Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce

Last week, I wrote about this past New Year's Eve dinner theme: French. This post is part deux.

For NYE 2016 dinner we had French Onion Soup and Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce — the latter from The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo.

I've cooked several of Khoo's dishes — Lemon and Lavender Chicken, Parisian Asparagus and Coq Au Vin on Skewers, to name a few. Each one has been accessible for us home cooks and delicious for all who enjoy simple French dishes. And the photography in this book is gorgeous. It's the prettiest cookbook I own. I'm such a fan that I've given it to several friends and family for holidays and weddings.

My uncle Frank, a recipient of LPK, says this is one of his favorites in the book. He sometimes makes the sauce to put on top of other dishes. Mais oui!

BTW, I didn't change up Khoo's recipe at all, except I forgot to slice the mushrooms (no big deal). Why mess with perfection?

XOXO,
Amy

PS: After writing this entire post, I got this feeling of déjà vu. Guess what? We rang in 2016 with a French theme and Little Paris Kitchen. Quelle surprise!

Sous chef Penny, 7, stirs the cream sauce.

Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce 
(a.k.a. Poulet aux champignons avec une sauce au vin blanc)
The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock (plus extra in case thinning is necessary)
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

For rest of the dish:
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound chicken (or turkey), cut into chunks
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
Handful of finely chopped tarragon or parsley

Start by making the sauce. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the flour and beat hard until you have a smooth paste (roux). Continue to beat until the roux begins to have a golden color. Remove from the heat and gradually add in the stock, whisking constantly.

Put the pan back over medium heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes, whisking frequently to keep sauce from burning the bottom of the pan. If sauce becomes too thick, whisk in a little more stock.

Add the wine and continue simmering for 10 minutes. When time is up, remove from heat and whisk in the cream and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce is simmering, melt the butter in a large frying pan until sizzling, add the chicken and fry for a few minutes until golden. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

To serve, mix the sauce with the chicken and mushrooms and sprinkle with some fresh tarragon or parsley. (I much prefer tarragon.)

French Onion Soup

On New Year's Eve, I like a food theme. I think that's because after our traditional Thanksgiving (turkey and all the fixings) and Christmas (rib roast) dinners I need a little culinary whimsy — a little je ne sais quoi.

We've done Chinese with homemade crab rangoon. We've done fondue with homemade cheese fondue. We've had make-your-own pizzas. This year's NYE theme was French with French Onion Soup, Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce and for entertainment, An American in Paris on DVD. The soup tasted just as decadent — though not quite as salty (I always use low-sodium broth) as the kind ordered up in restaurants. Everything was magnifique!

Happy 2017, mes amis!

XOXO,
Amy

French Onion Soup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups sliced onions (about 4 medium-sized onions)
48 ounces beef broth
2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Nutmeg — hefty pinch or two
Salt and pepper to taste
4 slices French bread (with extra for leftovers)
4 slices provolone cheese (with extra for leftovers)
2 slices Swiss cheese (with extra for leftovers)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (with extra for leftovers)

Melt butter with olive oil in large stock pot over medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. Do NOT brown onions.

Add beef broth, sherry, nutmeg and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Heat oven broiler.

Place oven-safe bowls on a cookie sheet and ladle soup into each. Place one slice of bread on top of each bowl of soup. (Bread may be broken into pieces if preferred.) Now add the cheeses. Layer each slice of bread with a slice of provolone, half a slice of Swiss and 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Place cookie sheet with bowls into preheated oven and broil until cheese bubbles and browns slightly. Serve and enjoy!

French Chocolate Cake

Recall from last week's post Penny's birthday dinner -- Parmesan and Yogurt Crusted Chicken, Carolina Collard Greens, scalloped potatoes and this nearly flourless French Chocolate Cake.

I made this cake exactly per the recipe in pastry chef David Lebovitz's memoir, The Sweet Life in Paris. I selected it because it offers something for everyone in the George family -- high quality dark chocolate for maman and a cake that doesn't require icing, which les enfants don't like anyhow. Plus, it is so rich that a teeny piece is perfect -- and perfect for papa who doesn't have a huge sweet tooth.

I highly recommend the cake and the book, which explained a lot about Parisians that I already knew but plenty that I didn't. Sweet Life is also full of recipes that appear easy to do -- and eat. In fact, the chocolate cake was my second dish from the book. When I made the Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds, I swear my house smelled just like Chez Omar, the popular Moroccan restaurant in Paris' Le Marais neighborhood.

XOXO,
Amy

French Chocolate Cake
From The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz

9 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper.

In a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water or likewise in a double boiler, heat the chocolate and butter together until just melted and smooth. A note about the chocolate, for this and for homemade brownies I use Scharffen Berger Baking Bar - 70% Bittersweet Chocolate. Worth the 10 bucks.

