Chicken Abigail by Pol Martin

Yet another oldie, but goodie recipe from the Pol Martin cookbook! I made this quite a few times in my 30's and Dave's brother, Ron, used to make this after I gave him the cookbook for special occasions. He and Kim both loved it as well as myself! It's called Chicken Abigail and once you get all the ingredients it's really fast to put together. You are supposed to garnish it with thin slices of lemon, but I didn't want to waste a lemon..cheap me!  I definitely would if making it for guests though because it really dresses it up nicely.  The Madeira wine can sometimes be harder to find, but it gives it just the right flavor..make sure it's Madeira and not Madera Sangria-wrong!  I guess you can substitute marsala if you absolutely can't find the Madeira.  I couldn't find the pearl onions at Walmart-just the cocktail onions-those are pickled, so just used thinly sliced sweet onions. 

Here's the recipe:

ABIGAIL'S CHICKEN BY POL MARTIN:

3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup heated chicken stock
2 large whole chicken breasts (or 4 half breasts) diced.
1/2 lb small mushrooms cleaned (I just buy a jar of the tiny button mushrooms)
1 green pepper diced
1 red pepper diced
1/2 cup cooked pearl onions (or as above)
1/2 cup Madeira wine
2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper
few drops tabasco and Worcestershire sauce
pinch nutmeg

Heat 1 Tbsp butter in large skillet.  When hot, stir in lemon juice and chicken stock.

Add chicken and season.   cover ad cook 8-10 minutes over low heat.  Pour chicken and sauce into a bowl, set aside.

Replace pan on the stove and add remaining butter.  when hot, add mushrooms and peppers and onions; cook 3 minutes, uncovered, over high heat.  remove vegetables from pan and set aside in bowl. 

Pour wine into pan and cook 3 minutes over high heat.  add cream and spices; mix and continue cooking 6-7 minutes over high heat to reduce.  replace chicken mixture and vegetables in the pan, season and simmer 3 minutes to reheat.

Serve over buttered toast triangle or toasted French bread slices.  I like to serve this with a green salad.