Chicken in white wine recipe

The classic Coq-au-vin, using red wine, is a classic of French cuisine. It was probably more fashionable in the 1960s and 70s but it is well worth revisiting.

Le Coq I Elizabeth Garrett Buy From Art.com

I like this version with white wine. It is ideally paired with an aromatic medium bodied white, perhaps a Viognier, but preferably a firm Vermentino. The recipe is adapted from the “Myra Breckenridge Cookbook” a rather tongue-in-cheek collection celebrating food, sex and the films of the golden era of Hollywood through the eyes of Gore Vidal’s outrageous character.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 1 chicken, jointed
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 3 rashers bacon, diced
• 12 small pickling onions
• 1 medium carrot
• 2 cups button mushrooms
• 250ml white wine
• Olive oil

Method

Use a heavy based ssaucepan or a casserole dish over medium heat. Saute the bacon and the garlic for a couple of minutes to release some of their flavours into the oil. Remove and set a side.

Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour and brown in the saucepan, adding a little more oil if necessary.

Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to release any bits that may have adhered. Turn heat down to low, and return the bacon and garlic to the pan. Add the mushrooms, sliced carrots and peeled onions.

Cover the saucepan and simmer for 45 minutes. You may need to add a little more wine or water.

Serve with steamed potatoes or a green vegetable in season.

Wine Suggestion

This dish is ideal for a medium bodied white wine. I would suggest a Vermentino - the wine will have enough depth of flavour not to be overwhelmed by those of the bacon and mushrooms.

Asparagus has a distinctive aroma and taste that can be hard to match with wine.

Asparagus

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About Asparagus
Asparagus is the shoot of a perennial plant that looks like a fern, but it is unrelated to fern plants. It grows each spring from a sub-surface crown. Some cuisines use white asparagus which is produced by depriving the shoots of light. If the shoots are allowed to grow in light they turn green, or in some varieties, purple.

The plant has been used throughout recorded history in Europe and the Mediterranean lands. According to Wkipedia it is known in French and Dutch as asperge, in Italian as asparago in Portuguese as espargo hortense, in Spanish as espárrago, in German as Spargel, in Hungarian as spárga and in India as Ashadhi, Majjigegadde or Sipariberuballi.

The edible part of Asparagus is the new shoot with the buds. The stalks are picked before the leaves emerge from the buds.

Asparagus recipes

A food plant as widespread as asparagus has attracted many recipes. The basic method is to remove the tough part of the bottom of the stem, either by snapping or peeling and to plunge into boiling water for about 5 minutes. The aim is to keep the asparagus crisp. Overcooking will give you a limp grey mess.

You serve asparagus in a number of ways.

• Simply dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a splash of vinegar
• With a Hollandaise sauce
• Jamie Oliver suggests serving steamed asparagus with a lemon and anchovy butter
• Under a dressing of soy sauce with few drops of sesame oil
• In a Spanish omelet, substituting asparagusf or the potatoes
• In asparagus rolls wrapped in sliced bread with the crusts removed
• As part of an antipasta platter with smoked salmon
• Malaysian restaurants sometimes serve it with belachan sauce
• Stephanie Alexander suggests putting blanched asparagus on to the barbecue grill

Asparagus and wine

Now the tricky part. Asparagus has a strongish flavour that can overwhelm some wines. You need to take into consideration the sause as well. If you want to serve it with white, perhaps a robust Vermentino or a Viognier could be the go. Gewurztraminer wines are strongly flavoured and can be an ideal foil for asparagus. Among the red wines I would suggest a Barbera for its tartness, or perhaps a Petit Verdot

The Australian Alternative Variety Wine Show is held annually in Mildura. The Awards are presented at a Long Lunch, which is a degustation menu for the gold medal winning wines of the previous year. This event gives an opportunity to showcase the best alternative varietal wines with some of the best cuisine available.

Here is the menu for the 2006 Awards, served with the gold medal wines from 2005.
See also the 2006 gold medal winners.

