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You are here: Home / chicken / Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes

Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes

November 6, 2016 By Laura Leave a Comment

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Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes is a delicious, sophisticated and healthy one pot meal that will have the whole family scraping their plates. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing.

Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes

Sorry (again) for my extended absence. The first excuse reason is the same: the World Series. My evenings just really suffered–it wasn’t just my blog. Laundry may have gone undone. Etcetera. The second reason is a little sillier. I forgot to write down if I finished the dish with cream, sour cream or a combination. And yes folks, I have been paralyzed on this post ever since because it is driving me nuts.

So much so, that I finally just decided to share the idea and a blueprint of what I did, and save the recipe for another day to work out a second time. I realize this can be frustrating- feel free to ask me any questions you may have if you try to recreate the dish.

Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes

This Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes was inspired by a dish in Diana Henry’s A Bird in the Hand: Chicken recipes for every day and every mood–the main inspiration was the idea of a chicken dish with wine, green grapes and dairy to make it creamy (she uses heavy cream). The dish was also inspired by some fabulous pancetta chunks I got at Parma Sausage down in the Strip District (if you ever have a chance to visit I highly recommend visitimg them!). As a side note, you will hear me mention the Strip District a lot–think of it as my new Jungle Jim’s, albeit a neighborhood of stores rather than one single market.

Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes

So anyway, I started with browning those pancetta chunks in extra virgin olive oil. Then I removed the pancetta and browned pices of chicken (I used boneless and skinless because I am lazy and they cook faster). Then those got removed as well. Some of the excess fat was drained off, and I added some butter and thinly sliced shallots with some thyme sprigs. I kept the white wine nearby for deglazing the pan. Eventually I added garlic and sliced mushrooms to brown as well. When everything was nicely caramelized I added 1 1/2 cups of a dry white wine and then boiled and reduced that by half.

The chicken and pancetta were re-added to the pot, and I covered the dish to let the chicken braise at a simmer. After about 20 minutes, I added cauliflower (florets from 1 head–and really in my mind I was making a healthy substitute for potatoes, although if you add potatoes, add them sooner) and re-covered the pot to continue braising for another 20 minutes. By then the chicken was tender and cooked through. I added several handfuls of green grapes and then used a large slotted spoon to remove the solids (chicken, veggies, etc) to a serving bowl. The remaining liquid was boiled to thicken it and then….

I turned off the heat and added about 1/3 cup of either heavy cream, sour cream, or a combination of the two. If you try one of them, comment and let us know how it is! And someday I will make it again, because it was delicious, whichever I used, so I want to get this recipe perfected. One last tip–taste for salt and lemon juice before pouring the sauce over the chicken in the serving bowl.

Chicken in Wine with Cauliflower, Mushrooms and Grapes

Filed Under: cauliflower, chicken, grapes, mushrooms, pancetta Tagged With: braise, braising, cauliflower, chicken, grapes, green grapes, mushrooms, pancetta, white wine, wine

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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