SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLES GISMONDA (CHICKEN BREASTS WITH MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH)

SOURCE: JEAN VERGNES. A SEASONED CHEF: RECIPES AND REMEMBRANCES FROM THE CHEF AND FORMER CO-OWNER OF NEW YORK’S FAMOUS LE CIRQUE RESTAURANT.

Much like Lobster Thermidor, Suprêmes de Volaille Gismonda derived its name from a melodrama written by Victorien Sardou. The play, which starred French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt to take on the titular widowed duchess of Athens, premiered to success in 1894 at Théâtre de la Renaissance with a promotional poster by Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha and probably inspired a nearby Parisian restaurant or bistro to create and coin the dish for hungry aftershow patrons. When Jean Vergnes later presided over the kitchen of The Colony, he helped popularize the 50-year-old classic main entrée into a luncheon house specialty, catering to socialites mindful of their calorie intake. The simple serving of a breaded chicken smothered in spinach and onions left an elegant and irrevocable imprint to the Manhattan restaurant even after Jean’s departure that Graham Kerr had to devote an entire episode of its preparation on his television cooking show, The Galloping Gourmet.

Ingredients

2 pounds/900 grams fresh spinach leaves

5 tablespoons/75 grams unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

4 boneless chicken breasts

Flour

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon/15 mL water

1/4 cup/90 grams freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup/90 grams white bread crumbs, preferably fresh and homemade

1/2 pound/225 grams thinly sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons/30 mL Fond Brun de Volaille

Finely chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Specific Equipment

Medium-sized pot

Colander or strainer

Nonstick skillet or sauté pan

Plastic wrap

Stainless steel meat mallet or heavy-duty rolling pin

2 small trays

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Blanch the spinach in a medium-sized pot of boiling salted water over medium heat for 2 minutes or until the leaves have wilted. Drain the spinach in a colander or strainer and wash thoroughly with cold running water to stop the cooking. Squeeze the spinach batchwise, extracting out as much water as possible.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons/30 grams butter in a nonstick skillet or sauté pan over moderately high heat. Sauté in the spinach while constantly stirring for 2 to 3 minutes or until the spinach has absorbed the butter. Season with salt and pepper lightly to taste. Chop the spinach coarsely, if desired. Spread the spinach by forming a bed over a serving platter. Set aside inside a warm place.

3. Strip off and discard the skin from the chicken breast. Cover the breast with a sheet of plastic wrap and pound lightly with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat this step for the rest of the chicken breasts.

4. Dredge the breasts lightly with flour and dip them in a tray containing the egg lightly beaten with water until lightly coated.

5. Whisk the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs altogether in a tray until well-blended. Coat the chicken breasts with the cheese-breadcrumb mixture.

6. Melt 2 tablespoons/30 grams butter in a nonstick skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the chicken breasts on one side for 5 minutes until the cheese and breadcrumb coating turns golden brown. Turn over the other side and fry for another 5 minutes or until the coating turns golden brown.

7. Remove the chicken breasts from the skillet or the sauté pan and place them over the spinach. Keep warm.

8. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon/15 grams butter on the same skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté in the mushrooms for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms have turned brown and tender. Spoon the mushrooms over the chicken. Pour the Fond Brun de Volaille around the chicken and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.