Company Cherry Chicken: Please Stand By
Sep 16th, 2008 by Marilyn
We had friends to dinner the other night, a nice little party with flowers and wine and Josie upstairs. These days I like making it nice but not stiff, special without fuss – but just a few years back it was all fuss all the time – to a newly minted chef girl, married girl, grown-up girl, hosting meant acrobatic recipes, exotic combinations, an absurdly high drive to please.
Our first true guests were from my husband’s office, a funny and casual couple who were treated to undercooked, over-garlicked lamb and several under-mixed, over-ginned martinis. The evening would feature a clogged sink, dishwater buckets, our crotch-poking Dalmatian and one seriously wailing fire alarm. The last thing they saw was Greg broom-whacking the smoke detector and me at the sink, right hand down the drain and left hand in the air. Bye, great having you!
Everyone meets these horrors, but why? When you turn 25 they should hand you a pamphlet called Hosting! Relax and Don’t Try Anything New. Let’s face it, the clues were there – the oven temp was off, I’d never mixed martinis, I tied that lamb loose as a blind butcher. I could have seared steaks or made cheese fondue or even flipped omelets. I could have used a standby.
A lot of people say they don’t do standbys, they prefer something new, something dazzling, an unknown mushroom or an expensive hunk of cheese. Okay, dazzlers: I don’t care if you’re Julia Child, there are people coming at seven. That mushroom could taste like dung and the cheese might hit the floor, so do what you know. Do what you do well, be comfortable and your guests will be comfortable, do a standby.
This I’ve learned, and so I do. Ask any French chef what they serve dinner guests, and nine out of ten times you’ll hear roast chicken. Their maman’s roast chicken – a five-star version, perhaps, but a standby nonetheless, meaning easy, reliable, perfect. I have a rotating cast of things I like, stress-less menus that let me shop ahead and even – oh yes – put on a clean shirt. And lip gloss. My friends, if there are flowers and chicken and time to look in the mirror, you are at the top of your dinner game.
That is how I’ve come to prepare Cherry Chicken, aka Extra-Good Chicken I Can Make in My Sleep – for guests. Feel free to name it what you like – “Linda’s Super Shallot-Cherry Chicken” or “Jean’s Company’s Comin’ Chicken” or whatever. Like most things I cook, it’s more technique than recipe: sauté the chicken, remove the chicken, put some stuff in the pan for flavor, then put back the chicken. That’s it. Follow those moves, substituting as you wish, and you’ll find that reliable isn’t dull, it’s deliciously drama-free.
Company Cherry Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 shallots, chopped medium-fine
1 cup (or more) dried sweet cherries
2-3 cups red wine
1 cup flour
butter, few tablespoons
canola oil
salt and ground pepper
Slip chicken breasts into large Ziploc bags and using a meat mallet, pound each to even, ¼ – ½” thickness.
Toss flour with salt and pepper to season, and spread on a plate. Dip each chicken breast (both sides) in flour, patting to remove excess, and set chicken aside.
In large sauté pan (preferably non-stick) heat oil to medium-high. When sizzling, add chicken breasts, cooking each side to nicely browned, 1-2 minutes per side. Turn heat to medium-low and remove chicken breasts to clean plate; tent with foil to keep warm.
Toss chopped shallots into the same pan, sizzling and moving about 30 seconds, until cooked through and transluscent. Add about 1 cup of the red wine, sizzling with shallots until wine begins to reduce. Add dried cherries all at once, moving with spatula to blend with shallots and wine.
When cherries start heating up, add the remaining red wine. Increase heat to medium and cook cherry mixture, stirring occasionally, until cherries are softened and a small amount of liquid remains. Turn heat off. Using a spatula or whisk, swirl in butter, mixing to form a rich, red blend. Season with salt and a generous amount of fresh ground pepper. Test and adjust seasoning to taste, adding more butter, salt or pepper as you wish.
Turn heat back on to low. Place cooked chicken breasts in the pan, turning to coat each side in cherry mixture. Remove from heat, plate chicken and top with cherry-shallot mixture.
note: this is more of a cooked, reduced cherry mixture than a true sauce. If you’d like more liquid in your sauce, add more red wine and reduce a little less.
