Champagne Chicken

Wow, January 1st, 2010. It's the beginning of not just a new year, but a new decade. So much has happened in the last 10 years... including living in London, moving to San Francisco, graduating from college, surviving several crappy jobs and a company folding, my grandma's death, my car being stolen, returning to college to earn a teaching credential, surviving a horrible first year teaching, meeting my husband and getting married, and buying our first home. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for me...hopefully children are in the near future!

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!