Chicken Divan

Does anyone else think that companies have gone way overboard when they write instruction manuals?  I bought a new flash for my camera last year and along with it I got not one, but TWO 130 page instruction manuals that were far bigger than the flash itself.  It was excessive.  (I really didn't need to read the manual to figure out that I had to add batteries to the flash in order to make it work.) 

I've run across a lot of recipes lately that are written with almost as much excessive wording as a badly written manual.  Recipes don't need to be overly complicated to be delicious.  I found this recipe for chicken divan and it isn't wordy or printed in seventeen different languages but it is delicious. 

Chicken Divan
5 teaspoons oil
12 ounces broccoli florets
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons flour
2 chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon butter
1 shallot
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sherry
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 ounces parmesan
2 teaspoons lemon juice







Heat 2 teaspoons oil in skillet.  Add broccoli and cook until spotty brown.














Add 1/4 cup broth, cover and cook 2 minutes longer.
Transfer broccoli to a bowl.







Dredge chicken in flour.

Heat remaining oil in skillet.  Add chicken and cook until browned on each side.
Transfer chicken to a platter.









Add butter and minced shallot to skillet.  Cook 1 minute.

Add 2 teaspoons flour and cook 1 minute.















Whisk in 1 cup broth, cream , Worcestershire and sherry.  Bring to simmer.





Return chicken to skillet and cook until thermometer reads 160.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board and slice into thin pieces.  Simmer sauce until reduced to 1/2 cup.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1/4 cup parmesan and lemon juice.










Season sauce with salt and pepper.  Add chicken and broccoli to skillet.  Top with remaining cheese.
Place under broiler to brown.



A simple dinner with simple instructions. 

Ciao!