This is a reader recipe in the current issue of Everyday Food. I didn’t change that much — I just opted to cook it in a slightly less hot oven (down from the original recipe’s 475 degrees for 60 minutes) and I added an onion in the cavity and broth/carrot/onion half on the bottom of the pan, as I tend to burn roasting pans without some liquid down there. And once you add broth, you might as well add some veggies.

Oh and I doubled the curry paste because, dude, that is good. Extra for dipping seemed like a given. And the best part? With only two if us, there’s roast chicken for lunch the next day!

Remember to check it after the first 20-30 minutes and cover it up as needed. The curry paste/honey will burn. A little is good, smoke billowing from your oven is bad. I covered after the first 25 minutes, then uncovered for the last 10 minutes of oven time. My chicken got a pretty dark but all was completely fine under the skin — moist and tasty! But, if I could back and do it again, I probably would have not uncovered it so long at the end — so, there’s a lesson for you.

Thai Curried Roast Chicken
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp roasted chili paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 5-6 pound chicken
1 onion, halved
2-3 carrots, chopped into 2-inch pieces
salt & pepper
1-2 cups chicken broth
limes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add the cilantro through the garlic in a food processor and combine. Divide curry mixture in half and set one of the halves aside, to be used as a dipping sauce. You can also just mix in a bowl if you like.

Rinse and pat dry your chicken (inside and out). Salt and pepper it generously.

Place one onion half inside the cavity and tie the legs together. Loosen the skin over the breast meat and run some of the curry paste under there. Then, slather the rest of the paste over the chicken and put on an oiled rack set in a roasting pan. Add 1 cup of stock to the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. Add veggies if you wish.

Roast for about 30 minutes, then cover with foil so the top doesn’t get too dark. Roast 45 - 60 minutes more, checking a few times to see if you need to add more stock to the bottom of the pan or adjust the foil for optimal browning/non-burning.

When white meat is 165 and dark meat at least 170, remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with lime wedges and coconut rice. We also had some sauteed green beans on the side which were really, really good. Also, bring out the unused half of the curry past for a dipping sauce. Mmm!

I cannot believe I’ve only made risotto a handful of times this winter! That is crazy because I luuurve risotto. Maybe the weather is turning all crappy again to inspire me to make more risotto?

Anyway, this is the latest risotto experiment — sort of a Spanish-inspired theme. I’ve just started eating cauliflower and I am trying to throw it into as many dishes as possible. Cauliflower in 2007/2008 is like the spinach of 1995.

I think cauliflower is the last vegetable I have left to develop a liking for…er, okay, wait, still not crazy about beets. And I have tried…but that’s a different story.

So, cauliflower is very good roasted, which is how this recipe starts. Roasting is always a good place to start. After the roasting, there is sauteing, stirring, melting and then eating.

Cauliflower Risotto with Saffron, Pancetta and Manchego
1 head of cauliflower, cut into 2-inch-wide florets
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1/4 cup pancetta cubes
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
1 pinch saffron threads
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup of white wine
4 cups chicken stock, simmering
1/2 cup manchego cheese, grated (you can also sub different cheeses — Parmesan, feta, gruyere, goat cheese, I think they’d all work just fine)
Garnish: more chopped rosemary, grilled shrimp

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss cauliflower with oil, parmesan, some salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread evenly on a baking pan and roast in upper third of oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside.

Now, heat up a big pot and add the remaining olive oil and the pancetta cubes, onion and garlic. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and add the rosemary and saffron.

Next comes the rice. Add that to the pot and stir to coat in the oil and pancetta-y goodness. Add the wine and stir until it is mostly absorbed. Then, start adding the simmering broth (about 1/3 a cup at a time), stirring, adding more when the liquid in the risotto pot is almost absorbed.

When you’ve gone through about half the broth, add the cauliflower (do not forget the golden Parmesan bits!) and continue to add more broth as it cooks. On your last addition of broth, add the cheese. And stir while it melts. Taste and salt and pepper as needed.

Serve in bowls with more chopped parsley duh, I meant rosemary, as a garnish and grilled shrimp on the side if desired. And really, who doesn’t desire grilled shrimp on the side?

