Chicken a la Vendemmia

One of Napa Valley's best chicken dishes.  La Vendemmia is Italian for grape harvest.  This is a wonderful recipe for a truly unique chicken dish.  As far as I can tell the recipe was the brain child of Napa's chef Michael Chiarello.  To make this dish you will need:

3 pounds seedless red grapes

4 large boneless chicken breasts

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons fennel spice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet onion

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

3/4 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1.)  Puree the grapes in a blender then strain through a sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much juice as possible. You should have about 3 cups of juice.

2.)  Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit. Season the chicken on all sides with salt, pepper and fennel spice.  I used fennel seed which I ground in my spice grinder.

3.)  Heat a large skillet over moderately high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the olive oil. Add the chicken breasts and brown well on all sides, about seven minutes total. Transfer the breasts to a baking sheet and transfer to the oven and cook until the chicken is done throughout, 30 minutes.

4.)  While the chicken is cooking, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and return to moderate heat. Cook until softened, then add the rosemary and cook briefly to release its fragrance.

5.)  Add 3 cups of the grape juice and simmer briskly until reduced by half. Add the stock and any collected juices from the chicken pan and simmer until the mixture has reduced to a creamy, sauce-like consistency. The total volume of the sauce will be a little more than 11/2 cup.

6.)  Spoon the sauce over and around them. Serve immediately.