Recipes

Chicken in White Wine Fennel Sauce

The Mediterranean flavors of fennel, garlic, and rosemary are perfect with chicken. The fennel and chicken are sautéed and then briefly braised in a chicken wine broth, which becomes a tasty light sauce.

Want to cook with wine? Always! Adding wine to a sauce makes it taste like it’s from a fancy restaurant…but it’s easy to make at home! The flavor is tangy from the wine and savory from the fennel rosemary, and garlic. It’s a perfect combination! 

Why cook with wine? Italian and French style recipes often call for white wine in the ingredient list. It’s used to deglaze the pan or add a complex, acidic flavor to dishes. It adds incredible complexity to risotto or pan sauces like this dish!

What wine to use for cooking? You can use any dry white wine for this recipe. You’ll want a crisp white wine that doesn’t have any hint of sweetness. A few types of white wine that are great for cooking are:

  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Chardonnay
  • Pinot Grigio
  • Pinot Gris

Making a white wine sauce is easier than you think! It might sound fancy. But it takes just 15 minutes to whip up with a short list of ingredients. 

So grab a bottle of your favorite dry white wine, pour yourself a glass and let’s get cooking!

The fennel and the rosemary will pair especially nicely with a full-bodied red wine such as Scout & Cellar’s ETNICO PINOT NOIR. Elegant and bright with black cherry, pomegranate, herbs, and a hint of turned earth on a light-bodied frame with a lingering finish.

I served this dish with my creamy parmesan orzo.  

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/3 pounds in all)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 large fennel bulb (about 1 1/4 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 1 pint sliced mushrooms
  • ½ medium yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium shallot, diced
  • ½ cup canned low-sodium chicken broth  
  • ½ cup white wine, such as Scout & Cellar Gallivant Chardonnay
  • 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Fresh-ground black pepper and Salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pan with 1 teaspoon of rosemary and cook until brown, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until almost done, about 3 minutes longer. Remove chicken and set aside. We will finish cooking the chicken in the broth in the oven. 

Deglaze the pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of wine in the pan, scrape the bottom with a wooden spatula vigorously as the liquid comes to a boil. Do not let it boil for more than a few seconds and you make sure you’ve released all the particles from the pan. 

Add butter and melt. Add fennel, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the fennel is golden brown and almost done, about 12 minutes. Add the onion and saute for 1-2 minutes, add the shallot and garlic, stir and cook for additional 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes.  

Add the wine and broth bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the veggies are tender, about 3 minutes. Nestle the chicken into the pan and bake for 10 minutes until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 185 . 

Stir in the parsley.

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Recipes

Chicken Pot Pie with a Twist

I love getting a rotisserie chicken from Publix and turning it into something even more delicious!

In the recipe you can use that leftover Turkey from Thanksgiving or grab a rotisserie chicken. 

Pot pies are the ultimate casserole, there’s nothing more comforting and satisfying than a creamy pot pie gravy with a crispy, buttery outer crust. It’s the perfect treat on a cold day. Even if it can’t be eaten all at once, it’s just as good as leftovers.

This pot pie is made with rotisserie chicken, hearty winter vegetables (2 kinds of potatoes), a white wine sauce and topped with buttery puff pastry. I love using hearty root vegetables in the winter, feel free to swap in any of your favorites! The white wine sauce is the secret! It takes a classic comfort dish up a notch!

So, it’s time to preheat the oven, grab a bottle of Scout & Cellar TANGOTANGO Sauvignon Blanc, pour 1 cup in a measuring cup (for the sauce) and enjoy the rest of the bottle as you cook! 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 pint mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tbsp fresh thyme sprigs
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup of dry white wine (such as Scout & Cellar TANGOTANGO Sauvignon Blanc)
  • 1 1/2 cups diced gold Yukon potatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups of diced baby purple potatoes
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 1/2 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, cubed 
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheeses, shredded 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper 
  • ½ cup of half & half
  • 1 package/sheet of frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
  • Italian parsley, chopped (for topping)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the filling: In a large dutch oven or heavy bottom skillet heat to medium heat and add in butter. Once butter has melted add in diced onion, cook until translucent (3-5 mins). 

Add mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add carrots for another 3 minutes. 

Add in thyme, garlic, flour, salt, and cracked pepper and stir until pasty, cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add in chicken broth, and wine to the mixture. Bring mixture to a simmer (5-10) minutes. Sauce will have thickened. Mix sauce with potatoes and chicken, cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and stir. 

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling and the potatoes are fork tender. 

Remove the casserole from the oven and top with 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry (I cut the pastry in circles with a circle cookie/biscuit cutter or you can just lay the sheet on top). Sprinkle the puff pastry with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Continue to bake the casserole according to pastry package directions (mine took about 25 minutes) until the pastry is flaky and golden.

Let the casserole cool for 5-10 minutes and top with chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese.