New Year's Eve also holds a special meaning for my husband and I....we met on December 31st, 2004, shortly before midnight and began dating less than a week later. This NYE marked 5 years since we met each other, so I wanted to prepare an extra special dinner for the two of us.
Make sure you buy a decent bottle of champagne for this dish as it adds a ton of flavor to the sauce. Don't go bottom shelf, but you don't need to splurge on the Moet or Cristal here; I used a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly Brut. Also, since this is a savory dish, leave the Asti and Rose for drinking--you want a Brut or a similar dry champagne for this dish. Lastly, this dish makes a ton of rich, creamy sauce; serve everyone a chunk of bread to soak it all up. I served mine with homemade foccicia.
Champagne Chicken
Source: The Rookie Chef
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 5 small boneless, skinless thighs)
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups champagne
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon ground dried rosemary (I used about 2-3 teaspoons whole dried rosemary)
Directions
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
Saute the chicken for 5 minutes. Turn over and add the champagne. Cook for another 12-15 minutes (if you're using thighs instead of breasts, they'll cook in less time...8-10 minutes).
Add the cream and rosemary and gently stir the sauce to combine. Cook until the sauce is thickened (if the chicken is done before this point, remove and set on a serving platter, while the sauce finishes).
Plate the chicken and spoon the sauce over the top. Serve with a hunk of bread to sop up the extra sauce and enjoy!