By A. Rodentia,
Chief Cellar Rat
Colloca Estate Winery
I didn’t used to be a Riesling drinker, but when I hired on as the Cellar Rat at Colloca Estate Winery, I became a huge fan the very first week I was among the vines. And, how could I not? Way back in 2016, Dr. Colloca’s Riesling was awarded Double Gold Medal, in the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. Every season it just gets better and better. It’s so good that we were named New York 2019 Riesling Winery of the Year in the New York International Wine Competition.
Many people aren’t aware of the fact that when I’m not deep in the bowels of the winery and they let me out, I love to cook. And, one of favorite recipes (you guessed it) is Cog au Riesling aka Chicken in Riesling. This is a story about how I make it so that if you want the enjoy some Colloca Riesling in a special way this winter, you can share it with your friends and family. But if you know anything about the way I cook, you’ll realize that I have a lot of rules and this recipe is no different. And though it meanders around at first, forgive me. Winter on the North Coast of America has a way of making me write in a round-about way, but I promise, like your first encounter with a New York traffic circle, you’ll eventually get there.
Rule 1: YOU NEED THREE BOTTLES OF RIESLING FOR THIS RECIPE
• One for the Coq • One for the Cook • One for the Table
I recommend you get them at Colloca Estate Winery. After all, it often is on sale and, If you join the wine club, you can get it for 25% off. In fact, if you drink wine and visit the winery more than once in a while, you would have to have your head examined if you don’t take advantage of all the benefits of the Wine Club. But that’s a story for another day.
On Monday of this week it was one of those amazing days of winter in Upstate New York that makes you glad you’re alive. The cold snap finally broke and the sun was amazingly brilliant all day. Early on, I took a long walk with the dogs through snow at the winery. Bright sun shining off the sparkling white snow. Busy squirrels and jumping chipmunks grabbing whatever they could to stuff into their larders. Just amazing. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Rule 2: GET A DECENT CHICKEN OR DON’T BOTHER
For the record, I am a huge fan of chicken. But not one of those horrible supermarket things they call chicken with all the flavor of sun-roasted dirt. While cheap – it takes “you get what you pay for” to a whole new level. I’m talking about the chicken you get at a local market, right off the farm. As one purveyor once told me at the Public Market in Rochester when I bought my first whole chicken from her … “That chicken was walking around yesterday”. It was delicious!
If the banana is the perfect fruit … comes in its own package, easy to remove, packed with nutrition, Eat whole, pureed, fried, … or with peanut butter! Then chicken is the perfect “meat”. Not only is it versatile, -- you can fry it, roast it, stew it, and grill it -- it also comes with directions. What I mean by this is that I don’t buy precut chicken pieces anymore. I buy whole chickens and cut them up myself. I was intimidated at first. But then they invented this thing called the internet which shows it step by step, so I won’t explain it here. All I can tell you is that there are lines and joints and lines of fat that show you precisely where to cut so that once you’ve done it, you never need instruction again. And, I can slice up a chicken faster than a little boys tongue when his popsicle begins to melt.
Rule 3: DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY
Cut up the French way, you get 8 pieces out of a chicken. But I don’t use the wings in this recipe, I save them up in the freezer until I have a couple of dozen, then make my own wing night! And, I don’t throw away the back, either. I freeze that as well and when I get three or four, I make some of the best chicken soup you’ve ever eaten.
Here’s how I do it.
Preparation takes about an hour. Maybe it’s because I’m drinking some Riesling, or maybe I’m just a slow chopper. Takes about an hour cooking time.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (about 3 or 4 pounds to feed four) cut French style into 8 pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only), finely chopped (2 cups)
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
12 – 16 Pearl Onions
4 medium carrots, halved diagonally
6 Ounces of white mushrooms
6 – 8 Ounces Bacon slices (cut into 1” pieces)
1 – 2 cups Colloca Riesling
1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
Fresh lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350F with rack in middle.
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Sauté bacon and onions and when done, remove to plate leaving behind as much delicious fat as you can
Add 1 tablespoon butter in a wide 3 1/2- to 5-quart heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high heat, then brown chicken in 2 batches, turning once, about 10 minutes total per batch. Transfer to a plate.
Meanwhile, wash leeks – very important as leeks often have grit within and pat dry.
Cook leeks, shallots, mushrooms in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, covered, over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until leeks are pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add chicken, skin sides up, with any juices from plate, carrots, bacon & onions and wine to cover and boil until liquid is reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
Cover pot and braise chicken in oven until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.
While chicken braises, it is important to finish any open bottle of Riesling.
I halve the small potatoes, cover with cold water in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and add some salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes.
Drain in a colander, then return to saucepan. Add parsley, some butter and shake to coat.
Stir crème fraîche into chicken mixture and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, then add potatoes.
Serve with the 3rd bottle of Riesling, and prepare for accolades!
