September 11, 2015

Grapes and Buttermilk Chicken

It must have been a particularly good season for grapes producer this year because it seems like the delicious little fruits are absolutely everywhere these days. Beautiful, big, plump, juicy, sweet and most of all, super crunchy and firm; just the way I like ’em!

Plus, they go for like almost nothing a pound…

I got a bit carried away and bought a humongous bag the other day, which contained way more grapes than I could ever have afforded to eat by snacking alone.

So I decided that I was going to actually use them in a recipe. The first thing that came to mind was some kind of a Waldorf Salad, but then I had a flash memory of a delicious meal that I’d eaten a few years ago, which had been a very simple piece of grilled chicken topped with a fresh yogurt and green grapes salsa.

Me being me, though, I allowed my brains to go wild with this culinary imprint and take it to the next level. As usual, they didn’t disappoint and came up with this crazy over the top, insanely delicious Grapes and Buttermilk Chicken dish.

No word of a lie, I could easily have eaten this every day for weeks without ever getting fed up: all the flavors and textures balance out so perfectly well. I was kinda sad that I only made such a small batch.

Good thing is I just came back from the grocery store with yet another huge bag of gapes! Hehe!

Now I can make a fresh batch. Care to join me?

Ideally, you’ll want to marinate your chicken overnight in buttermilk, which will make it much juicier, and a lot tastier, too!

That step is super easy: simply place the chicken breasts and buttermilk in a plastic container with fitting lid, or in one of them zip top plastic bags; toss the chicken around until it is completely coated, then place it in the refrigerator to marinate until the next day.

When you are ready to eat, remove the chicken from the buttermilk (don’t chuck that, though, we’ll be using it later) and let it drip for a few minutes. Sprinkle the breasts with salt, pepper and dried oregano.

Next, melt a little bit of cooking fat in a saute pan, preferably one that has a fitting lid, over medium heat. Place the chicken breasts in the hot pan and cook them until a nice golden crust forms on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

As you can see, I used two humongous chicken breasts, but you would very well use 4 smaller ones, if you preferred.

This is pretty much the color that you’re after.

Don’t worry if the bottom of the pan gets a little dark and crusty, that’s because of the buttermilk… we’ll be deglazing that soon, and it will add so much flavor to the dish! Just make sure you don’t crank up that heat too high, though, so it doesn’t actually burn on you. Brown is good, even a really dark shade of brown. Black, however, is bad! So keep a close eye on things and turn the heat down if necessary.

While the chicken is cooking, mix some chicken stock, sweet apple cider (not apple cider vinegar!), Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, chili pepper flakes and chopped fresh thyme together in a large glass measuring cup, and then set that aside.

As soon as the chicken is browned to your liking, remove it to a plate and then throw in the grapes, chopped onion and garlic right into that skillet.

Give these guys a quick stir and then add the cooking liquid that you just made. Stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all those brown bits we talked about earlier.

Bring this to a boil and then return the chicken to the skillet;

Cover the pan partially, lower the heat and let the dish simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through and the onions and grapes are soft and tender.

Mix the tapioca starch with the buttermilk that you used to marinate the chicken and pour that into the skillet. Don’t worry about the fact that raw chicken has been in contact with that buttermilk, as we will be cooking it fully.

Mix well with a whisk until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth.

Don’t panic if your sauce appears to be breaking up initially, it will come back together nicely, I swear… I know, it might not look too good for now, but just wait until this has had a chance to bind, you’ll see!

See? I told you it would become smooth, didn’t I?

Now let that simmer for an additional minute or two, just to make sure everything is fully cooked, and then serve, garnished with fresh grapes and chopped parsley, if desired!

I chose to slice my chicken on a diagonal and top it with the delicious sauce. By the way, you’ll see that there is a very generous amount of that sauce… Enough, in fact, that you could very well serve this over a bed of steamed rice or some kind of noodle (non-grain, of course!)

Oh, and for a bit of extra crunch, I highly suggest that you sprinkle a few tablespoons of chopped nuts over the entire dish.

Deeee-lish!

Grapes Buttermilk Chicken | thehealthyfoodie.com

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