Braised Chicken with Grapes

Chicken and grapes - it sounds like something that you would feed your five year old for dinner. But trust me when I say that this meal is greater than the sum of its parts. The chicken is browned and then braised in wine until it's fall-off-the-bone tender. The pan juices are made into a delicious sauce enriched with a touch of cream and plenty of fresh thyme. And then there are the grapes - when heated, they transform into tiny morsels of juicy perfection that are the perfect balance of sweet and bitter.

I first had the idea of cooking with grapes over the summer. I must have seen it somewhere because shortly after I first started thinking about it, food + wine magazine featured a recipe with roasted grapes. That was closely followed by an issue of fine cooking that has a whole section on cooking with grapes! As great as the idea seemed, I was always distracted by the fresh, seasonal produce that was available. Grapes seemed silly! Until now. In the dead of winter in upstate New York, produce - especially fruit - is scarce, but grapes seem to be a constant. So I gave it a try, and my only complaint is that I shouldn't have waited so long! [....]