Chicken With Riesling
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons butter or neutral-flavored oil, like canola
- 4medium to large onions (about 1½ pounds), peeled and sliced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ to 2cups slightly sweet riesling, preferably German
- 13- to 4-pound chicken, preferably kosher or free-range, cut into 8 or 10 serving pieces
Preparation
- Step 1
In a skillet large enough to hold the chicken, heat butter or oil over medium heat for a minute or so.
- Step 2
Add onions and a large pinch of salt and some pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften completely and begin to melt into a soft mass, about 20 minutes.
- Step 3
Add 1½ cups of wine and let it bubble away for a minute, then tuck chicken pieces among onions; sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Turn heat to low, and cover pan.
- Step 4
Cook, turning chicken pieces once or twice, for 40 to 60 minutes, or until chicken is very tender (the meat on the drumsticks will begin to loosen from the bone). If dish appears to be drying out, add remaining wine.
- Step 5
Serve chicken with crusty bread or white rice or another grain, spooning the onions and their liquid over all.
Private Notes
Comments
Made this tonight; just the two of us so we only used two legs and a thigh. Cooked one sliced onion in butter, used an inexpensive German Riesling (about a cup) and simmered for about 40 minutes. Turned out beautifully, served over rice, it was delicious.
Thought later about possibly adding some dehydrated apple slices and tossing in some apple juice or apple cider.
Definitely a keeper and will make again.
I was underwhelmed with this dish. I made it primarily in order to use up some too-sweet Riesling, so maybe it's my fault for starting with an ingredient I didn't like. But it seemed, with the caramelized onions, to be only sweet-- it would have benefited from a teaspoon or two of dijon, or even just a squeeze of lemon. Also, why not brown the chicken first? Or if not, skin the chicken parts? Chicken skin after a long braise is not pleasant.
I've made something similar to this with a couple of additions. Use half the onions suggested here and add a nice fat leek. I also separately add crimini mushrooms sauteed in a little butter and EVO. Really takes this up a few notches. Served over egg noodles with steamed broccolini and pine nuts.
i've made this several times. Per Bittman's suggestion in his book, I added anchovies once, bacon another and procini mushrooms once. Always a real winner. And I use boneless skinless thighs to maximize the meat.
Did not make as written; I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and sautéed to crisp some sliced cremini mushrooms and added them to the sauce. After the chicken was cooked there was still a lot of very thin liquid, which I simmered uncovered to reduce. After about 20 minutes I used a cheat roux of softened butter kneaded with flour to drop into the sauce to thicken. I made this to go with Ali Slagle’s baked rice with leeks recipe and they paired very nicely.
Simple flavorful dish! Followed another commentor and used a leek as well, and threw in some garlic and sprigs of rosemary and thyme. So easy to make!
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