Cooking with Colwin: Chicken with Chicken Glaze

Feeding the Fussy, Part 2. This is Colwin's recipe for fussy eaters who aren't vegetarians. She writes, "This chicken dish can be fed to invalids, people recovering from abdominal surgery, heart patients and picky children."

I couldn't help cooking it because I think that the name is fantastic. It reminds me of the 60s when, as I understand it, everything was cooked and stuck in a gelatin and a mold. (Colwin does say that the chicken glaze, if refrigerated, will jell.)

You begin with three whole chicken breasts. Split them and remove all of the skin and fat. (I didn't know exactly what to do, since I bought split chicken breasts, so I just took the skin and fat off and covered them in water.) Poach the chicken slowly in the water, without allowing the water to boil. Remove the chicken and cut it into strips when it cools.

 Let the broth reduce over medium high heat until it's a syrup (chicken glaze). I didn't really know long to do this for--I have a feeling I didn't allow it to reduce enough--it was a bit watery yet.

Then you seed and cut cucumbers into julienne--put some on a platter, and put the chicken on top. The the chicken glaze goes on top of all that.

This is the most bland and simple meal imaginable. But somehow it feels very nourishing, perhaps because it's like chicken soup. Cucumber and chicken never in a thousand years would have struck me as good together, but I'd totally make this again. Would people look at me funny if I cooked this for them?