I feel terrible, there have been such lovely requests for the Pork Chop recipe but I did not take any photographs that evening and I do hate to post a recipe without photos. You can find it in the same book that I found this one or you can wait for me to make it again in the next couple weeks!
The book is Mireille Guiliano’s infamous French Women Don’t Get Fat (You can order it on my sidebar – I think) and if you don’t own it, even if you weigh 115 pounds, youmust buy it. I love Mireille’s books and I LOVE her name. I swear I would name my next (Lord willing) daughter Mireille if I new people would say it correctly but it’s one of those names that does not sound good without a complete french accent. We can get away with Amélie but Mireille (MEHRE-RAY) is not going to fly around here…
The recipes are delightful and she writes wonderfully about something that irritates me greatly: American woman’s fear of food.
In my opinion the answer to enjoying food but not looking like a roving land monster is cooking homemade food from scratch with ingredients that are as close to their original form as possible. Am I talking about butt-extender casseroles that require 3 cans of Campells soup? No way. They do serve their purpose but you will get fat eating like that all the time however, I eat lots of chocolate, jam on my toast in the morning, cream, butter, bread, olive oil like it’s going out of style -almost all of that is organic or made in my own kitchen and (when not pregnant) am able to maintain a decent weight. I am not bird but I am not fat and will be darned if I am going to “fear” food or be obsessed with it to the point where I deny myself a good meal!!!
This one was a big hit and the flavor of those mushrooms, with garden sage and lemon??? Oh my goodness, I could have eaten my weight in them and I am not really a mushroom person!
So, forgive the length of this post – but it’s mostly recipe. Let me know how you and your family enjoy it and I will post that Pork Chop recipe very soon – there are pork chops in my freezer as I type….
I love this photo!!! Don’t you? Wish I could shoot food all day!
You will need:
4 Chicken breasts (with skin and bone) – that was a requirement I was not going to follow but I am glad I did!
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Chevril, tarragon or thyme (I grow and used thyme)
1 Shallot quartered
1 Cup champagne (and the rest to drink if you are not me…60 some odd more days…whoohoo!!!!)
Place the chicken in a roasting pan and season them, pour half a cup of the Champagne over breasts. Make a slit in each breast and insert a piece of shallot.
Place the pan under broiler, skin side DOWN, until the skin is nicely browned. Turn and broil another 5 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the broiler, baste with the pan juices and add the remaining 1/2 cup of Champagne. Adjust the over temp to 475 and bake the chicken for 30 minutes basting once or twice.
Serve over brown rice (all I had was white – I am not really a rice person per se unless its loaded with curry and tofu!). Sautéed mushrooms taste great with this dish and I would have never thought to enjoy them with Champagne – Come on, after thirty some odd years on the planet I should KNOW that Champagne goes with EVERYTHING! I would drink it dawn til dusk if I could!
I did my mushrooms with olive oil, chopped sage (still thriving in the garden), seasonings, lots of lemon juice and butter.
Mireille recommends pouring the remaining juices from the pan over the chicken and rice when served and I totally forgot to do that – it would have been good!
I can take or leave chicken…cause it’s, after all…chicken but this was good, easy and the family loved it. I loved the presentation and it seems like a great dish to serve company because of how simple it is and how hearty and good it was on a cold evening.
Bon Appetit!
THANK YOU!! I have only had my coffee, so that looks mouth-watering……
check your email too
It looks delicious, and your photographs are fantastic.
Can’t wait to try it!
The Grange
Such a cook you are! Love your photos, too. And…only a couple months to go? Wow, time is flying by!
XOXO
Joni
This looks so good and I can’t believe how simple the recipe is. I am trying it for sure.
See, and I LOVE chicken! So, fixin’ chicken is just what I do! And champagne, of any kind, with any price range, is my all-time favorite. I could drink it every day, and I suppose I could spare a cup for what looks to be a delicious dish!
This looks really delicious and your photography is excellent. I love her books so much! She’s really nice too. I did a post about her and how she sent me a big bunch of lavender from her place in Provence just out of the blue. I make her pumpkin pie recipe for thanksgiving and it’s delicious. I’ll have to try this one too.
Oh, my goodness! I love your site! I too am a Farmwife with a taste for Paris but it has not translated into any of the decor in ma maison (except tons of Eiffel Towers). I love! your living room and bedroom. What a sweet refuge. You have inspired me and I hope I can repurpose much of the hand-me-down furnishings in such a spectacular fashion as you have.
This post warmed my heart! I did a post a few months ago on Mireille’s marvelous books! I adore them! I have yet to read her new one, but will get it and devour it as soon as I can. The French idea of enjoying food vs. the American fear of good food and their obsession over fast, quick, and instant made me realize I must be French 🙂 Thank you for this marvelous recipe and for enlightening me on how to correctly pronounce her name!
Happy weekend,
Jen
I could eat that right now, and it’s only 6:30 a.m.
fun hanging out with you last night at Annie’s ..
can’t wait for Monday …I suppose there won’t be any leftovers, eh?