Olive Chicken and Mustard-Caper Sauce over Cauliflower

I was thinking of Julia Child as I sliced the hunk of butter into this dish. It was worth the indulgence. The flavors of this dish are tangy and salty. They work well together. In some dishes, a sprinkling of capers can be overpowering. Here, with so many strong flavors at one time - olives, sundried tomatoes, gherkins, capers, mustard, vermouth - it worked well.

The recipe called for anchovies, which I'm not a big fan of and rarely have in my kitchen. For a similar salty flavor, I would substitute olives or olive tapenade. I only had a sundried-tomato/olive tapenade in my refrigerator. A substitute for the substitute.

I pounded my chicken breasts with a jar to flatten them up a bit before cooking, then sprinkled with salt and pepper.

My cauliflower was impressively white around the outer florets. Middle-of-the-winter cauliflower with its browning edges is no comparison.

Olive Chicken

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Olive tapenade
Two 4 to 6 oz. chicken breasts
1/2 cup vermouth or dry white wine
4 gherkins, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the olive tapenade and push around the skillet for about a minute to spread the flavor into the oil. Salt and Pepper two chicken breasts. Cook for a few minutes each side and remove to a warm plate. Add the vermouth and gherkins, letting the wine bubble the bits off the bottom of the pan. Scrape over the chicken.


Mustard-Caper Sauce over Cauliflower

2 to 3 Tbsp of butter in the microwave.
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp of stone-ground mustard
1 Tbsp capers

Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the remaining ingredients to the melted butter. Whisk in 1 tsp of cornstarch if you'd like a thicker sauce. Serve over freshly steamed cauliflower or broccoli.