The 60 Minute Gourmet
If
your holiday has been anything like ours, I am sure you have had enough
marvelously rich food to tide you over till, say, March. Between the gratins and the roasts,
the puddings and cookies and cakes, the holidays encourage eating with
abandon. Well, sad to say, the party
ended when we took down the Christmas tree.
And in all honesty, we welcomed a night when we ate light. Specifically, when The New York Times
resurrected this simple recipe for chicken breasts in an easy to prepare sauce,
which doubles as a side dish. There’s
plenty of flavor here with shallots and garlic and tarragon mingling with ripe
tomatoes and capers to give it a kick.
It’s the work of a master. In
this case it’s Pierre Franey who along with his great pal and partner, Jacques
Pepin, helped introduce America to simple French home cooking.
Pierre Franey and Craig ClaiborneWhen
I first started cooking, I looked forward to Wednesday’s New York Times, which,
just as it does today, was all about food even though the section was then
titled “Living”. The Times Food Editor
at the time was Craig Claiborne. Not
only did he hire Chef Franey, but he also cooked with him on weekends in
Easthampton NY, creating many of the dishes featured in Pierre’s weekly “60-minute
Gourmet” column.
Franey had come to the States from
his native Burgundy to cook at the French Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s
Fair. Some fifty years later, my parents
still raved about their meal there, it was that special.
Ho-Jo's: Consistent from Coast to Coast.After
the War, which saw Franey serving as a machine gunner in the US Army, the young
chef went to work for the legendary Henri Soulé, who ran the French Pavilion’s
kitchen. Soulé had opened Le Pavilion in
New York City, hiring both Pierre and a young French chef named Jacques
Pepin. The two became fast friends. After a row with Soulé over wages and working
conditions, they signed on to work with Howard Johnson, whose orange-roofed restaurants were familiar to travelers in 32 states. Their menus did not vary no matter what state
they were in. In fact, the whole goal
was consistency from coast to coast.
Franey and Pepin were hired to develop recipes for
the company's signature dishes that could be flash frozen and delivered across
the country, guaranteeing this consistency.
The $4000 DinnerTheir nine-to-five existence left the
chefs with their weekends free. Franey stayed with Howard Johnson for over 15
years, leaving only with “The 60 Minute Gourmet” was syndicated. Franey and Claiborne were amazingly prolific. They co-authored ten books in addition to
their weekly food articles and restaurant reviews. They even made headlines themselves. in 1975,
Claiborne won a Public Television fundraiser.
American Express sponsored a dinner for two with an unlimited budget at
any restaurant in the world. With Franey
in tow, the two sat down at an obscure Parisian restaurant celled Chez Denis
where they ate and drank their way through 31 courses. The check for this
single, four-hour meal totaled over $4000 including taxes and tip. In today’s
dollars, that would amount to almost $16,000. Needless to say, the
meal was not without controversy.
I have to believe that Pierre Franey
would have been only too happy to return to New York to eat his chicken
dish. Quick, easy and inexpensive, the
dish actually comes together in just 20 minutes. You sauté the
boneless chicken breast till lightly browned.
The shallots, garlic, tarragon, tomatoes, vinegar capers, white wine and
tomato paste are added and you cook them all together for another 9
minutes. And here is the recipe:
Pierre Franey’s Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes and Capers
From The 60 Minute Gourmet in the New York Times
Serves 4. Takes 20
minutes start to finish.
4
until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
2.Add the shallots and
garlic around the chicken. Cook briefly; add the tarragon, tomatoes, vinegar,
capers, wine and tomato paste. Stir to dissolve the brown particles adhering to
the bottom of the skillet.
3. Blend well, bring to
a boil, and then cover and simmer for 9 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and
serve.