Red wine and bread on the side is also quite nice! Oh, hell, get a plate of green olives too…

I had so much fun with the other day’s WCC meal, that I made another crockpot dish a couple of nights later. Really, any excuse to use my smoked paprika.

Chicken Paprikash w/ Sour Cream
Adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.com
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2.75 - 3 lb pounds chicken pieces — legs, thighs, breasts (all bone in, skin on and ready for business)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp + 2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered
1/3 cup sour cream (use full fat, low fat could curdle)
Fresh dill, chopped, for garnish

Add the 1 teaspoon oil to a heavy skillet and add the onions and paprikas and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Cook until onions soften and paprika smells really good — about 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of insert.

Rub garlic halves over chicken then throw the garlic in the crock pot. Sprinkle chicken with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. In the same pan used for the onions, heat the remaining olive oil until hot but not smoking (over moderately high heat).

Add chicken pieces and brown, turning occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker (do not clean pan), layering chicken on top of onion mixture.

In same saucepan over high heat, bring stock and artichoke hearts to simmer, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan.

Pour over chicken in slow cooker, cover, and cook on low until chicken is tender but not falling off bone, 5 to 6 hours. Mine was good in about 5 hours. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil. If there looks like there is a lot of chicken fat on the surface, try to skim some out.

Turn the crockpot off. If you are kind of nervous, stir a little sauce into the sour cream to bring it up in temperature a bit. I am not ashamed to admit that I did this. Then, stir the warmed up sour cream into sauce. Combine well. Pour over the chicken. Garnish with dill and serve.

You can also put the chicken on a bed of spinach noodles and serve everything individually in bowls. Leftovers make a great lunch, as this makes at least 4 - 6 servings.

This is a great winter meal! It’s still Winter, right? The brussels sprouts are plentiful and the pasta is, well, always a good idea when it’s cold out. I found this recipe on Epicurious a couple of months ago and we just got around to trying it recently. I changed a few things — added garlic, lemon and red pepper flakes.

Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine

3/4 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1/2 lb dried egg fettuccine
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp pine nuts
1-3 cloves garlic, minced (if they’re huge, use 1 or 2, normal sized, use 2 or 3 — of course, adjust this to your taste, we love garlic, we used 3)
Zest from 1 lemon
Grated Parmesan cheese
Optional: red pepper flakes

Slice Brussels sprouts in a food processor fitted with slicing disk. Or, just slice them manually, with a knife and a cutting board. I opted for that technique. Mostly because I was too lazy to find my slicer disc.

Cook fettuccine in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook pine nuts, stirring, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then sauté over medium-high heat until tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta and add to skillet, tossing with enough reserved water to moisten. Sprinkle with some Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Serve with extra Parmesan cheese on the side.

***

I think I like Jamie Oliver’s new show. I saw the winter vegetables one the other day and although I am not a big cabbage fan, I wanted to make everything, even though two of the three dishes were mainly cabbage-based. But he’s very, uh, rustic on this one. The first time I caught it (a couple of weeks ago), he seemed like a cooking woodchuck, dressed like Adam from Northern Exposure… and I like his little theme song at the end too!

And then, right afterwards…it’s Sandra Lee. How is that back-to-back combination even possible without the world imploding upon itself?

Now this is one of the ultimate comfort foods, ever. I actually tried to make a chicken pot pie before — maybe 5 years ago — and it was a complete disaster. Flavorless, too much work and just kind of meh. It’s taken me 5 years to want to attempt another one. Wow, am I glad I did! This chicken pot pie is anything but meh…it is awesome!

It’s also a great project for a Saturday or Sunday, it seems like there are a lot of steps, but it goes very quickly. Plus, you can use up lots of vegetables, pretty much add any combination that you have. I subbed frozen lima beans for the peas and added about 4 stalks of cut up (about 1 inch pieces) of asparagus right before I added the flour.

Oh, diced butternut squash would probably be wonderful in this, or maybe even some sweet potato chunks! This is based on a recipe in Gourmet magazine, but that was for a turkey pot pie with a cheddar-biscuit crust, so, really this is much different!

