Champagne-Browned Butter Chicken
Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl
This intensely-flavored chicken dish features chicken that's browned in bacon drippings and baked in a Dutch oven along with carrots, potatoes and herbs. Then the chicken and vegetables are topped with a rich butter-Champagne sauce for a hearty dish that's perfect for entertaining.
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat oven to 300°.
Step 2
Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp; remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Reserve bacon for another use. Place 2/3 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Dredge chicken lightly in flour; shake off excess flour. Increase heat to medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon oil to drippings in pan; swirl to coat. Add half of chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over; cook 2 minutes. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and chicken.
Step 3
Add potatoes to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in brandy. Cook until liquid almost evaporates (about 30 seconds), stirring occasionally. Return chicken to pan. Add shallots and stock; bring to a boil. Place peppercorns and next 3 ingredients (through parsley) on a double layer of cheesecloth. Gather edges; tie with butcher's twine. Add bundle to pan. Bake, uncovered, at 300° for 15 minutes.
Step 4
Trim carrot tops to 1-inch; scrub carrots. Add the carrots to pan. Bake an additional 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender and chicken is done. Remove chicken and vegetables from pan; keep warm. Discard herb bundle. Place pan over medium-high heat. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until mixture reduces to 2/3 cup (about 11 minutes).
Step 5
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Stir in 1 teaspoon flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add butter mixture to reduced wine mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve with chicken and vegetables. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and thyme.
You May Like
sedutta's Review
This was fantastic! A little involved, but so worth it! I added the carrots with everything else based on other recommendations and they came out perfect for me- I don't like cooked, mushy carrots, but these were still crispy after all that time in the oven. I also omitted the parsley as I don't care for it too much, so we never have it in the house. Another change I made was to place the chicken on top of everything before it went into the oven instead of mixing it into the sauce. This kept the outside of it a little crispy and i don't think we missed anything in flavor because of the incredible gravy/sauce. I used white wine instead of champagne. It was fabulous!
MichelleH29's Review
N/A
Program's Review
Excellent flavor! But I do agree with another reviewer in that carrots were undercooked....even though I cooked them for the full hour
katgirldu1's Review
The sauce was so good I'm still dreaming about it now! Yum. The only thing I will do differently next time is to use breasts and thighs instead of thighs and legs. Oh! and cook the carrots for longer -- many were still hard. I made it the night before, and put it in the fridge overnight....reheated in oven next day, then finished the sauce to serve. Great make ahead recipe.
coyote36's Review
Outstanding recipe! Two tweaks. I halved the recipe for the two of us. Next time I will make it as is even if I halve the chicken. The sauce is that good. Second, I'd add the carrots right away and not wait 15 minutes into the oven time. They came out a little hard for my tastes. Other than that, this is a must try.
HappyVintner's Review
Agree. This is a really great, satisfying recipe. The dog got our bacon but only because she gave me those eyes.
CherylMD's Review
This was FANTASTIC. The sauce was the key. I had decided the recipe MUST be wrong when it said to put it in the oven uncovered, but the recipe was right, I think. Ours was good but the coating wasn't crispy anymore. I added extra potatoes and doubled the mushrooms, omitted the carrots.This was a little involved, but we did it for a holiday dinner and it was nice because the difficult part was early in the afternoon. My final comment--the recipe says cook 2 pieces of bacon and "set aside for another use"?? I am sure this is to make it more healthful, but honestly, those 2 pieces of bacon just wound up inside the chef! Not really more healthful. I also think you could easily do this with white wine if you did not have any champagne and you could do this on the stove instead of in the oven.
good comfort food dish