Once again the monks have come up with a winner! One day they’re moaning and groaning about bubbles ruining their white wine, the next thing you know crates of Dom P are being shipped around the world. One day they are bemoaning the quality of beer, the next they are producing a Trappist beer that kicks your “you know what” all the way into left field. Aside from the merriment, let’s not forget there was also some mighty fine cuisine to be had and this recipe is but one example. Granted, cognac and wine are ingredients but most likely as a preservative and flavor enhancer nothing more. I wanted to match a photo of a French abbey with this dish and chose one of the more famous abbeys, in my opinion, and one that I know of quite well as it’s on the way to the family home. I was at the MSM just recently with my daughter, son and daughter-in-law. We had a wonderful time and may I suggest the crepes!! I also felt the dish had certain Normandy/Brittany quality to it – go figure maybe cream, strong mustard, cognac and wine had something to do with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and I’m pretty sure that la Mère Poulard would approve and give it her blessing.
Poulet de l’abbaye – Abbey Chicken (undoubtedly blessed)
Ingredients:
Serves 6
1 chicken cut into pieces
1/3 cup of cognac (or brandy if absolutely necessary)
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 tbl paprika
5 heaping tbls of crème fraîche
2/3 cup grated Gruyere (or garden variety Swiss cheese)
1 Tb Dijon mustard (or other strong generic type)
1 Tb breadcrumbs
2 Tb oil
pinch powdered sugar
salt, pepper and flour
Preparation:
Dust chicken with flour
Brown the chicken in pan with a little oil
Remove any excess, add the cognac and flambe (the chicken, not your eyebrows)
Add the paprika, white wine and sugar; mix well and reduce over medium heat for 5 minutes or so.
Add crème fraîche and just under 1/2 cup of grated Gruyere. Mix and bring to a boil then reduce and cook for 10 minutes or so stirring regularly.
Remove your chicken and place in a gratin-type pan.
Add the mustard to the sauce and whisk well then pour over chicken.
Mix the remaining grated cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the chicken.
Place pan under broiler for approximately 5 minutes to get that “gratin” look we all want.
Serve and stay for dinner or quietly escape out the back door to cook perhaps another day.
Now about those wines…
Granted, there’s a lot of activity going on with this dish so a light and dainty wine is going to be easily outgunned. You are going to have to tell Grandma and Pa to suck it up and go with the crowd on this one. You need to think about having a heartier wine and to answer your question, is there an absolute wine, a challis of the vineyard? Not hardly but here are a few suggestions that you can run with.
Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil “la Source” Yannick Amirault 2003 – a cabernet franc all the way with a bold taste and a tannin that’s well balanced.
Mas De Gourgonnier – Les Baux de Provence, here is a red wine that has wonderful flavors and it will bring back those pleasant memories when you visited that beautiful part of the France. I really like this wine and it stands up nicely.
Graves White Bordeaux – If some of you are more comfortable with pairing a white wine that’s fine because in the end it’s whatever floats your boat and the wine police have long since left the area. The Graves appellation is located just outside of Bordeaux and Graves gets its name from the soil which is a mix of gravels, clay and sand. For the most part you will find this wine to have flowery notes, passion fruits and apricot. A couple of Graves to keep in mind are Chateau Couhins, Chateau Couhins-Lurton and Chateau Laville Haut-Brion.