Chicken with rapier and dagger

Okay, the recipe is actually Chicken Florentine. But Walt always calls it Chicken with Rapier and Dagger. The “rapier and dagger” refers to a commonly held belief that the Florentine style of fencing was with a rapier in your main hand and a dagger in your off hand. In fact it simply refers to fencing using two weapons.

Chicken Florentine is a recipe that takes a bit of time to make, so I usually make it on days off. It’s not complicated, just cooked in several stages, rather like the Chicken Pont Alba recipe I covered here.

Chicken Florentine

• 1/3 pound fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
• 2 – 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, cut into rings
• 1 large shallot, cut into rings
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms (or 1 can)
• 1/4 dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Couscous

Steam the spinach until wilted. Cut it up and spread on the bottom of a buttered casserole. Saute the onion, shallot and garlic in the butter until tender and slightly browned. layer on top of the spinach.

Cook the chicken until lightly browned in the same pan. Remove the chicken from the pan. If using fresh mushrooms, saute them until cooked, then remove them from the pan.

Use the wine to de-glaze the pan. Slowly stir in the flour, then add the sour cream slowly to mixture, stirring continuously. Let it cook for a few minutes over low heat, stirring until the sauce is thick. Add salt and pepper to taste at this point.

Stir the chicken and mushrooms in. Spread over the top of the vegetables in the casserole. sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until it is bubbly around the edges and the cheese is lightly browned. Serve over couscous.

I substituted a cheese blend because I discovered I was out of cheddar when I was ready to add it to the casserole. The sharp cheddar does add a nice flavor, so I prefer it.

Digging deeper

There are a number of different styles of combat with swords, and you can dig really deep looking at just types of swords. Foils, Sabers and Épées are used in fencing. There are long swords and broadswords. There are Katanas. And many more. And the styles of fighting vary with the style of sword. There is an amazing website that covers many of the swords and styles.