Champagne Chicken and Roasted Root Vegetables

After debating on what to make for our dinner on Friday, I settled on the idea of champagne chicken. This recipe was adapted from Mireille Guiliano's "chicken au champagne." I wanted to make dinner special, so I made a rosemary garlic herb oil, and some roasted root vegetables. It was absolutely to die for.

For our honeymoon this year, my husband and I traveled to Europe on a cruise. It took us to France, (and Norway, Ireland and Scotland!) and the smells and sites of Paris and Normandy were enough to make your mouth water, and heart flutter at the thought of even being there. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay overnight, so we each only got one meal. We stumbled across a small Parisian cafe, named Chez Ribe, and wanted to get something we've always wanted - a croque madame. It was absolutely everything we'd hoped it'd be, and then some. We also just had to get crêpes (nutella for me, sugar for him). But long story short, even though we just absolutely loved our lunch, we didn't get to sample some of the things that we had wished we could. And the champagne chicken just further proved that we'll have to make sure we fly back sometime soon. But with this recipe, we were at least able to pretend, if only for an evening, that we sitting under the stars in Paris

So here's the recipe for Champagne Chicken. The champagne makes a delicate, sweet sauce, but with no added fat that you'd get from oil or butter. I added mushrooms to it before I served it, but you don't need to. You can serve a guilt-free dinner, with the added bonus of feeling like you're having something exotic, yet comforting. As I said, I made it with roasted root vegetables. This would also pair amazingly with rice, or risotto. I can also say that I think it'd be fantastic with light whipped potatoes and asparagus scented with lemon. Dress it up, or play it down! It's whatever you like! Enjoy!

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Time from start to finish: about 45 minutes to an hour.

Ingredients:

2 split Chicken Breasts
3 sprigs of Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, all chopped up and blended together
1 cup dry Champagne. (We used Korbel Brut)
1/2 juice 1 Lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 8-ounce package of Baby Portabella Mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 Shallot, cut into quarters
1 clove Garlic, minced or grated
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Butter or Margarine

Preheat your broiler. Put your chicken in a roasting pan. Cut a slit in the top of the chicken, and insert the quarter of the shallot. Push it the entire way into the breast. Season with salt and pepper, and pour 1/2 of the cup of the champagne over the chicken. 

Place skin side DOWN, broil 3 minutes. Then remove the chicken, flip over, skin side up, and broil another 3-5 minutes until you have a nice golden color on the chicken. Remove the chicken and lower the oven temperature to 475 degrees. Baste your chicken, and add the fresh herbs, lemon juice, and the remaining 1/2 cup of champagne before returning to the oven.

Now cook the chicken for another 30 minutes or so, basting as it goes along. Make sure you keep an eye on the skin, you don't want it to get too dark. When you have about 15 minutes left, put the oil and butter on a medium low heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until the chicken is done.

Remove the chicken from the oven, allow to rest before serving. Mix the mushrooms in with the champagne and chicken juices, and serve over the chicken as a gravy. Enjoy!


Eat Well!

Melissa