Remove chocolate and butter from the heat and stir in half the sugar, then the egg yolks, and flour. (I love this part from the book: "You don't need to measure the half-quantity of sugar exactly. Just pretend you're a French woman cooking in her home kitchen and don't worry about it.)

Whip egg whites with the salt, using an electric hand mixer or whisk. Keep whipping until the whites form soft peaks. Gradually whip in the remaining sugar until the whites are smooth and hold their shape when the whisk or beaters are lifted.

Use a rubber spatula to fold one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Next fold in the remaining egg whites just until the mixture is smooth and no visible white streaks remain.

Pour batter into pan, scraping sides of the bowl so you bake up all that goodness. Smooth the top of the batter with rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Do not overbake.

Let cake cook in pan before cutting and serving.

The cake can be stored for up to three days. Some French women believe it is better after it sits for a day or two. The cake can also be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to one month.

Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables

On New Year's Eve Chez George, we like our final meal of the year to be festive and have a theme. We've done make-your-own pizzas, cheese fondue and Chinese food including homemade crab rangoon.

To ring in 2016, we had a French theme.

Our starter: Brie Cranberry Pizza.

Our main event was this spin on traditional coq au vin (a.k.a. chicken in  wine sauce). I have tried beaucoup recipes for coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon (beef burgundy), for that matter, and have never gotten them right. But I can never get these dishes to cook down into a stew; they always turn out too soupy. That's why I was intrigued by the recipe for brochettes au coq au vin (coq au vin on skewers) found in Rachel Khoo's cookbook, The Little Paris Kitchen. (BTW, this cookbook was among my picks in our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.)

Coq au vin in shish kebab form. Genius!

Still, on a rainy NYE I didn't want the hubby to have to tend the grill, so I decided to adapt Khoo's recipe for the oven -- making what I call Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables. Magnifique! Thumbs up -- not that they put down their forks -- from my husband, daughters and our neighbor who dropped by to eat with us.

XOXO,
Amy

Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables
Inspired by The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel  Khoo

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch of thyme
3 bay leaves
2 cups red wine
4 chicken leg quarters, bone in and skin on
Salt and pepper, to taste.

4 ounces of pancetta (cubes of smoked bacon)

1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes or petite white potatoes, peel on and cut in half
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut roughly into 2-inch pieces
6 ounces of button onions, peeled and cut in half
4 ounces of button mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

First, make the marinade several hours or the night before you plan to serve this dish. Fry the garlic and onion in the butter until golden. Add four sprigs of thyme and bay leaves and cook for another minute and then add the wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Leave marinade to cool.

Season chicken legs with salt and pepper and place in large plastic container. Top chicken with pancetta and marinade and then cover and refrigerate for at least four hours and preferably longer or even overnight.

When you are ready to cook, remove chicken -- with some of the pancetta remaining on top -- from container and place in roasting pan. Roast in 425-degree oven for 20 minutes and then reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook or another 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is cut at thickest part.

Meanwhile, place all of the vegetables -- except the mushrooms -- on a lightly sprayed baking pan. Sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil over vegetables and top generously with sprigs of thyme. Place in oven with chicken and remove when done -- should be done around same time as the chicken.

About 20 minutes before serving dinner, place the marinade in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil, then add the mushrooms and simmer until the food in the oven is done.

When plating, spoon mushrooms and wine sauce over the chicken.

2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Cookbooks

We get asked A LOT about our favorite cookbooks. But how could we pick just one? That's like asking us to name our favorite child; honestly, it depends on the day.

Yet we know you have holiday shopping to do. You might want to pick up a cookbook for the foodie in your life or to drop some hints on the titles you'd like to unwrap. So today, dear readers, we offer up some of our faves.

XOXO,
Amy, Andrea and Erin

Disclaimer: These reviews are simply the opinions of the ladies at Hot Dinner Happy Home. No publishers asked us for endorsements or compensated us for writing about their cookbooks.

Amy's Picks: 



Great Food Fast
Despite having the ugliest cookbook cover of all time, this is a good introduction to the pressure cooker. I got a pressure cooker this year -- a gift to myself --- and these easy-to-follow recipes came in handy. After I made Chicken Noodle Soup, it was easy for me to figure out the quantities and timing for my own soups, such as Potato Soup like my mom makes and my Midwestern Vegetable-Beef Soup. For a kid-friendly dinner, try the Pizza Joes. If you are tired of the endless stirring involved in making risotto, then I direct you to the Cajun Crab Risotto.



