Cooking With Wine

I mentioned in an earlier post I don’t make too many dishes which have wine as an ingredient besides pasta sauces, but there is one dish which has become a favorite and you owe it to yourself to give it a try. The original recipe is from Lidia’s Italy in America and it is called Roberto’s Chicken Piccante. I made it the first time using roasted red peppers from the jar and pickled hot cherry peppers and it was divine. The next time I used fresh red peppers and it was good, but nowhere near as flavorful. Last night I made it again and we had no hot cherry peppers so I winged it and from now on I think I’ll make it this way. Here’s the recipe I made last night:

4 deboned chicken thighs
Seasoned salt
Flour
Olive oil
8 garlic cloves halved
1 jar of roasted red peppers
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt both sides of thighs and then dredge with flour shaking off any excess flour. Put into hot olive oil skin side down and brown both sides. This should take 8 to 10 minutes.

Put garlic halves and roasted red peppers in between browned chicken pieces and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. (You must decide if the peppers should be drained or not. If the liquid is water with little flavor I would ditch it. If the liquid has good flavor then you may decide to keep it, but add it later when you add in the wine. Cut any large pieces of pepper into pieces no larger than a Post-it note.)

Sprinkle with Oregano, cover and cook for 5 more minutes. Uncover and add wine, red pepper flakes, and red wine vinegar. Cook uncovered until sauce reduces and thickens. Salt to taste with seasoned salt. If you salt before reduction the sauce will have more complexity, but you must be careful to consider how the reduction will concentrate the salt in the dish.

The red pepper flakes and vinegar will approximate the flavor of the pickled red cherry peppers and IMO make a better flavor combination. I never measure the wine, I think last night we were closing in on half a bottle I dumped into the sauce. That’s the beauty of cooking on the stovetop, you can tweak as needed and still come away with a great dish. I prefer to serve this with orzo pasta, but you can use anything you desire. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Please “Like” Bangers and Mash on Facebook

Pretty simple call to action today folks. If you are so inclined, please give the Facebook page a like. Now don’t be like most people and only like an individual story, like the page. For almost two years I have been posting daily and it will show up in your feed if you have the settings correct. There is an occasional glitch where the graphic to the daily post doesn’t show, but other than that it is a great way for you to decide if the topic of the day is something you want to read. Try it!

Honey Badger Lower

Ran across this Spike’s Tactical Honey Badger lower receiver. I must say this is almost too cool for school. I wish the safe marking was “Care,” the fire marking was “Don’t Care,” and leave the obvious marking in place. 😉

Bulleit Rye

Bulleit Rye went on sale recently at our liquor stores so of course I had to have a bottle. It has a great aroma of rye and a smooth flavor. I mixed a few old fashioned gingers and the next thing I knew the bottle was half full.  This is a very nice rye and the flavor is spicy and restrained. Like their standard Bourbon, this one is 90 proof, but uses 95% rye in the mash. While Bulleit is probably never going to make the top 10 list anywhere, every time I buy a bottle it isn’t long before it is drained. With an attractive price point and an excellent drinkability Bulleit is definitely one to have around if you can keep it around. 😉

Friend or Foe?

Our local rag had an article on Wednesday entitled Report Urges Wider Gun Checks. (Anyone else find it interesting the online version has a different title?) The article quotes a Duke University professor and after spending some time online I just cannot figure out if he is friend or foe or even something in between. I’ve read what I could and in the end come out scratching my head trying to determine where the professor is coming from. I did find one interesting article he penned where it was stated 61% of all firearm deaths are suicides. In the end I’m starting to believe his real interest lies in making sure firearms do not fall into the hands of the mentally unstable although the professor states 5% or less of all gun violence is at the hands of the mentally ill.

If someone knows where Dr. Swanson stands, please pass the information along.

Beer Across The Globe

I ran into a blog post by swiss beerhunter Bov and I think it is fantastic. It was actually a follow-up to a previous post. Both posts are about the number of breweries worldwide and if you like statistics about beer both of these posts are something you should check out!

Number of Breweries Worldwide – 7/2/2011

Number of Breweries Worldwide (Reloaded) – 12/24/2013

If you want my take on why there is so much unrest in the Middle East it is simple, they don’t have enough breweries. 😉

Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Four Roses Single Barrel

A good friend had recommended I try the Four Roses Bourbons and while I like the Small Batch, but it just hasn’t thrilled me. I decided to follow his advice and give the Four Roses Single Barrel a whirl and I am glad I did. This Bourbon is fantastic and the price point at $35 is quite approachable. It does have a nice balance of smoke and alcohol, but with an underlying sweetness which is extremely well-balanced. This one is not far removed from Blanton’s. Maybe I have discovered I like single barrel Bourbon, but I’d hate to make that assumption only to have it skewered. Anyway, if you see the FR Single Barrel be sure to pick it up. You will be glad you did!

Plain as the nose on your face.

Why does it seem so many people today refuse to use common sense? I happened upon a story from Cleveland where a man with a concealed permit had his firearm in the car, but was reporting information about a shooting to police. The man was not involved in the shooting and his firearm was not in his possession. The officers claim the man said he had been drinking and they confiscated his firearm and arrested him before dropping the charges three days later and setting him free. The rub is the man indicated he had not been drinking and the police refused to return the firearm. Ultimately the man took them to court and they settled the case returning the firearm and paying almost $7,000, but did not admit to any wrongdoing. I actually don’t need them to admit they were wrong and stupid, it is as plain as the nose on your face.

Old Fashioned Ginger

I’m not sure if I created a drink or not, but for the past six months or so I have supplemented my Bourbon and ginger with a little pick me up. I add a maraschino cherry and a bit of the juice and Stirrings Blood Orange bitters. I do one part Bourbon to one to two parts ginger ale using a generic ginger for the mix. Actually the ginger is the least expensive brand from Lowes Foods and the cherries are the lowest price with stems. For the cherry juice I use a bout half a teaspoon and for the blood orange bitters a teaspoon or so.

What you end up with is a very nice ginger based Bourbon drink which has the citrus and cherry characteristics of an Old Fashioned. Give it a whirl if you are so inclined.