Chicken Ellechar

Now here’s a great chicken dish from a local California friend. What’s so good about it? Well first of all it calls for Cognac and Champagne… Need I say more? Food and drink all in one! Don’t be intimidated by the Dutch oven required…be creative, find a deep skillet or something else if you don’t have one, but watch out for the flames – they’ll singe your eyebrows if you’re not careful.

For this dish we recommend matching it with some Champagne – the old standard of drinking the same wine as used in the cooking process. You probably won’t use Veuve Cliquot to cook with because of the price but we highly recommend you drink it with the meal if you’ve got some left over from your New Year’s celebration. We also recommend Chardonnay with this meal. It would most definitely work with the chicken and would work nicely with the heavy cream, Champagne, butter, and Cognac used in the recipe. We recommend Thomas Fogarty and McIlroy Cellars. Other varietals that would work nicely are Viognier from producers like Kunde, Qupe or R.H. Phillips and Pinot Gris from Oregan greats like Chehalem, King Estate, or Ponzi Vineyards.


Chicken Ellechar
Ingredients:

• 6 Chicken breast halves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 5 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
• 1/2 Cup Cognac
• 3 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
• 1 Teaspoon fresh tarragon
• 3-1/2 Cups Champagne
• 1/2 Cup Heavy or whipping cream
• 6 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Instructions
• Melt the butter in a medium-size Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Brown the chicken breasts after salt and pepper, 10 minutes.
• Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Pour the Cognac into the pan, warm it, and flame with a match.
• When the flames subside, stir in the flour, tarragon and garlic.
• Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Gradually whisk in 3 cups of the Champagne.
• Return the chicken to the pan.
• Cover and simmer, about 45 minutes.
• Remove the chicken to a warm serving platter.
• Stir in the remaining 1/2-cup of Champagne and the cream.
• Cook the sauce over high heat until reduced and slightly thickened.
• Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve immediately. Serves 6.

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