Serves 4, and is perfect with blue-cheese mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus.
…and don’t forget that standby dessert!
Whoa! Whoa!
::::squealing brakes::::
Blue cheese mashed potatoes?
Blue cheese is a staple in my fridge and I live for potatoes. How have I never introduced them? Shame on me!
This is definitely going into rotation in my kitchen — a great entertaining dish, with the wow factor of dried cherries (thank you, Trader Joe’s, for carrying such a great variety of dried fruits).
Wait.
The cherry chicken was not made just for us?
(Vapors.)
I’m actually fine with that. You know why? Because it really was awesome. Plus, I got to tell the blister story.
I’m with Jean; I’m shocked I’ve never had blue cheese mashed potatoes before. I am so running out to Whole Foods tomorrow for some blue cheese.
Blue. Cheese. Mashed. Potatoes.
My mouth is watering. How do you make your blue cheese mashed potatoes?
(the cherry chicken sounds great also)
Oh for the love of Yukons! I put up fabulous chicken and all you people want is blue cheese potatoes. Looks like I’ll be mashing more soon.
And Joel, I’m sorry – the chicken had been served before, but never to a storyteller like you. If I wish to sick out all my readers, you may need to guest-blog the blister story.
Blue cheese mashed potatoes? Yuuuum! Do tell. Oh, and the chicken looks yummy.
cherry chicken not only pleases my alliteration-lovin’ ears, but i’m quite positive it’d please my tastebuds too. this drama-free notion is just an added bonus.
My husband doesn’t like fruit in his chicken. Loser……….
Maybe I will tell him it is cherry tomatoes, and make sure he has a couple beers before dinner.
Ok so just in case he ever reads this he isn’t a loser, just not willing to try new things….. There… I am covered…..Just in case
I might try this recipe with Craisins instead of the dried cherries. The whole cranberry/poultry thing might work. I’d like to use more sauces in my cooking.
I still get a bit uptight when I entertain, but I’m learning to enjoy myself a bit more. You’re right: A few automatic recipes like this alleviates some of the stress.
I hope you’ve been out there enjoying this beautiful weather we’ve been having in Lawrence.
Thanks for sharing.
Tell me more about the crotch poking dalmation. Ha ha too funny!
I second muddywaters; I was thinking Craisins, too. And I just happen to have some left over from those yummy cheesecake bars of yours I made in the middle of the night a little while back. =) An excuse to make a nice supper. I’m praying, no Guard mobilization, no Guard mobilization….
I’m sure dried cranberries would be good – but I urge you to try the cherries as well. Delish.
Rechelle – all of our dogs have had a supernaturally high crotch-poking drive – as in, an 80-lb Dalmatian could greet a guest hard enough to make him squirm the rest of the evening. Enough said.
Ha! I got such a kick out of your story about entertaining your guests with the clogged sink and undercooked lamb, etc. You’re so good at setting a scene and telling a story. Too funny.
The cherry chicken sounds intriguing. I’ve never heard of anything like that! -Julia
Ah, so this is what my creative writing professors meant when they said, “Show, don’t tell.” Where was this blog when I was in college?
Oddly enough, I have an eerily similar recipe in my drama-free recipe card box. An ex-manager of mine gave it to me when I was about 29. I’m trying to recall if I had ever had her to dinner…
Mmmmm. Definitely going to add this to the (small) repertoire. But I can’t do wine (migraines) – any non-alcoholic substitution suggestions, Mar?
Robin – now I remember about your tannins & migraines! Try apple juice or cider, preferably unsweetened. You can always throw unsweetened raspberry or cherry juice in there, too.
Found your blog while searching for a recipe to use up some leftover fresh cherries. This sounds incredible! I will me searching your archives for the Bleu Cheese Mashed Potatoes as well!
I made this recipe tonight and it was delicious! The two friends I was cooking for loved it as well. It was also remarkably easy to make, even for a novice like me- thanks so much for putting this on the internet!