Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Chicken And The Wine Sign Says It All!



Need I say more! And yes, I do put wine in a great majority of my cooking. I do not even start my evening meal until I have a glass of wine in hand to accompany me on my cooking adventure for the night! Speaking of adventure, I got hold of Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook" and decided to make his recipe , poulet basquaise. I plan to make a few more recipes from his book and then I will do a post on his book. If you do not know Anthony Bourdain, he is the chef that is on the Travel Channel program No Reservations. He is quite a character and I enjoy his style of writing. More on him at another time. Let's get on with dinner. I was in the mood for something French, but I do believe this has a hint of Italian to it also.




Poulet Basquaise

1 whole chicken about 4 lbs. cut into 8 pieces
salt and black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper, I used a hugh pinch!
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 red bell peppers cut into julienne
2 green bell peppers cut into julienne
1 onion thinly sliced
16 oz. canned Italian plum tomatoes
1/2 cup of white wine - you know, some of the wine you are drinking right now while preparing this dish!
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light chicken stock or broth
3 sprigs of flat leaf parsley finely chopped

Season the chicken all over with the salt, pepper and cayenne. Heat a large pot over medium high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot add the butter. When the butter has foamed and subsided, add the chicken, skin side down, and brown on that side only! When brown, remove chicken with tongs and set aside on a plate. Add the peppers and onion to the pot and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the wine scraping, as always, to get the good stuff up. Cook until the wine is reduced by half then add the water and the chicken stock. Return the chicken to the pot with their juices. Cover the pot and allow to cook on low heat for about 25 minutes, then remove the chicken to your serving platter.

Crank up the heat to high and reduce the sauce for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve immediately. I served mine with a white basmati rice.


This is so easy and so good! I served the Redwood Creek Sauvignon Blanc that I was cooking with and the match was wonderful!

What a way to start the end of the day!

Cheers!

17 comments:

Peter M said...

It looks fabulously tasty! Les Halles in on my "buy list" and flipping through it, it looked yummy!

Wendy said...

No way! My best friend just gave me a fridge magnet that says the exact same thing! :)

Katie Zeller said...

I want that...no, I NEED that!
I'm the same - can people actually cook without wine? I've heard, but never believed...
Must check out the cook book!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

I love Anthony Bourdain, his programmes are great, although i have to turn away from some of the meatier extremes, just to much for my delicate soul (ha ha!).

Fabulous bowl!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I can agree with that saying wholeheartedly!! My second name is Graham Kerr! I will have to give this chicken dish a go. I love it's flavour combinations.

Gloria Baker said...

I love your comments about wines!!! so lovely, Debs, the pictures so beauty. Sauvignon blanc of California are so good too!!! We have some plants of there too!!! Gloria Cheers

Gloria Baker said...

My mom always cook the chicken with white wine and is so yummy!!! Gloria

Belinda said...

Oh, yum, Deb...this chicken is calling my name...and I can use the rest of "that" wine in the recipe. :-)

winedeb said...

Hi Peter, it is a great book and you will love the way he writes,

Hey Wendy, too fun! What a universal saying!

Hi Katie, great saying isn't it! I have it hanging in my kitchen and is a wonderful conversation piece.

Hi Holler, yes, he does get a bit extreme sometime!

Hey Valli, you are too funny - Graham!

Hi Gloria, white wine surely puts the flavor to the dish!

Hey Belinda! Yes, get rid of that wine! No better way to use it!

Anonymous said...

I love Anthony Bourdain!Isn't he amusing?

Shayne said...

Love the sign, it is so Julia Childs. The chicken dish looks great too.

Nora B. said...

Your poulet basquaise looks delicious and perfect with the wine. I've never made it before, so I would liek to give it a try. I love the sign too ;-)

Yesterday was perfect sunny weather so my partner & I enjoyed a nice bottle of New Zealand sauv blanch with lunch in a bistro by the water. I need to stock up on more white wine, it's definitely heating up.

Thistlemoon said...

I love love love Anthony Bourdain! he is so awesome! His show No Reservations is my favorite show on television.

Shaun said...

Deb - I have the same book but have not noticed this recipe before. Isn't it funny how you can pass things that others stop at? Anyway, now that I have seen your glorious dinner, I'm making my way back to that book! In all, though, it is a good book with lots of important information on how best to use different cuts of meat. Sometimes the condescending tone is annoying, but I remedy that by just shutting the book and coming back to it some other time...I look forward to hearing about your further Bourdain recipe successes.

winedeb said...

Hi Mary Anne, yes, I find him very amusing! I know some folks do not like his "tone", but that is him!

Hey Shane, chicken is good and EASY!

Hi Nora! Ah, lunch on a spring afternoon in a bistro by the water with a great bottle of wine and with your partner...what can I say! Sounds wonderful!

Hey Jenn, he is pretty cool in my books! I watch his show all the time also!

Hi Shaun, do check out this dish as it is simple and very satisfying! Let me know if you fix anything out of his book!

Anonymous said...

j'adore le poulet basquaise très typique du pays basque with rice or big french fries home made et du piment d'"Espelette" a lovely little city.

winedeb said...

Hi Astridcmoi! Welcome and I thought the chicken dish was wonderful and I totally agree that rice or your yummy fries would be a great accompaniment!