food for thought: leftover Champagne

I know, I know, your are probably saying, "Leftover Champagne, what? How is that possible?!"... it could have been the beer with dinner. Or the wine after dinner waiting for midnight to arrive. Oh well, it's not important, because it did not go to waste! I made Chicken with Provencal (Napa) Sauce and Champagne Risotto, and can I just say dinner was c'est magnifique!

The original recipe for the chicken was from Cooking Light, January 2005. It called for chicken breasts, but I used chicken breast tenders. I'm obsessed with chicken breast tenders; they cook quicker, they present well and are easy to snack on ;) The original recipe also uses Herbs de Provence, but I used Michael Chiarello's:

Herbes de Napa

• 6 T dried thyme leaves


• 3 T fennel seed


• 2 1/2 T dried summer savory leaves


• 1 1/2 T rosemary leaves


• 1 1/2 T crumbled bay leaves


• 1 1/2 T dried lavender flowers

Chicken with Napa Sauce

• 1# chicken breast tenders


• 1 T olive oil


• 1 garlic clove, minced


• Splash of Champagne


• 1/2 C chicken broth


• 1 tsp Herbes de Napa


• 1/2 tsp butter


• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in non-stick skillet (Calphalon One pans work better than non-stick for browning) over medium heat. Add chicken, cook about 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan and keep warm in the oven on low.

Add garlic to pan, cook 1 minute , stirring constantly. Add Champagne, broth and Herbes de Napa; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to 1/2 C (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat; add butter and lemon juice, stirring until butter melts. Serve sauce over chicken.

Champagne-Feta Risotto Cooking Light, April 2000

• 1/3 C water


• 1/2 tsp dried basil


• 32 oz. chicken broth


• 1 T olive oil


• 1 C chopped onion


• 1 C Arborio rice


• 1/2 C Champagne


• 2/3 C crumbled feta cheese


• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Bring first 3 ingredients to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

Heat oil in large saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add rice; saute 2 minutes. Stir in Champagne; cook 1 minute or until the liquid is absorbed. Stir in 1 C broth mixture; cook for 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to med. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 C at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Stir in feta. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Enjoy!