Chicken with Cipollini Onions and Riesling

Admit it.  You have a celebrity crush.  Whether it's the girl/guy you want to be or the girl/guy you want to be with, everybody has one.

I have a total celebrity crush on Giada De Laurentiis.

She's so awesome, it's almost cruel.  She gets paid to cook food (something I love) on TV (another thing I love.)  She's real pretty (who has hair-commercial hair like that!?  Come on!) and lives in a killer house.  (Not that I've actually been, I just see it on the Food Network.)  Plus, her husband makes pants.  WHAAAAAT?!?!  That's just not fair.  I am uber proud of my husband, but if he took up pant-making on the side, I wouldn't complain.

I could wax eloquent about Giada all day, but I digress.  The subject at hand is food...Giada's food, in this case...so let's get to it.

I set out to make Giada's recipe "Chicken with Tarragon and White Wine." Star ingredient here is, obviously, tarragon.  Well, I went to the grocery store, and the tarragon looked like dog doodie.  Yes, DOODIE.  And I was not about to pay $3.99 ($3.99!!!) for nasty-looking tarragon.  I figured I'd just substitute the dry stuff from my cupboard at home.

Well, that's an easy enough substitution...if you actually have dried tarragon.  I, of course, did not.  Sigh. I began sniffing every spice in my cupboard until I found something that I thought would work.  I settled on poultry seasoning, which is apparently useful for something other than stuffing my Thanksgiving turkey.  Basil was a close second, though.  So, if you are fresh out of poultry seasoning, just sniff around until you find something that smells delicious.  And then change the name of the recipe so no one knows about the mistake.

On that note...here's my recipe for "Chicken with Cipollini Onions and Riesling."

Chicken with Cipollini Onions and Riesling
Serves: 4

1/4 cup olive oil
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (feel free to use dark meat, I just prefer the breast)
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups cipollini onions, peeled, trimmed, and halved if large
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup Riesling
3 1/3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

In a Dutch oven, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and dust with flour.  Cook the chicken until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.  Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium-high.  Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and saute until they are softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds of cooking.  Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Return the chicken to the pan.  Add 3 cups of chicken broth and the poultry seasoning.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through.  This will take about 30 minutes.  Turn chicken several times during cooking.  Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil while you finish the sauce.

In a small bowl, mix together 1/3 cup chicken broth and 2 tablespoons flour.  Whisk the flour mixture into the sauce until it is smooth.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until it has thickened, about 8-10 minutes.  Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper.  Return chicken to the pot and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons parsley.

The sauce for this chicken is fan-freakin'-tastic.  I'd recommend serving it with something that you'll want slathered in the sauce.  Mashed potatoes, perhaps?  Please feel free to comment if you have any suggestions for a side dish.