Kasey

I tried this last night and it was fantastic! I don't know if it had been posted here or not. It's in Michael's "Casual Cooking" cookbook. In his cookbook it says to crush 2 lbs. red grapes in the blender for @2 cups juice and then I put thru a ricer to remove the skins.

Chicken alla Vendemia


4 bone-in chicken breast halves
Gray salt
2 tablespoons Fennel Spice Rub, recipe follows, or fennel seeds, toasted and ground
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup sliced shallots
1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
2 cups grape juice
1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup halved seedless red grapes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Season the chicken with gray salt and fennel spice, pressing the spice into the chicken breasts.

In a deep-sided oven-proof skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chicken, skin side down, and saute for 3 minutes to brown. Place the pan in the oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and turn the chicken over and place skin side up on a baking sheet. Return chicken to the oven until cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pieces to a platter.

Using the same pan used for the chicken, add the shallot to the fat in the pan. Add salt and pepper, cook for 2 minutes. Add the chopped rosemary and let sweat for 1 minute, then add the grape juice. Reduce by half and add the chicken stock. Reduce the sauce by half again, for about 1 cup of sauce. Add the grapes and cook just to heat through, about 1 minute.

Spoon the grapes and sauce over the chicken and garnish with sprigs of fresh rosemary.


Fennel Spice Rub:
1 cup fennel seeds
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons white peppercorns
3 tablespoons kosher salt
Put the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a heavy pan over medium heat. Watch carfelly, tossing frequently so the seeds toast evenly. When light brown and fragrant, pour the seeds onto a plate to cool. They must be cool before grinding, or they will gum up the blades.

Pour the seeds into a blender or spice grinder and add the salt. Blend to a fine powder, shaking the blender/grinder occasionally to redistribute the seeds. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.

Yield: 1 1/4 cups

Xbones

Kathy, I'm so glad you've tried this - I printed this awhile ago but have not tried it. It seemed like it took a bit of prep work. Not that I mind that, but was waiting to try with company. What did you serve with it and did you make any subsitutions? I don't have a ricer, could I just drain the grapes?

X

texasmesquite

Oh, Kasey thank you for printing this recipe. Do tell all - how was it, fixing it, etc.....

Kasey

Yes, it did have some prep work, but not too much. The grapes blended easily. Michael said you can push the grape juice thru a sieve to remove the skins. It was a very simple dish to make. Next time I might thicken the sauce more. Also, I didn't use the fennel spice, because I didn't have all those spices, but I had M's Roasted Garlic Rub and used that instead.

I served it with wild rice and I tried Ina's Brussels Sprouts with bacon and golden raisins also. I thought it went with the chicken very well.

Kathy

texasmesquite

Sounds delicious! I put another post - um in this cookbook. Thanks for all the information.

Xbones

Thanks Kathy for the info -

X

Xbones

Forgot to ask you - did you use boneless chicken breast?

X

Jason Davenport

I have had this recipe as well and just pushed the pureed grapes through a strainer and it was NO problem at all. Took all of 30 seconds.

Concerning the use of boneless chicken...While it is certainly permissible, I would not advise it for two main reasons:

1. The length of time to cook this will assure you that the chicken breast will be overdone and thusly dry and tough. The bone-in chicken cooks slower and gives you a little more wiggle room for completing this dish. I speak from experience on this one. Trust me...

2. The bone will give the chicken more flavor. I have found that bone-in versus boneless chicken, when roasted and grilled, will indeed have more flavor then it lesss time consuming counterpart. This is however complete opinion on my part.

Jason

texasmesquite

Good information Jason - a big thank you.