Chicken Mythopoeica

This is one of my oldest recipes. Like so many good things in life, it was a serendipitous accident. While David and I were stationed in Montana in the early '70s we founded a branch of the Mythopoeic Society called Gondolin. After a meeting at our house one evening, we decided to ask the group - there were only half a dozen - to stay for dinner. I took stock of the kitchen and found I had some chicken, we had served mulled cider at the meeting, and this is how it turned out. Actually, you can tell how old this is by the fact that in those days I could actually eat pineapple without an allergic reaction.I can still visualize that chicken browning in my square electric skillet that my godmother, June Gates, gave to me as an engagement gift. I still have that skillet with me in Colorado more than forty years later. It still works, too.

INGREDIENTS:

2 frying chickens, cut into serving pieces
half a cup of flour
salt and pepper
margarine or butter
2 cups spiced cider
1 can pineapple chunks (and juice)
raisins

PROCEDURE:

• Wash the chicken, shake it in a bag with the flour, salt, and pepper. Brown it in a large skillet using a small amount of butter or margarine. ( I suppose nowadays, I'd use olive oil.)
• Remove the chicken from the skillet, and pour cider into the hot drippings in the skillet. Stir well over medium heat to thicken a little.
• Return all the chicken to the skillet and cook, covered, over a very low heat for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and put it on a platter in the oven to stay warm while you add the pineapple and the raisins to the skillet. Stir over medium heat. If the mixture is too thin, add just a little cornstarch mixed in cold water.
• Serve the sauce with the chicken over hot rice.

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