The Little Paris Kitchen: 120 Simple But Classic French Recipes
This book combines two of my loves -- cooking and France. And it's the prettiest cookbook ever with delicious photos of food and Paris. Consider this a great gift for cooks and francophiles as well as those who would appreciate culinary inspiration or a gorgeous cookbook to adorn their kitchen. A word for those who do cook, the recipes are simple, classic French dishes, some with a little twist. For example, there's Coq Au Vin  On Skewers. I once  made our entire Easter meal from this cookbook and it consisted of Lemon an Lavender Chicken, Parisian Asparagus, Creamy Potato Bake and Creme Brulee. Recipes are listed in French and English. --Amy



The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out

Is healthier eating a goal for 2016? Blogger Angela Liddon's book is my go-to for healthy plant-based meals. This is a collection of both lighter fare and surprisingly filling dishes. Some of my family's faves: Perfected Chickpea Salad Sandwich, Our Favorite Veggie Burger and Glowing Strawberry-Mango Guacamole. I also like Liddon's smoothies, such as the Classic Green Monster Smoothie, and the On the Mend Spiced Red Lentil-Kale Soup. For this year's Super Bowl, in which our Carolina Panthers might (knock on wood) be playing, I plan to whip up some Life-Affirming Warm Nacho Dip. --Amy

Slow Cooker Revolution

This cookbook lived up to its title and revolutionized how I think about slow cooking and how often I use my slow cooker, which is all the time. I have lost count of how many people I've given this cookbook to, but I know Andrea is one. I also have the second volume -- the easy prep edition, which is full of recipes that don't take as long to prepare or cook. But I like this one more because more of its recipes require eight hours or more in the slow cooker, which means dinner can cook away while I'm at the office. Some of my family's faves: Barbecued Beef Brisket, North Carolina Pulled Pork, Easy Barbecued Ribs, Classic Thanksgiving Stuffing and Big-Batch Bolognese Sauce. --Amy

Andrea's Picks:

America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook
So I love to bake, but baked goods aren't always so healthy. Same with the Mexican-inspired dishes my family loves. Thanks to a recommendation from a neighbor, I've found healthier versions of these recipes. I'm still working my way through it, but the Better For You Banana Bread and Layered Tortilla Tart are excellent! --Andrea

A Family Christmas Cookbook
My brother gave me this cookbook nearly a decade ago and despite the title, I use it all year long. Many of the recipes are very similar to meals and goodies I grew up eating, like Ricotta Cookies, Pesto Sun Dried Tomato Pate, Country Chicken and Spiced Red Cabbage. Best thing about this book? It offers numerous recipes for the same dish, which makes it easy to customize to your own tastes. --Andrea

Indian Inspired Gluten Free Cooking
My husband and I love Indian food. Our old Cincinnati neighborhood boasted at least five Indian restaurants. This cookbook demystifies the cuisine and the recipes are surprisingly easy to prepare. Try the Spinach with Lentils and Coconut, Spinach Lentil Rice and the Broccoli with Red Onion and Ginger. I've given this cookbook to several friends. -- Andrea

Slow Cooker Revolution Volume 2: The Easy Prep Edition
The original Slow Cooker Revolution made me fall in love with my slow cooker all over again. I find that I use the easy-prep version more often these days because our family life is increasingly busy and I don't often want to take the time required for lots of crock pot preparations. The Cuban-Style Pork Roast with Mojo Sauce and the Mexican-Style Pulled Pork Tacos are favorites in our house. --Andrea

The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon
Blogger Sara Forte's newest cookbook is my favorite of the year. Bowl + Spoon is filled with simple, wholesome and delicious meals, sauces, sides, dressings, sauces and desserts. Many recipes are vegetarian, which is helpful as I'm always looking for non-pasta meatless meals. And the photos are simply gorgeous.

Erin's Picks: 

America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
This list clearly demonstrates our love for America's Test Kitchen. This cookbook is my go-to for the "standards" and has inspired many of the recipes on this blog. Skillet Broccoli with Toasted Garlic and Lemon, All-American Meatloaf, and Pan-Seared Steaks with Red Wine Pan Sauce are some of my favorites. I also love the buying guides and helpful tips scattered throughout the book. --Erin

An Occasion to Gather (The Junior League of Milwaukee Cookbook)
This book was a gift from my friends Jill and Kelly when we lived in Milwaukee. I love how it represents the city and my time there. Everything I've tried from this cookbook has been delicious. Plus there are great regional insights, like how to organize a beer tasting, a list of necessities for tailgating, and the perfect menu for a Bunco party. Milwaukee will always have my heart and so will this cookbook. --Erin

Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
The title says it all...this book is full of great food that you can get on the table fast. It's full of 30-minute meals, and you'll have most of the ingredients in your pantry. I love how it's organized by season, because, "a change in weather affects how we cook as much as what we cook." --Erin