Another retro dinner

 

You may remember, if you read this blog frequently, that a few months ago I cooked dinner for Christian’s friend (and mine), Gary. Like me, Gary holds in his heart some of the dishes his mom cooked when he was young. He particularly liked tuna casserole, so that’s what we had. I think the Burtons ordered in Mexican. Christian does not eat tuna in any shape or form, and Jordan has announced that tuna belongs in salad, cold. She will not eat any dish with cooked tuna. Gary and I had a lovely dinner. (I can’t speak for what Christian’s mother fixed, apparently not tuna, but I do know that Jordan was raised eating tuna casserole.)

A bit later I fixed myself Chicken Divan from a recipe I’ve had for years. When I was a single parent, I saved this dish for nights the children were out of the house, and I was cooking for a male friend. When I mentioned how good it was, Gary said he loves Chicken Divan—it had to be our next dinner. So it’s on the menu this Sunday night. Jordan has declined, and Christian does not eat broccoli. He asked if we could substitute for the broccoli, like maybe potatoes. I explained color, taste, and texture would all be off. Nope, Chicken Divan needs the broccoli. Maybe you could do spinach but never even green beans (which he only likes canned). I suggested that he could eat the chicken without the broccoli, but I think they are eating turkey burgers. Jacob may well like the main dish. He loves broccoli.

This is a recipe I got from a neighbor, handwritten, so I have no idea about the origin. But it’s delicious and not difficult. One problem though is that back in the eighties things came packaged differently than they do today. The recipe calls for two 10-oz. packages of frozen broccoli spears. I cannot find them on the Central Market web site, so I used a broccoli crown, though my mom would frown at me not getting the stems. (Mom believed in waste not, want not. She used to slice the stem, sauté quickly in butter and splash with soy; they were delicious.) I tell myself it’s always better to use fresh when you can instead of frozen or canned.

The picture above is not mine, but you get the idea of the dish and it satisfies the algorithms.

Chicken Divan

2 10-oz. pkgs. frozen broccoli spears

¼ c. butter or margarine

6 Tbsp. flour

½ tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

2 c. chicken broth

½ c. whipping cream

3 Tbsp. white wine

3 chicken breasts, halved and cooked

¼ c. Parmesan cheese

 Cook broccoli and drain. Melt butter and blend in the flour, along with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and cook until mixture thickens and bubbles. Stir in cream and wine. Place broccoli crosswise in a 12x7½x2 dish. Pour half the sauce over. Top with chicken and pour remaining sauce over it. Top with Parmesan.

An elegant company dish. Wonder if I can interest Gary in Tuna Florentine next?