Tonight was the monthly Mensa chapter potluck supper and games night. L wanted to go, since we hadn’t seen BunRab and Squirrel Magnet, the hosts and some of our longest-term friends in Mensa, in a couple of months. (The idea sounded a lot better when she broached it at noon than it did when I got home at four-something, dog-tired from working five hundred forty returns in eight hours—that adds up to sixty-seven returns an hour, or faster than one a minute. Someday I’ll explain why that speed is so astonishing.)
Since Squirrel Magnet’s birthday was last week, BunRab requested that people bring dishes containing things he really, really likes to eat: cherries, almonds, mac-and-cheese, and a couple of other choices. That sounded like a notion, so I pondered entrées. Cherries suggested pork chops and sour cherries, but I kicked that out because (1) there might be people at the dinner who don’t eat pork, and (2) BunRab is on a fat-restricted diet. Chicken, though . . . is there something with chicken and cherries?
I cranked up Meal-Master (the repository of twelve thousand of the thirteen thousand recipes I have stored on this computer), and searched for “cherries” and “chicken” together, and popped up three recipes, of which one looked like just what I wanted—Chicken with Cherries and Sour Cream Sauce. I scribbled a fast grocery list and headed for the HEB. While I was there, I decided I might as well do some green beans amandine, so I picked up a couple of cans of French-cut green beans and a handful of slivered almonds, which ended up in a pot with some parsley, some marjoram, and a dollop of toasted sesame oil to make it interesting.
Neither recipe was much challenge, and the chicken turned out to be an absolute hit. BunRab particularly asked if they might keep the leftovers for lunches next week, they liked it so much, and L told me she wanted me to make it again soon.
Chicken with Cherries and Sour Cream Sauce
| 6 chicken breast halves, skinned & boned | 2 tablespoons olive oil | |
| 2 tablespoons unsalted butter | ¼ pound chopped mushrooms | |
| ¼ teaspoon finely chopped garlic | ½ teaspoon tomato paste | |
| 1 tablespoon cornstarch | 1 cup chicken broth | |
| 1 cup sour cream (in deference to Kelly’s diet, I used a non-fat sour cream. Worked just fine.) |
1 cup pitted sweet cherries, drained |
Heat the oil and one tablespoon of butter in a large sauté pan. (My #12 cast-iron skillet was just about the right size.) Slowly brown the chicken, turning them occasionally, until cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove them from the pan and keep warm in the oven.
Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan. Sauté the mushrooms and garlic for about a minute over moderate heat, stirring. Remove the pan from the heat and add the tomato paste and cornstarch; blend. Add the chicken broth and return the pan to the heat, stirring until the sauce comes to a boil. Using a metal whisk, stir in the sour cream, spoonful by spoonful.
Add the chicken back to the sauté pan and cook until it is heated through. Remove and arrange the pieces on a heat-proof serving platter. Add the cherries to the pan and warm over low heat. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and lightly brown it under the broiler.
Your sister strokes the cannibal. Fnord.
