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Cooking with Wine: Roast Chardonnay Chicken Recipe

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2009 Alta Maria ChardonnayI love French food and wine…and I love eating and drinking local. These two loves inspired me to create a local version of a typical French dish: oven-roasted chicken with vegetables and herbs de Provence. Of course, this is using local Chardonnay – in the dish…and in my glass.

In a Santa Barbara County garden you can find rosemary, lemon thyme, basil and chives. And garlic, of course! Also, fennel is a bountiful crop on California’s central coast, which you can usually substitute for celery, instead of a traditional mirepoix (French base of onion, carrot and celery). Browning the chicken before roasting gives it a richer flavor than more simple roasts and the end result is a savory, delicious one-pot meal that pairs perfectly with the subtle body and flavors of Alta Maria Chardonnay.

Also, try this Winter Squash Chardonnay Risotto.

Roast Chardonnay Chicken with Santa Barbara Herbs
Recipe Type: Main Dish
Author: Liz
Prep time: 6 hours 20 mins
Cook time: 80 mins
Total time: 7 hours 40 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 4-pound chicken
  • 3 cups Chardonnay (2009 Alta Maria Chardonnay)
  • 1 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 8 cloves garlic: 6 whole, 2 diced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs (like lemon thyme, rosemary, basil, chives, marjoram) or 1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs
  • 2 lemons: 1 sliced, 1 juiced
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 4 carrots, chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb, chopped
  • 1 small green cabbage, cored and quartered
Instructions
  1. In large bowl, combine the Chardonnay, 1 cup olive oil, diced garlic, herbs, lemon juice, pepper and salt. Place chicken in the mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for 6 hours. Turn occasionally.
  2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Heat remaining olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel and garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. When the vegetables are caramelized, spoon them along the sides of the pan.
  3. Remove chicken from marinade and add to the middle of the pan. Sear each side until slightly brown, about 3 minutes per side. Arrange the quartered cabbage around the sides of the chicken and pour the marinade into the pan over the chicken and vegetables.
  4. Cover the pan with a lid and roast in the oven for 60-70 minutes, until the chicken is done (meat is cooked through when cut, leg separates easily from the body, or 170 degrees on meat thermometer). Remove lid and let it rest at room temperature 10 minutes.

Roast chardonnay chicken with santa barbara herbs recipe

Cooking with Wine: Winter Squash Chardonnay Risotto Recipe

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Every so often, you stumble upon a Chardonnay so refreshing and unique, so unlike typical oaky-buttery-California Chardonnays, that you want to drink it all the time. This kind of crisper Chardonnay, like many that are fermented in steel or concrete these days, are some of the best white wines to cook with. One bonus is that it pairs perfectly with your meal!

There are many Chardonnays from Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County that are half steel-fermented and half oak-fermented, or another combination of steel and even concrete. They have a creamy freshness and lemon-lime quality that makes it just as perfect in a rustic dish in front of the fire as a on a warm summer day in the garden. And cooking with wine is just as important as drinking or tasting wine.

Cooking with this type of Chardonnay adds something special to the dish: a little more citrus, good acid and lots of flavor. And don’t forget to pour a glass to pair the wine to sip with the dish! It’s the perfect pair to either of these winter Chardonnay recipes: Winter Squash Chardonnay Risotto below and Chardonnay Roast Chicken with Santa Barbara herbs.

And for dessert, here’s my other favorite way to use winter squash…and summer squash and fall squash and…all the squash.

Winter Squash Chardonnay Risotto
Author: Liz
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed, peeled winter squash medley
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves minced fresh garlic
  • 2 cups organic vegetable broth
  • 2 cups Chardonnay (2009 Alta Maria Chardonnay)
  • 1 ounce pancetta or prosciutto
  • 1 medium finely chopped onion
  • 1 1/4 cups uncooked Arborio rice
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herb mix (like lemon thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil, lavender)
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. Combine squash and 1 tablespoon oil, tossing to coat. Arrange squash in a single layer on baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until squash is just tender. Remove from pan; set aside.
  3. Heat a large heavy-bottom stock pot over medium heat. Add pancetta to pot; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove pancetta and set aside.
  4. Add remaining olive oil to pot, then add onion; cook 3 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  5. Add 1/2 cup wine; cook 1 minute or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Continue to add remaining wine and broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 20 minutes total). Stir in squash, herbs, cheese, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
  6. Top with pancetta.