Chicken Cynthia

A classic ladies-lunch chicken breast dish dressed up with fruit and a silky butter-and-flour-thickened pan sauce. The cooking method moves from stovetop to oven and back, building up the kind of glossy braising liquid that Continental cooking is built on.

Chicken breasts get dredged in paprika-seasoned flour, browned in butter, then cooked covered in white wine with onion until tender. The signature finishing step is a beurre manie: softened butter mashed with flour, then thinned with hot stock before being whisked into the braise. That paste lifts the sauce from thin pan juices to something with body and shine in just a few minutes.

A splash of sherry and lemon juice goes in for the final bake to brighten the flavor before serving. Fresh orange segments and grapes on the platter are not decoration; they bring sweet-tart pops that cut through the buttery sauce.

Chef Tips

• Brown the chicken in batches if needed; crowding the pan steams the meat and skips the fond that flavors the sauce.
• Soften the butter properly before mashing in the flour or the beurre manie will be lumpy.
• Pour the chicken stock in hot when you mix the paste; cold stock will seize up the flour into clumps.
• Pat the orange segments dry before plating so they do not weep onto the sauce.

Variations

• Substitute dry vermouth for the white wine for a more herbal sauce.
• Add a handful of toasted slivered almonds at the table for crunch.
• Use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts for a richer, more forgiving result.