Chicken Saute with Vinegar

Marion Cunningham must really like this recipe! It’s in both her Lost Recipes and The Supper Book, with slight variations. I’ve rarely been steered wrong by Ms. Cunningham, having first connected her name with my favorite The Fannie Farmer Cookbook years ago. The recipes vary slightly, with different amounts of butter, the addition of tomato paste, but are basically, as the title suggests, chicken sauteed with vinegar. I happen to love vinegar. The dish is not, however, overwhelmingly flavored of vinegar. There is a bite to it, a bit of tartness that’s not always present with chicken.

I’d been looking for something to do with that peach vinegar I made the other day and last night decided that Chicken Saute with Indian Blood Peach Vinegar was the ticket. I also had that huge bag of spinach from Costco to play with and tried a different creamed spinach recipe that seemed much less work than my favorite. Alas, it was less work–and less result. Decent, but not great. And I’d just as soon eat the plain steamed spinach my kids adore, which is, let’s be frank, much healthier anyway. They’re content with some fresh squeezed lemon juice on it and think that’s all spinach needs. I bow to their superior wisdom. I did just plant spinach, so we’ll see how that goes.

The chicken was fantastic, however. I’m not sure I could taste the peaches in this, but like to think so. I think it would be heavenly with rice vinegar, which is a bit softer somehow. Of course, sauteed chicken is pretty dang good no matter what. Simple bone-in chicken pieces, unbreaded and untouched, fried in butter and oil till browned, then some liquid is added and the pan is covered, until the chicken is done. You may or may not do anything after that. I did this with chicken thighs because that’s what I had in the freezer.