Especially when you discover that you’re out of white wine and it’s been a trying day? Tarragon Vinegar Chicken, of course. This is what I had lying around and how it came together into a very nice dish.

Easy and Elegant Tarragon Vinegar Chicken for Two
1 lb. of chicken tenderloins
1 knob of Smart Balance “butter”
2-3 cloves of garlic, whole (you can even leave the peels on for part of the recipe.)
salt
pepper
1/4 cup (maybe a half? I counted to six while slow-pouring) of tarragon vinegar or about 2 tsp. of dried vinegar and some apple cider or white basalmic vinegar
2-3 roma tomatoes, crushed, like your enemies, by your own hand.
fresh parsley

Melt the “butter” season the tenderloins with salt and pepper and add the chicken and garlic cloves to the pan. Brown the chicken.

Remove to a plate.

Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and bring it to a boil. Add the tomatoes. Peel the garlic cloves and mash them into the sauce (or use a press.) Cook for a bit. Add the chicken back into the skillet, turn to coat. Sprinkle with the parsley. You may cover the skillet and reduce the sauce. I just turned up the heat and kept a weather eye on it.

Served, as always with a crusty bread and green salad. And a rosé that I was saving for the weekend. You really didn’t think I was completely out of wine, did you?

God help us, the always social Mrs. E. and I have been invited to a “club” this evening. Well it ought to be interesting. And it does sound like it has that James Bond “Die Another Day” vibe thanks to the ice room. I will have to wear jeans, I suppose. I do own a pair.

Thankfully the young’un’s who so thoughtfully invited us have promised to end the evening at Bogart’s, one of the last true speakeasys, for some jazz from a fellow faculty member.

It promises to be an eclectic evening. Which brings up the subject of this post.

The ever-charming Mrs. E. and I have moved around quite a bit, at least until we hit Richmond and stuck. And even here we’ve lived in three places (not counting the dreaded Mogadishu apartment.) Each time we move I’ve been too wiped out from the experience to do much cooking. So we order out — pizza usually — and have the food delivered to the new address. We eat on the floor, by candlelight (I never remember to have the electric turned on), listen to a battery operated radio and pop open a very good bottle of champagne to celebrate our good fortune (or ease the pain….) I call this meal “The Sacred and the Profane.”

It works with many combinations: great reds and Five Guys Hamburgers. Champagne and Mary Angela’s pizza, Stirfried Green Beans with Chicken and .. you get the idea. So, tonight, if you’re not feeling up to it, light the candles, buy a great bottle of wine and order in.

It’s not exactly spring around here. But the ingredients called out for that title.

I ran across some young artichokes the other day at my local Kroger grocery. It was strange seeing them. I knew just what I wanted to do… boil them, cut them in half and sauté them in garlic and olive oil. That was the plan anyway. And then my “meat tooth” took over. But I still managed to do something fairly healthful and certainly easy. For an even easier version, or if you don’t run across the little artichokes, use the tinned kind. Or the marinated in olive oil, etc. potted version. Both should do just fine.

Chicken tenderloins and an artichoke sauce in a “Roman” garlic sauce.
Serves 2.

1 lb of chicken tenderloins.
Chicken broth (equivalent to 1/2 cup maybe a bit more?)
White wine
6 small artichokes or one tin or pot of the other kind.
Olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 knob of butter (thumb sized)
sea salt
pepper
dried parsley
dried oregano

Boil a pot of salted water.

Cut off the top 1/2 of the artichokes and the stem. Break off any thick outer leaves. Drop into the pot and boil until tender when pricked with the tines of a fork. Remove from the water and drain and cool Cut in half. If they are too mature you’ll need to remove the thistle choke. I didn’t have to.

OR

Open the tin or jar, drain and wait for the right step to add in….

Heat a skillet and add the olive oil. Salt and pepper and sauté the chicken, turning it until it’s browned on all sides. Remove to a plate and tent.

Splash in a little more olive oil and add the artichokes, minced garlic and herbs. As soon as the garlic turns more tan, deglaze the pan with some white wine, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom. Add the chicken broth and reduce. Add the tenderloins back into the pan sauce to heat them through. Swirl through a little butter to make a silkier sauce.

I served this with crusty bread, a Muscadet and a green salad tossed with a vinaigrette.