The menu for the 2006 AAVWS Awards presentation

Starters
Eggplant fritters with spicy tomato salsa

• 2005 Redbank Sunday Morning Pinot Gris
• 2005 Yalumba Y series Viognier
• 2004 Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier

First Course
Basil and lime cured ocean trout with rocket, fennel and citrus salad

• 2005 T’Gallant Pinot Grigio
• 2004 T’Gallant Inmogen Pinot Gris
• 2005 Murray Darling Collection Murray Cod Vermentino

Second Course
Roasted tart of potato, roasted capsicum, leek and capers served with proscuitto and basil pesto

• 2004 Cassella Yellowtail reserve Pinot Grigio
• 2005 Brown Brothers Pinot Grigio
• 2004 Yarra Burn Pinot Gris

Third Course
Gnocchetti with veal and porcini ragout

• 2006 Murray Darling Collection Negro Amaro
• 2004 Dunn’s Creek Estate Barbera

Fourth Course
Braised local beef cheeks with soft polenta and gremolata

• 2004 Yalumba Tempranillo Grenache and Viognier
• 2004 Stuart Wines Tempranillo- Buddhas wine

Fifth Course
Extra mature Limestone Cheddar with Peccorino Romano and local muscatels

• 2003 Westend Durif
• 2003 Ferngrove King Malbec

Dessert Course
Summer Berry Pudding with creme anglaise

• 2005 Trentham Estate La Famiglia Moscato

Pinot Grigio Louise Max Buy This Print From Art.com

Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. In the kitchen cacciatore refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style” usually with tomatoes, garlic, onions, mushrooms, herbs and wine.

The rustic, savoury flavours of a dish like this one call for a full flavoured white wine or perhaps even a red. My suggestion is to try this with Vermentino.

Ingredients for 4 people
1 large chicken jointed, or you could use about 2 kg of thigh pieces
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
A red pepper sliced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 kg roma tomatoes, skinned or use 2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 cup white wine
half cup tomato passata
1 tsp dried oregano
about 12 seeded black olives
Oilve oil

Method
Use a large pan to brown the chicken in the oil in batches, then set it aside.
Saute onion and, garlic and pepper in the pan. When the onion is soft, not brown, stir in the wine, tomatoes, passata and oregano. Bring to the boil, stir well then add the chicken pieces and the sliced mushrooms. Cover and simmer very low heat for 30-45 minutes. Add the olives about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with crusty bread and a green salad, or a green vegetable such as broccoli according to season.

Vermentino would be an ideal wine to serve with this meal. This dry white wine with firm aromatic flavours can match the garlic, onion, tomato and pepper in the Cacciatore.

Aioli is a wonderful, versatile garlic mayonnaise. It is especially suitable with poached or steamed seafoods and seems to have a natural affinity with steamed potatoes. In fact you can use it anywhere you use normal mayonnaise.

You really should try that wonderful Provencal seafood dish Le Grand Aioli.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• half teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Approximately 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Lemon juice, to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Crush the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle, or crush it well under the side of a kitchen knife
• Place the egg yolk and mustard into the bowl and whisk well with wire whisk
• Then slowly add the olive oil little by little whisking all the while
• You can do this in a food processor or blender
• You should get a nice mayonnaise consistency
• Store in the fridge

For more garlic recipes just type ‘garlic’ into the search box.

Garlic lovers may be interested in the following books:

Food pairing with aioli

Aioli and other garlic-rich sauces require some thought when choosing an appropriate wine. You need to have sharpish wines when a dish has a dominant garlic flavour. Delicate wines can be overpowered. Vermentino or Viognier can be good choices for white, a rose made from Grenache might also suit. A rustic Italian red wine or perhaps a South Australian GSM is another option you might consider.

Vermentino is a white wine variety grown in the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, as well as on the mainland of Italy especially in Corsica. The obvious style comparison is made with Pinot grigio, but Vermentino seem to have more oomph.

Its ability to make stongly flavoured dry white wines has attracted the interest of Australian winemakers. It is capable of maintaining high acid levels even when grown in warmer regions. All plantings are relatively new, so yo may need to look hard to find some.

All manner of grilled seafoods will go well with this variety, so check out the suggestions below, or maybe “just chuck another few shrimps on the barbie”

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Food pairing with Vermentino | Vermentino in Australia

This recipe is provided by Rob Fairall of di Lusso Wines of the Mudgee wine region in NSW.