Since beginning this blog, I have taken the time to search and read other foodie websites. I decided to try one of the many delicious recipes posted by food blogger Scott Duncan on his website
http://www.inexpensiveeating.blogspot.com/. It wasn't the recipe that convinced me to try the chicken and mushrooms in red wine it was the photo of the end result....just looking at the photo made my mouth water...I knew I had to make this dish. Let me start off by saying that I am no wine drinker. In fact, there are few wines I can even pretend to like because just a sip will make me face grimace for the world to see. Believe me, I tried many times to pretend to be a wine drinker but I just can't do it...a wine cooler maybe but that is as far as it goes.
So, I was a little nervous about this dish not being all I had hoped because it contains an ENTIRE bottle of red wine. The recipe didn't say what kind of red wine but I have watched the Food Network enough to know that you are not supposed to cook with wine you wouldn't drink. Since I didn't think a strawberry mango wine cooler would be appropriate, I decided to go with the wine that I see at many parties/cultural events - the
Yellow Tail. I went with the Shiraz Cabernet because I figured I would have better odds of it being good since it listed two kinds. The recipe has many steps but none of them are hard.
The entire recipe can be found at
Chicken and Mushrooms in Red Wine but let me describe what I did differently because I never can seem to follow any recipe...... I started of by sauteing mushrooms in olive oil. The recipe calls for 1/2 pound but we are a family of mushroom lovers so I added a few extra. I added some more olive oil and onion and cooked for about 10 minutes. Next I added butter and bacon...and I just had to believe that this recipe would be delicious. I mean, how can you go wrong with butter AND bacon? I then browned the chicken in the bacon/butter grease and removed it from the pan. Next I added flour to the grease and made a rue before adding the ENTIRE bottle of wine. I added tomato paste and seasonings (minus the bay leaf because I didn't have any on hand). Finally, I added the chicken along with some chicken stock (from a box) and cooked it for about an hour. I then added the other ingredients (except for the fresh parsley that I forgot to buy) and served! In all, it took about 2 hours to prepare but most of it was just allowing the chicken and sauce to do it's thing on the stove top.....
I invited my parents for dinner too so I could get their opinions about the recipe. We all agreed that I would order pizza, my treat, if this recipe turned out inedible.
I wasn't sure what to serve it with so I made rice and pasta. I started with the rice and everyone else chose pasta. We all took the first bite together and....silence....it was absolutely delicious. Like better than restaurant good. Want to eat in silence and savor each bite could. Would rather have more chicken then a chocolate dessert good.
Scott Duncan is not a blogger he is God good. If I had to choose my last meal good.
It didn't taste like drinking a bottle of wine...the lengthy cooking time made the flavor a rich, deep flavor that is hard to put into words....I actually thought something along the lines of, "cooking with red wine, where have you been all my life?"
When I make this again (like tomorrow maybe...) I will change the steps a bit. I understand that Scott was trying to make this recipe easier by eliminating many of the pots/pans. But here's the thing - my husband does the dishes so I figure why not speed the process up by having a few things sauteing at once since I don't have to worry about the cleanup? :)
Really, this dish is one of those that makes me want to have a dinner party...I think I need to invite my totally fabulous neighbors over for some delicious food and board games (our favorites include Boggle and Apples to Apples). Truly, that is what good food is all about - gathering those that we love to enjoy a good meal together.
