Put the onions into boiling water for a minute or two, drain, and plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking. One a time, cut off the root end and peel off the outside. Prep the broccoli by cutting off the florets and cutting them into bite-size pieces. Cut each chicken breast into two pieces of half the original thickness, yielding four thin pieces.

Get a steamer situation ready for your broccoli and bring it to a boil. Pre-heat a wide pan for the chicken on medium-high heat and give it a thin coating of olive oil. Brown the chicken on both sides, taking care to not burn the fond on the bottom of the pan. It’s OK if you have to stop before the chicken is cooked inside.

At some point around here, start your broccoli steaming. Cook it until you can just pierce it with a fork. Toss it in melted butter and salt to taste, when you get a chance.

Take the chicken out of the pan and put in the onions. Try to get some color on the onions, but before the fond burns, pour in the chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan clean with a wooden spoon. Squeeze in 1-2 tablespoons each of honey and mustard. Mix a teaspoon of cornstarch with an equal amount of water and then pour that into the sauce. Cook until it’s thick, then taste. Add vinegar, salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.

Cook the sauce until the onions are about cooked to your liking. Return the chicken to the sauce, get it coated, and cook it (if it needs more time) until the internal temperature is 165 F / 74 C. Sprinkle the meant with toasted sesame seeds, serve next to the broccoli with extra onions and sauce spooned over.

• 2 chicken breasts (one full breast)
• 1/2 pound pearl onions
• 8 oz chicken stock
• 1 large broccoli crown
• honey
• mustard
• vinegar (white, white wine, white balsamic, or rice wine would be my first choices)
• salt
• pepper
• cayenne
• cornstarch
• olive oil
• toasted sesame seeds (you can toast them yourself in a dry pan until fragrant)