need to order from my restaurant supply house, so ingredients are limited until Friday. Instead, I used tri-colored rotini (dubbed by my 11 year old "multi cultural noodles: American, Native American and Martian").

CHICKEN VERONIQUE

2 pounds boneless chicken breast, pounded thin (I slice mine on the grain to about 1/4" thick)
3 tablespoons butter
shallots, chopped fine
1/2 cup seedless white grapes
1/4 cup white wine
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

Pierre's directions: Melt the butter in the skillet. Cook chicken breast a few minutes on each side until done. Remove chicken to serving platter and keep warm. Add wine to skillet and reduce by half. Add shallots & grapes and simmer for about 4 minutes. Add cream & heat through. Add chicken juices to skillet as they seep from the chicken onto the platter. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

What I did: Melt butter in the bottom section of the broiler pan. Line up the chicken pieces in the butter, flip to coat both sides. Broil for 4 minutes. Turn over, add grapes and return to the broiler for 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, in a skillet on stove top, melt another 2 tbsp butter, whisk in 1 tbsp cornstarch, shallots and wine. Heat a minute until it thickens, add cream and heat through. Pour the pan juices from the chicken pan into the sauce, whisk until blended, then pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Poor Thor, the 272 pound "baby" dog, didn't get any leftovers, and was very disappointed. Everyone else was quite happy.