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Menu Ideas

• ARIEL Brut Cuvée
  • ARIEL Creamy Curried Chicken Breast
  • Sparkling Melon with Strawberries
• ARIEL Blanc
  • ARIEL Teriyaki Snapper with Sunomono Salad
  • Nectarines with ARIEL Blanc Sabayon
• ARIEL Chardonnay
  • ARIEL Risi Bisi MEV
  • Champagne Poached Salmon fillets
  • Sautéed Chicken
  • Summer Fruit Compote
• ARIEL White Zinfandel
  • Cinnamon Apple Frozen Yogurt
• ARIEL Merlot
  • Petite Coq au Vin
• ARIEL Cabernet Sauvignon
  • ARIEL Texas Chili
  • Italian Beef Stew With Polenta
  • Mushroom Barley Soup

Petite Coq au Vin

Serves 6

A chicken cooked gently in red wine, now what could be more French… or more delicious? I took this classic and used the Rock Cornish game hens, the small flavorsome North American bi-partisan or multi national experiment in genetics and bathed it in a Napa Valley ARIEL Merlot. Add new potatoes to the “casserole” and spinach as a side dish and you’ll get more than a “whiff” of the pleasures in store for you at the French flavored tables of Quebec in Canada.

Ingredients

• ½ tsp. Olive oil
• 2 Rock Cornish game hens 24 ounces, each cut in half
• 10 ounces pearl onions, peeled
• 3 ounces Canadian bacon, cut in ½ inch pieces
• 2 medium turnips, peeled and cut in 1" pieces
• 12 medium mushrooms, whole
• 1 pound tiny new red potatoes whole with skin intact
• ½ tsp. Thyme
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• ¼ tsp. Pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 1½ low sodium canned or homemade chicken stock
• 1½ cups ARIEL Merlot
• 2 TB sherry mixed with 4 TB water (slurry)
• 1 pound spinach leaves, washed and stemmed
• 2 TB chopped fresh parsley

To Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet on medium. Brown the hens skin side down, turning once, 5 minutes. It will be a tight squeeze, but no matter. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Place the onions, Canadian bacon, turnips, mushrooms, potatoes and thyme into the pan and cook stirring 2 or 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, bay leaves and pour in the stock and wine. Return the browned hens to the pan, cover, and bring to a boil. Bake in preheated over 40 minutes.

Remove the chicken to a plate to cool slightly, before removing the skin and bones. Leave the flesh in the largest pieces possible. Discard the skin, bones, and bay leaves. Carefully strain the liquid into A fat strainer then pour back into the pan (through a sieve) without the fat. Bring to a boil and let it Boil, uncovered, 10 minutes to reduce the liquid and finish the vegetables.

To Serve

Stir in the slurry and return the cooked chicken. Place a handful or raw spinach leaves into each of 6 bowls and ladle the stew over the top. Sprinkle parsley on each serving.