Reed Hastings

Coq au Vin

Reed — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:59:59 +0000

Coq au Vin is a traditional French dish. The flavors are so delightful and the chicken is so tender it literally falls off the bone.

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken thighs and legs, excess fat trimmed, skin ON
Flour
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1/2 lb bacon slices
2-3 Tbsp butter
20 pearl onions, peeled, or 1 large yellow onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves, peeled
Several chopped carrots
12 ounces white or baby bella mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cups red wine (pinot noir, Burgundy, Bordeaux, etc)
2 bay leaves
Several fresh thyme sprigs
Several fresh parsley sprigs
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Method

Spread the chicken out on a large baking sheet lined with wax paper. Lightly coat each piece of chicken with flour and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Place the bacon in a pot and add cold water so that the bacon is covered by a few inches. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the bacon in cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Cut the bacon into about 1 inch pieces.

Brown bacon in a pan on medium high heat. Remove browned bacon and set aside, leaving the fat and drippings in the pan. Add 1 tablespoon butter, the chicken (skin side down) and onions, in batches if necessary, and brown on all sides. When you turn the chicken, add the garlic. If browning chicken in additional batches, add another tablespoon of butter first. The purpose of this step is to only brown the chicken – it should not be completely cooked. Set aside.

Add another tablespoon of butter to pan, allow to melt and add mushrooms. Cook until edges begin to brown. Add carrots and cook until just beginning to soften. Transfer to crock pot and add chicken broth. Place chicken, onions and garlic on top of carrots. Sprinkle bacon on chicken, add thyme sprigs, parsley sprigs and wine.

Cook in crock pot on low for about 5 hours. Chicken should fall off bone. Garnish with chopped parsley. May be served with potatoes, peas or over egg noodles. Great with a French baguette.

Wine with a New Mexican flair

Reed — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:09:35 +0000

I was born in New Mexico and lived there for a number of years and like any good New Mexican, I love green chilies! When I stumbled across this Hatch Green Chili wine from Southwest Wines in New Mexico, I was intrigued. The wine is 12% alcohol and according to the producer, “Mild green chile is the key ingredient to create this wine with a uniquely New Mexican flair. Semi-sweet and very smooth, this slightly spicy wine brings to life the flavor of the southwest. Serve chilled with your favorite Mexican dish.”

I have yet to taste this wine but will soon and will share my experience!

A year in the life of a vine

Reed — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:04:09 +0000

A fun video showing a vine from early spring to bottling.

Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here!

Watching Grapes Grow – 2011 La Cardonne from Domaines CGR on Vimeo.

Wine Review: Georges Duboeuf Morgan Jean Descombes 2009

Reed — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:53:18 +0000

This wine is #21 on Wine Spectator’s 2011 list of the top 100 wines. At about $16, this 93 point wine is a fantastic value. The wine is of the Gamay varietal from the Beaujolais province in France. Tasting notes include strawberry, raspberry jam and rhubarb. It is a very delightful, medium-bodied red, that is very smooth with some bite from the rhubarb. A friend of mine, new to red wine, very much enjoyed this. I plan to stock my cellar with a few more bottles.

Wine Review – Kiler Grove 2009 Interpretation

Reed — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:20:38 +0000

I recently attended a wine tasting at Kiler Grove Winegrowers in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Among the wines sampled was their 2009 Interpretation (~$20), which is a blend of Grenache (40%), Mourvedre (40%) and Petite Sirah (20%). For the wine tasting, they provided white cheddar and chocolate. I found the Interpretation good when paired with the cheese but neither the cheese or the chocolate were overly impressive pairs.

According to the winemaker’s notes, “it pairs well with all but sweet/tart dishes” however I found it to pair very well with fresh strawberries. Likely a result of the high concentration of Grenache. This is a medium to full-bodied wine.

Of the Kiler Grove wines I tasted, my favorite is the 2005 Zinergy (but that is for another post).

For more information, visit http://kgwwine.com/.