Pierre Franey's Poached Chicken

Chicken's a nice, forgiving meat. If it's overcooked a little bit, it doesn't really harm it, whereas if beef is overcooked, kiss your delicious dinner goodbye. There are also countless ways to cook chicken, and because it's mild flavored, it can become just about anything. Really. So, yesterday I forgot to hunt up a meat idea in the freezer. So I turned to chicken pieces, which I thawed just a bit for 5 minutes in the microwave. While the original recipe called for a whole chicken, cut into pieces, this still came out great. True to my children's traditions, this has now been dubbed "Shreddy Chicken". Their names are nothing if not exactly descriptive - not poetic, but descriptive. So, without further ado, here's my adaptation of Pierre Franey's

POACHED CHICKEN

3 pounds chicken pieces, with or without bones
6 cups water
2 carrots, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut in eighths
2 ribs celery, cut into chunks
6 peppercorns
4 cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt

1-1/2 cups rice

1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon juice

Put everything except the rice in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is done. Put the rice in another pot, and strain 3 cups of the chicken broth out of the chicken pot. Add it to the chicken with 1 tsp salt, and cook, covered, 20 minutes, until done. 5 minutes before the rice is done, add some chopped chives, if desired. As the rice is cooking, whisk the cream with the cornstarch, and stir into the chicken and broth in the first pot. If necessary, rinse the mixing cup with a tiny bit of water and add it to the chicken broth, to get all of the cream and cornstarch mixed together. Continue to simmer until the rice is done, by which time the sauce will have thickened. 5 minutes before the rice is done, add the lemon juice to the chicken broth, and serve over the rice.

I served this with asparagus sauteed in butter and fresh ground pepper. No one left anything for poor Thor, so I had to mix bread with a little bit of gravy. Our furry children must have human food, too, or they feel they've not been fed. Remind me to tell you some time about our cat named Graceful who loved spaghetti and green beans....