Chicken Pot Pie with a Feta Herb Biscuit Crust
For filling:
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp chopped thyme
1/2 tsp chopped rosemary
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

For biscuit crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1/4 cup mixed chopped herbs (chives, rosemary, thyme, and sage are good, and although it is not an herb, so are green onions)

Add olive oil to large pot and brown chicken over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes until golden. Remove and set aside, leaving any extra oil in pan.

In that pan, add the 3 tablespoons of butter and cook the onion, garlic, carrots, rosemary and thyme with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, uncovered, stirring, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in wine, broth and milk, scraping up any brown bits, and bring to a boil, stirring, then simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in chicken pieces, peas, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat over low heat just before topping with biscuit crust.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. Add cheeses and herbs and toss to coat.

Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir just until a dough forms.

Drop biscuit dough onto filling in 8 large mounds, leaving spaces between biscuits. If you have extra biscuit dough, drop them down on a cookie sheet and bake alongside the pie, for about 15 minutes.

Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden brown and filling is bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Oh! So good. And besides a wonderful dinner, we will be having tasty lunches this week for sure.

Ah, winter. Sometimes, it seems like the only good thing about the season is blood oranges! Oh, I loves me some blood oranges. In fact, I think I’m going to go on a little lunch-time errand and get a big bag of them.

This is an awesome recipe. And really, it seems pretty healthy too. It’s so colorful and tasty. We had ours over some fettuccine with broccolini on the side. But really, I think it would be pretty good with some crusty bread to sop up all the tomatoey-orangey-winey liquid!

You can of course, substitute regular oranges if you can’t get your hands on blood oranges. Like, if I go to the store and buy them all and there’s none left for you…

Halibut Steamed with Blood Oranges, Tomatoes and Olives
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit
2 blood oranges
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup sliced, pitted, olives (I used a mix of feta stuffed green and Kalamata olives)
2 6-8 ounce halibut fillets
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
3 tbsp chopped fresh chives

Cut off peel and white pith from oranges. Cut oranges between membranes to release segments. Collect any juice and set aside.

Heat oil in heavy very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until tender and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.

Add tomatoes and wine. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 minutes. Gently stir in orange segments and olives. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle halibut fillets with salt and pepper. Arrange halibut in single layer atop vegetable mixture in skillet. Cover and simmer gently until halibut is just opaque in center, about 12 minutes.

Alternately, you could lightly sear one side of the halibut first by heating a little olive oil in a second skillet and giving the fish about 2 minutes on one side and then transferring to the pan with the oranges and tomatoes to finish cooking. This is what I did. Just put it seared side up and only give it about 8-10 minutes to simmer in the sauce.

Spoon vegetable mixture onto plates. Top with halibut. Place feta cheese atop vegetable mixture and alongside halibut. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Oh, so delicious! I think this is one of my most favorite fish recipes ever.

I came across the Legume Love Affair event and well, I that sounded fun as I love beans too. Around the house, we sing a song called, “Beans, the Man they Call Beans”, to the tune of the Jayne’s folk hero song on Firefly (Jaynestown episode). There really aren’t any lyrics other than the “Beans, the man they call beans,” part, but trust me, it’s very amusing. Hmmm, perhaps I have said too much.

Anyway, I am a fan of the lima bean. I think it all started as a child — after being presented with a bowl of Campbell’s vegetable soup, I would begin my hunt of picking out all the lima beans and eating those first. When they were gone, I was less enthused about the soup.

So really, it is my destiny to create a recipe for a soup with just lima beans.

Creamy Lima Bean & Tarragon Soup
2 1/4 cups frozen lima beans — don’t bother defrosting
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/4 cups chicken stock to cover
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
salt & pepper to taste
Optional: a few sprigs of fresh tarragon

In a soup pot, heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the dried tarragon and mix to combine.

Next, add the frozen beans and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer about 20 minutes. Add the parmesan cheese and milk. Stir and remove from the heat. Let cool briefly to blend safely.

In batches, puree until smooth. Return to the pot and salt and pepper to taste and rewarm as needed.

