With spring in the air we thought we would put together a fun, seasonal recipe that goes great with the 2010 Nickel & Nickel Harris Merlot. This dish really highlights the bright fruits and luxurious structure of the wine. In the kitchen, we tested this dish several times. Not because we needed to work out any recipe flaws, but because we thought it was so delicious.
Herb Roasted Organic Chicken Breast
Caramelized Root Vegetables, Dried Cherry and Tarragon Pearl Couscous
Click here for a printable version of this recipe.
Ingredients
Brine:
2 quarts cold water
¼ cup salt
cup sugar
3 thyme sprigs
1 garlic clove, shelled
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
10 coriander seeds
2 organic chicken breasts, bone-in
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste
Pearl Couscous Salad:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, diced small
1 cup couscous
2 ½ cup chicken stock
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup dried tart cherries, cut in half
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
½ tablespoon Banyuls vinegar or sherry vinegar
Black Trumpet Mushrooms:
1 cup black trumpet mushrooms, washed and dried
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Caramelized Root Vegetables:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large turnip, diced into ½-inch cubes
1 large parsnip, diced into ½-inch cubes
1 large sweet potato, diced into ½-inch cubes
1 large carrot, diced into ½-inch cubes
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
To make the brine, add a quart of water to a medium-sized pot. Add ¼ cup salt, cup sugar, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns and coriander seeds to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then shut off the heat and pour the brine into a container with a tight-fitting lid. Add the remaining quart of cold water to the brine and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, add the raw chicken and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove the chicken from the brine and place on a paper towel-lined plate to dry. Discard the brine. Put a cast iron pan on medium heat and season chicken with salt and white pepper. Add olive oil to the pan, then add the chicken breasts skin side down. Sear for 3-5 minutes or until golden. Flip chicken over and place in a 350˚F oven for 15 minutes. Baste chicken, using a spoon to capture the juices and reapply to top of chicken. Repeat a couple of times. Bake for 5 more minutes, or until the juices run clear from the chicken. Let rest for 5 more minutes, then slice the meat off the bone and cut each breast into three equal slices from there.
While chicken is cooking, start making the couscous. In a medium sauce pot, add olive oil then shallots and sweat for 30 seconds. Add couscous and stir for another 30 seconds. Add 2 ½ cups chicken stock and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the couscous is tender. Allow to cool.
Sauté mushrooms in a large pan with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
In a large sauté pan, add olive oil, and then add the diced root vegetables. Sauté on medium-high heat, stir and until caramelized, about 4 minutes. Then add 1 tablespoon of butter and set on low heat. Cook for another minute, or until tender.
To assemble, combine cooked couscous, chopped tarragon, halved dried cherries, Banyuls vinegar, black trumpet mushrooms and salt and pepper, to taste, in a medium bowl.
Place a heaping scoop of couscous salad in a strip on each warmed plate. Spoon roasted vegetables parallel to the couscous, then top with sliced chicken. Pop open a bottle of the Nickel & Nickel Harris Merlot and enjoy!
Serves 2
Click here for a printable version of this recipe.
Soup:
2 tablespoons butter
4 medium leeks, whites only, diced
3 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, quartered, then thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
½–1 cup heavy cream
4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ pound rock shrimp
Combine all spices in a small bowl to make the seasoning salt. Mix well. Place the rock shrimp in another small bowl and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the salt mixture. Mix gently. Reserve the remaining seasoning salt in a small, air-tight container and keep it with your spices. Cover the shrimp and place in the refrigerator until needed.
In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, add the 2 tablespoons of butter and diced leeks. Cook on low for 20 minutes, or until the leeks are soft. Add the potatoes and cover with chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer for another 20 minutes, or until
the potatoes are very tender. Add the cream and remove from heat.
Working in batches, carefully pour into your blender, filling only half way each time. Start on a low setting then move to high and purée the soup for one minute. Be careful not to blend the soup for too long as it will become gluey. Continue this process until all the
soup is puréed. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Place soup back into a clean soup pot and reheat when guest arrive. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a medium sauté pan at medium-high heat. Add rock shrimp and cook for 1 minute. Stir and cook for another 1–2 minutes.
ASSEMBLY
For appetizers, pour hot soup into a pitcher then into shot glasses. Place one rock shrimp on top to garnish. For a first course, fill heated bowl with soup and garnish with 5 rock shrimp, or a sorrel leaf, for a non-seafood garnish.
Sliders are favorite appetizers at any occasion and can be prepared in a multitude of ways. In the winery kitchen, we grind beef from the trim of our larger roasts and steaks. Ask your local butcher to grind you specific cuts of beef. For the buns, many grocery stores now carry slider buns, or dinner rolls work just as well.
Shape ground beef into eight, two-ounce patties. Season liberally with salt and pepper, and sauté on medium heat until the patties have reached desired doneness.
In a large bowl, combine cabbage, carrot, onion, parsley and chives. In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well, then combine with the cabbage mixture. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
To create the aioli, preheat the oven to 325ºF. Take a whole head of garlic and cut off the stalk end to expose the top of the garlic cloves. Place in a baking dish, lightly coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 1 houruntil the garlic is very tender. Allow to cool, remove cloves from the head and place in a small bowl.
Smash the cloves with the back of a fork then mix with the mayonnaise. To assemble, slice the buns in half, place on a baking pan, and toast in a 325ºF oven for three minutes.
Enjoy this short video featuring Chef Trevor, a beautiful leg of lamb, colorful vegetables and State Ranch Cabernet. This visual feast will surely inspire you to make your own! For the complete recipe, click here.
I thought I would use this blog as an opportunity to explain what a winery chef does. Not that I want to burst anyone’s bubble, but we don’t have a restaurant at the winery–though I wish we did. My job as Executive Chef is to pair food to the wonderful single-vineyard wines we produce. I take extensive notes while tasting through different wines and vintages with the winemaker, and I use that knowledge to construct locally focused, seasonal dishes that highlight particular flavors and aromas in each wine.
Every year, we add dishes to our master cookbook and then share a few of these with you throughout the year in our newsletter and on our website. Who, you ask, gets to enjoy this wonderful harmony of food and wine? All of the food for the wine club events is prepared by our in-house culinary team. Food and wine pairings, or lunch, can be arranged for private parties instead of the traditional tastings. We also support the winery with charities, promotions and sales.
I look forward to seeing you at of our wine club events (stay tuned for our 2013 event calendar), and I wish you happy holidays.
A behind-the-scenes snapshot of a video shoot I participated in this week. Look for the video–and a recipe and wine pairing–in our December newsletter!
There is so much behind a great bottle of Nickel & Nickel Single-Vineyard wine: carefully farmed vineyards, impeccable winemaking and a team of people passionate about our wines. read more →
