Classic French Recipes
Salad Greens with Pear, Feta Cheese and Toasted Walnuts
- 4 to 5 ounces mixed salad greens, rinsed and drained
- 1 or 2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- 3 to 4 tablespoons Meyer lemon olive oil (or other lemon olive oil)
- sea salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup toasted walnuts*
- black pepper, fresh cracked
Place the salad greens in a large bowl. Dice the pear and crumble the feta cheese and set aside.
Drizzle the lemon olive oil over the salad greens and toss gently to coat them. Season the greens with sea salt, sprinkle with vinegar and toss. Add the diced pears and crumbled feta and toss to combine.
Divide the salad among four to six salad plates and top each salad with chopped, toasted walnuts and fresh cracked black pepper. Serves 4 to 6.
*To toast walnuts: Spread the walnuts in a single layer in a shallow baking dish. Place in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes, turn over and bake for 3 to 5 minutes more, until lightly toasted. Spread the walnuts out on a plate to cool. Coarsely chop when cool.
Recipe by Jayni Carey©Copyright, Feb., 2011.
Coq au Vin (Chicken In Wine)
- one 3 to 3 ½ -pound chicken, cut into pieces
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ounce pancetta, chopped
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 6 ounces frozen pearl onions
- 10 ounces carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds
- 3 tablespoons brandy
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned and halved or quartered
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 ¼ cups dry red wine
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 small bay leaf
- 3 sprigs parsley, tied together
- 1 celery rib, cut into quarters
- 1 tablespoons chilled butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Rinse the chicken pieces, pat dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large braising or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chopped pancetta and cook until lightly browned. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the chicken pieces (do not crowd) and brown on all sides over medium to medium-high heat. Transfer the browned pieces to a baking dish or platter, reserving the drippings in the pan.
Add the pearl onions to the pan drippings and brown them, shaking the pan frequently. Transfer the onions to the baking dish with the chicken, reserving the drippings in the pan. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the drippings. Add the carrots and cook for about 5 minutes to soften. Add the brandy and cook for 2 minutes, shaking the pan to coat the carrots and deglaze the pan. Return the chicken and onions to the braising pan. Add the smashed garlic clove and the reserved pancetta. In a medium skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, turning to coat with the butter. Cook the mushrooms until lightly browned, then add them to the chicken and vegetables.
Whisk the mustard into the beef broth and pour it around the chicken pieces and vegetables. Add the red wine. (The chicken should be partially, but not completely, covered.) Sprinkle with thyme and tuck the bay leaf, parsley and celery around the chicken pieces. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 50 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Discard the bay leaf, parsley sprigs and celery, leaving the vegetables and pan juices in the pan.
Mash 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of flour to form a paste. Bring the vegetables and pan juices to a simmer over low heat. Pinch off bits of the butter and flour mixture and stir in as much as needed until the sauce is slightly thickened. Continue simmering the sauce for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. To serve arrange the chicken pieces on dinner plates or in wide pasta bowls and ladle the vegetables and sauce over the chicken. Serves 4 to 6.
Serving suggestion: Serve boiled or mashed potatoes or wide egg noodles with the Coq au Vin.
Wine recommendations by Tom Hodge:
2008 Tarot Grenache, Alpha Box & Dice, Australia
2007 Este De Bodegas, Alto Almanzora, Red Table Wine, Spain
Recipe by Jayni Carey©Copyright, Feb., 2011.