Thanks again to the well seasoned cook for hosting a fun event!

First off, goodbye Summer theme…hello again Autumn theme! I’ve missed you!

Now, this recipe is from my friend Vanessa. We met at DePaul freshman year of college and then both transferred to other places. We managed to stay in touch for a few years after school, then kind of went on with our lives for a few years after that and just recently got back in touch. Hooray!

She even gave me this awesome recipe for tuna and white beans as a great week night, comforting, quick dinner. It really is…and it fits right in with my (and jwa’s reluctant) goal to eat more economical fish. Frozen tuna is about $6.99/pound at Trader Joe’s. That’s vs. about $20/pound fresh. So, while I will always love the fresh, seared, rare ahi more than anything, it’s good to have a few tricks with frozen tuna. Add this to the list because it’s great!

I didn’t change much from the original, but I did add orange and olives. That’s what so great about this recipe — you can really alter it to fit what you have on hand or flavors that you are in the mood to eat.

Baked Tuna & White Beans from Vanessa
1 medium to large onion, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
4-5 medium garlic cloves - crushed and roughly chopped
2 cans Cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb tuna (defrosted frozen is really good for this — albacore or ahi)
salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Optional: 1 orange, zested and juiced
1/4 cup green olives

Saute onion along with the carrots in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook (but don’t brown).

Next, throw in drained beans just to get them fusing with onion/garlic/olive oil. Add the orange zest and juice. Salt & pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a casserole dish, add half of the bean mixture to bottom. Sprinkle the beans with half the thyme leaves. Cut tuna into 4-6 chunks so it cooks faster and put on top of beans.

Dump other half of bean mixture over top of tuna. Drizzle with little more olive oil and the feta cheese.

Bake (uncovered) for about 20 minutes or until tuna is cooked/flaky. Before serving, use a spoon to stir everything up so that tuna flakes and is distributed (in small flakes) through beans. Serve with more fresh thyme and green olives.

You could also use fresh basil and Parmesan in place of the thyme and feta. Vanessa first described with with the parm and basil, which I would have done, except the garden thyme was much closer to the kitchen door and it was raining. So there. Also, if you use basil, just add that at the end, after it comes out of the oven.

Here the meal is with some tasty crostini slathered with arugula pesto. How did I make that? Well, a few very big (overflowing, really) handfuls of arugula leaves, about 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 2 garlic cloves salt and pepper. Add to a food processor and combine. Stream olive oil in until it’s smooth and looks like pesto. Get a big bowl of pasta, some crostini or a spoon. All done.

Okay, now off for a bike ride with jwa!

Just when I start to think about changing the blog theme to something more Springy, it gets all cold again. The kind of weather where you want to make a creamy sauce and bake something in it. Something like potatoes. The kind of weather where there’s a pork tenderloin involved in the whole thing as well.

I started with an idea — mmmmm…lavender and goat cheese — and ended up with a whole meal.

Lavender-Goat Cheese Potatoes
This made two 1-cup ramekins. In fact I had a little extra sauce left over. I’m sure I will be able to figure something out. My point is though, if you want to double this, add another potato, then double the whole recipe, and it should serve around 6).

3 small yellow potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thinly, peeled or unpeeled, your choice (figure about 1.5 potatoes per person for a generous serving)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups fat free, 2% or full fat milk (I used fat-free and it was very creamy)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp dried culinary lavender
2 oz goat cheese
dash of nutmeg
salt & pepper
1/4 cup + 2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
Some non-stick spray or some butter
Garnish: A sprig or two of fresh lavender

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add the milk and lavender to a small pot and bring to a simmer (don’t boil). Let the lavender steep for a few minutes.

Melt the butter in a larger pan over medium-high heat and add the garlic. Saute for two minutes and then add the flour. Let that cook for a couple of minutes more and then strain the hot milk into the roux. Whisk until smooth. It should bubble and thicken. Reduce the heat and add the goat cheese, whisking until melted.

Then add the nutmeg, 1/4 cup of Parmesan and a little salt and pepper. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Spray individual ramekins with non-stick spray (or coat with a little butter) and ladle a little of the sauce in the bottom.

