So the Shipps sent us away with sustenance in the form of
smoked sharp Cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, greatly
appreciated. I preferred the Cheddariness and texture of
the former, but the jack was surprisingly engagingly
spicy. I understand the originals had come from Weggie's.

We got to Cambridge, and in honor of Wegmans and Bonnie
(born near Rochester and brought up in the Finger Lakes),
I pulled out the McGregor reserve Pinot Noir 10, bought
on a previous field trip at an echo picnic, and which had
impressed me pretty well. It was a huge disappointment -
thinned out and wimpy, a little old-tasting, when by my
calculations it should have been at its prime or perhaps
just past. So I opened the McGregor reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon 12, which was quite good, with dark fruit and
a pleasant herbality. The Pinot was not bad bad, so I
decided to save it for cooking.

Bonnie had defrosted a Market Basket No Antibiotics Ever
chicken, and I filleted off the breasts and cut up the rest
of the bird for poulet au vin - browned it in its own fat,
glugged in half the bottle, added standard accompaniments,
and let stew. The wine served very well, and it smelled
nice and smoky, like my mother's Bourguignonne, even though
I hadn't added any bacon. The dish was very good.

Returned to the Pinot next day - I suspected that it might
have opened up, and in fact it had improved massively and
went with the Shipps' smoked cheeses as though they had
been deliberately made for each other. The Pinot with the
Cheddar might have been one of the best combinations I've
encountered in nearly 60 years of such pairings. The wine
had gone from a dumb mute thing to a floral blossom with
light but distinct plum, cherry, licorice, jasmine, and
other scents - quite like the Plum Creek stuff I reported
on some years ago and was very fond of.

We finished the Pinot with the cheeses and then went on
to more of the Cabernet, which was fine but nowhere near
as inspired a pairing.

Chicken in wine - poulet au vin rouge
categories: main, mine, Chinese, French, poultry, simple
servings: 6

5 lb chicken, minus the white meat
chicken fat
butter
1 lg onion, cut as you desire
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 oz Pinot Noir
2 c stock
1 bay leaf
2 ts thyme
herbs as desired: marjoram, savory, sage
4 md carrots
s, p
4 oz mushrooms, sliced (or use buttons)
beurre manie, opt

Remove the skin from the chicken and cut both
into appropriate size pieces.

Render the skin pieces crisp in a large Dutch
oven; then drain on paper towels, retaining
the fat. Eat the cracklings and/or serve to
your nearest and dearest.

Spoon off the fat and save for later, leaving
2 Tb in the pot. Brown the chicken pieces
slowly in this fat, adding butter if needed.
Remove the chicken to a warm place.

In the same fat, brown the onion and garlic.
Deglaze with wine. Reduce by half, then return
the chicken to the pot and cover halfway with
stock. Add herbs, cover, and cook on low for
30 min, turning occasionally.

Cut carrots into bite-size pieces and add to
the bottom of the pot, arranging chicken over.
Season to taste. Cover pot and cook until
carrots are done, at least 30 more min. Add
mushrooms toward the end of cooking; no need
to brown beforehand. Before serving, correct
seasoning again and thicken with beurre manie
if desired.

source: moi
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