Poulet au Champagne avec Champignons

There are any number of ways to prepare this dish each brings it's own uniqueness to the table. The only constant in all of these preparations is good Champagne not a  pink champagne that may have been presented to you as a gift by your late Uncle or some version of Cold Duck, for those of you who remember that "stuff." If you can't bring yourself to cook with good champagne, feel free to use something like a Crémant de Bourgogne or any other good domestic champagne which will suffice.

Chicken in Champagne with Mushrooms

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (with skin and bone) alternatively you can use 4 good size chicken thighs or more

2 Tb of butter and 1 Tb of olive oil

Salt and fresh cracked ground pepper

Chervil (or parsley)

Tarragon (or thyme)

1 nice size shallot

4 garlic cloves

1 1/2 cups champagne (a good Crémant will do just fine or any other good local "champagne")

Heat butter and olive oil

Place chicken in a pan skin side down, and season them

Brown the chicken turning several times over (about 10 minutes)

Add whole cloves and chopped shallots letting them brown gently

Pour half of the champagne over the chicken and let it reduce

Pour in remaining champagne (a blessing is appropriate)

Reduce heat and let simmer on low for 35 minutes

Remove the chicken when done and set aside

Whisk in gradually 1 Tb of butter and add seasoning

Return the chicken pieces to their cooking roost

Serve chicken and sauce over brown rice with sauteed mushrooms

Garnish with parsley if desired

Sauteed Mushrooms

In a warm frying pan with a touch of olive oil and butter, add roughly chopped mushrooms (1 cup) if you have champignons de paris so much the better if not, your supermarket varietal will work. Cook gently for a few minutes then add a few drops of lemon juice, freshly chopped sage, seasoning to taste and 1 tablespoon of butter.

Now what to drink? Well by now you have squeezed the champagne bottle a few times so we will need to go down to our cellar.







A cooking note: Once your chicken is close to having simmered long enough, add-in the now cooked mushrooms and quartered red potatoes and continue to simmer. If the sauce needs some thickening, add a little dusting of flour. In the end you have a very respectable meal for the family.