Layer a few potato slices around the bottom and cover with sauce. repeat until you reach the top. Ladle a generous amount of sauce on top and cover each with a teaspoon of Parmesan and some black pepper. Give a quick spray with canola or olive oil or dot with butter.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until the potatoes are nice and tender and the tops are golden. Garnish with fresh lavender if available (our plants are still sleeeping for the Winter…).

Now, what to serve with the potatoes? I know — how about some Parmesan-sage crusted pork tenderloin? Well, okay then.

Parmesan-Sage Crusted Pork Tenderloin
Will feed about 3 — double it for 6.
1 pork tenderloin
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp good quality dried, rubbed sage
salt
pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Blend the cheese, sage and a few grinds black pepper in a shallow dish. Before dredging, sprinkle the pork with a little salt on all sides. Then, lay the tenderloin over the cheese and push down. Turn over and repeat. You can also kind of pat the cheese and sage into the pork. When you are doe it should look something like this.

If you don’t mind an extra step, you could also coat the pork in Dijon mustard before dredging. I was just too lazy to do that. Heat an oven proof skillet and add the oil. Sear pork on all sides. Then, pop in the oven for 15 minutes or so, until the pork registers about 150-155 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

If you wanted a sauce to go with your pork, when you put the pork in the oven, add about a cup of chicken broth to another small pot, along with about a tablespoon of dried lavender, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a splash of wine, and a teaspoon of Herbes de Provence. Put it over medium-high heat. This way, it can reduce on the stovetop while the pork cooks in the oven. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes, reducing by about half.

If there isn’t a lot of Parmesan fall-off in you pork skillet(after you remove it from the oven, of course), strain the reduced sauce into the pork pan and continue to reduce for another minute or so. Taste and add salt/pepper as needed. Finish by melting about a half tablespoon of butter into the sauce.

Serve everything with the vegetable of your choice. I chose roasted carrots. Excellent. jwa thought so too. Now go ahead and finish the wine you opened for the sauce with dinner and call it a tasty, not-quite-Spring-yet night.

Hooray for crusty cheese!

This was a recipe I found on Slashfood, which in turn was an overview of the Boston Globe Food Section. They, in turn had adapted it from Jamie Oliver. Hmmm, this dish gets around — it’s kind of a slutty recipe.

Anyway, it was very tasty. It makes the best weeknight dinner — it’s relatively good for you, it’s quick and damn, it’s addictive. I have to admit, I had two bowls. But, but, it’s healthy so that’s okay.

Chicken Stew with Grapes and Tarragon
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder (use good stuff — NOT garlic salt, I get garlic powder from Penzey’s and it’s very good quality and I love using it in coatings)
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 3/4 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 stalks celery, trimmed of leaves and thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup wheat rigatoni
1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved (so, here, I actually ended up using grapes with seeds. They were the best looking grapes, so I got them. I just scooped the seeds out when I halved the grapes. Green or red will work but I think red looks especially pretty)
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
Optional: 5-6 leaves red leaf lettuce, torn into smaller pieces

In a shallow bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the flour with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss with the chicken. Discard the leftover seasoned flour.

In a large soup pot on medium heat, heat the oil. Brown half the chicken. Remove the chicken from the pan; set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil if needed to brown the remaining chicken and remove it from the pan too. Cover with foil. Of course, if your pot is big enough, you can do all the chicken at once, just don’t crowd the pan.

Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the butter. Cook the shallot, garlic, and celery over medium heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Stir in the wine, stock, and mustard. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any browned goodies. Next, return the chicken to the pan. Also add the uncooked wheat pasta. Bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan partially, and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the pasta is just tender.

Turn off the heat and add the grapes, parsley, and tarragon. Cover and let the mixture sit for 3 minutes. Stir and dish up.

If desired, also add the torn lettuce before you lid the pan or if you just want to try it on a single bowl (and not the whole pot), you can add a few lettuce leaves to your bowl and cover with foil for 3-4 minutes so that the lettuce wilts a bit. I found that I didn’t dislike the lettuce but I think I liked it better without it. It’s worth trying though, because it certainly wasn’t bad.