Some like it hot

I am told hot-house grapes are still grown here, but because they never seem to make it to fruit counters, I am guessing they are all whizzed off to foreign parts when they are in season here - maybe California, in exchange for the grapes they send us?

I like the look and taste of the Californian green seedless grapes currently available. The fruit are large, sweet and heavy and firmly attached to the stems, indicating the bunches haven't been cool-stored for weeks before arriving in our supermarkets. The best green seedless grapes should be yellow-green rather than grassy green.

To store: Keep in the clear box and place in the refrigerator. They will be fine for about five days after purchase, as long as the supermarket has been checking for signs of age and decay and discarding some. Do not wash before storing, but definitely wash before eating raw.

To cook: Make like a Roman gourmand and peel your grapes first. This is fiddly, but the difference is worth it.

To peel: The time-consuming way is to drop the grapes (one at a time) into very hot water, then iced water (use small tongs), then wiggle your thumb nail into the hole made when you pulled it off the stem. Ease the skin gently towards you and it should come away in strips if not all at once. The easy way is to use a tomato peeler (the tiny saw-toothed blade makes short work of grape skins).

Taffy's Chicken Veronique

Taffy was from Miami, where she lived with indulgent parents in a large house with a resident chef. She professed to have been taught how to cook by their chef, but sadly her repertoire went only as far as french toast, and chicken veronique. Both recipes are good, however, so Taffy lives on in my scrapbook. Dishes with cream-based sauces and cooked grapes were popular dinner-party pieces in the 1960s, but today's dinner guests are more likely to enthuse over grapes with chicken or fish, if the accompanying sauce is light. Serves 4.

4 boned chicken breasts

2 shallots, diced

8 button mushrooms, sliced

2 sprigs fresh french tarragon, chopped, or 1 tsp dried tarragon

Salt and black pepper

125ml riesling

Water as needed

300ml chicken stock

2 Tbsp creme fraiche

16 large green seedless grapes

3 Tbsp breadcrumbs

1 tsp butter

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the (skin-on) chicken breasts in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle the diced shallots and sliced mushrooms over with the tarragon, salt and pepper. Add the wine and sufficient water to cover the breasts. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through. Meanwhile, skin the grapes and cut in half. When the chicken breasts are cooked (no pink juices when pierced) remove and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid from the oven dish into a small saucepan, add the chicken stock and simmer briskly until the liquid is reduced by half and has thickened to a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat, add the creme fraiche and taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed, and return to low heat. Add half the grapes and stir into the sauce. Remove the skin from the chicken breasts, cut into slices for serving, cover with the sauce, add the breadcrumbs, dot with butter, add the remaining grapes as garnish and pop under a hot grill until the breadcrumbs are lightly browned. Serve with new potatoes and french beans. Kate Fraser

- © Fairfax NZ News