French Chicken in Wine Sauce

As promised in Last Monday's A French Valentine's Celebration post, this is the recipe for the most amazing French Chicken in Wine Sauce. It's my favorite "go to" for a cozy, delicious and easy meal to make that is incredibly delicious. Chicken, golden baby potatoes, white wine sauce with mushrooms and fresh rosemary. A classic French dish, the French name for this dish is coq au vin blanc, this is an adaptation of that classic recipe. There's just something undeniably memorable about pairing chicken with golden baby potatoes, mushrooms, white wine, flavorful fresh herbs, and a luxurious splash of cream.

The wine adds an amazing flavor, vintners have worked hard to develop the most flavorful wines they can, so take advantage of that. All you have to do is to pour it in, and let it simmer happily for 45-55 minutes to reap the benefits of cooking with wine. The alcohol will cook out and the acid from the wine permeates the chicken to make it irresistibly tender and scrumptious.

The dish can also be made without cream, but it’s just so much more rich and delicious with the cream. As Julia Child said, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” This dish uses a little of both, but not so much that you will suddenly need to walk around the Arc de Triomphe fourteen times afterwards to still fit in your clothes. 

Trust me, you will basically just want to drink the sauce. While it's easy enough for a family meal, it truly sparkles as a fine company dinner. It's an elegant restaurant quality dish you can create at home. When I have the little people over and I make this, I cut the chicken into pieces. Otherwise they "have feelings against it" - if you know what I mean. For some reason a whole chicken thigh does not pass their "approval" test, but cut up pieces do.

All the photos below are from a family dinner party, hence the chopped up chicken pieces. For adults, just go ahead and use the whole pieces instead, it makes for a prettier presentation.

French Chicken in Wine Sauce

Serves 4 Prep time is about 15 minutes. Cooking time about 55-60 minutes INGREDIENTS:

• • 6 chicken thighs {skin on if possible} Can use chicken breasts if preferred.
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
  • 3-4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 box of mushrooms, sliced {8 oz}
  • 3 green onions, sliced thinly
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced {I use the frozen minced ones}
  • 3 Tablespoons flour {I use gluten free}
  • 1/2 to 1 cup good sauvignon blanc wine {you will be drinking the rest with dinner}
  • 2 cups organic chicken stock
  • 1 lb. baby gold potatoes, cut in half or fours depending on size **
  • 1 fresh cutting of rosemary, 3 sprigs of thyme, and chopped parsley. {if you don't have fresh rosemary or thyme, use dried}
  • 1/2 teaspoon of organic food safe lavender {optional}
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream

** Because the potatoes often take longer to cook, I pre-cook them to half way done in my microwave. DIRECTIONS PREP:

• Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees F.
• Season your chicken on both sides with salt and pepper
• Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a Dutch oven {my favorite is still my old cast iron one}
• Brown your chicken on both sides, working in batches. It takes about 3 minutes per side, add in some olive oil if needed. For the second batch, use the other 1-2 Tablespoons of butter. If the thighs are thick, I cook them a little longer to give them a "head start" - set your chicken aside.
• To the pan, add mushrooms, green onions, and celery, and saute. Cover and cook until the mushrooms are tender, add garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Stir in flour, one Tablespoon at a time, until fully absorbed and lightly browned.{1 minute or less}
• Add wine, scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to de-glaze and get all the tasty bits. Add in potatoes, chicken stock, the rosemary and thyme, the organic lavender, and the bay leaf. {In a pinch, I've used Herbes de Provence instead of the rosemary, thyme and lavender.}

COOK: Place your pan in the oven. Bake until the potatoes are tender and your chicken has completely cooked through, to an internal temperature of 175. This takes about 45-55 minutes. If you want a little more cook time, watch the top carefully, sometimes I take the lid off but watch the dish so it doesn't get too brown on the top. Take your Dutch oven out of the oven, add cream and stir carefully. Plate up all this French deliciousness and sprinkle with chopped parsley for extra beauty. Serve.

If you are looking for comfort food with a lot of elegance, this French Chicken in Wine Sauce is for you! I serve this chicken in its scrumptious sauce with broccoli or a green salad and a crusty French baguette or fresh baked rolls to mop up all the juices. Simply delicious. 

FrenchGardenHouse TIPS:

1. Make sure you put enough salt in to bring out all the wonderful flavor as with any sauce you add cream to. Only use heavy cream for this recipe. Lower fat substitutions like half-and-half may cause your sauce to curdle. It's only 1/4 cup and adds so much taste and richness. 
   
   If you use chicken thighs, make sure they're cooked through to at least 175F { I go to a higher temperature to ensure they are really tender.} If you want more sauce, add more wine a little at a time. Or chicken stock...but I usually just add the wine. : ) 
2. You can keep left overs in the fridge for 3 days. {If there are any!} This doesn't freeze well like most things with cream sauce. If you want to freeze a portion of this recipe, take out what you want to freeze before adding the heavy cream and set aside to freeze. Then add the cream to the pan. When you serve the frozen chicken next time, heat and add the cream at the end.

I hope you try this French Chicken in Wine Sauce !

When even my girl says it's delicious, it IS! This makes an impressive date night dinner or a lovely alternative to a Sunday roast dinner. You will fall in love with the complex flavors and that sauce. I hope you will cook it again and again!

A BIENTOT

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