Valentines - Cooking With Champagne

Posted on Feb 1st 2016

Cooking with Champagne
Special Recipes to make you look special!

Sea Scallops in Champagne Sauce
Beautiful big creamy white sea scallops are extra succulent in this exquisitely light champagne sauce. To dredge the scallops, place them in a plastic bag with a cupful of flour and shake until they are well coated.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
1 large leek, cleaned, trimmed, halved
lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/3 cup diced yellow bell peppers
2 lb. sea scallops
1 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
1/2 cup dry champagne
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. spinach linguine, cooked and hot

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt half the butter, and add and sauté the leeks and bell pepper 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables to a warm serving dish. Dredge the scallops in the flour, melt the remaining butter in the skillet, and sauté the scallops 5 minutes.
Add the scallops to the vegetables. Stir the champagne into the drippings, along with the sour cream, half-and-half, thyme and lemon zest. Reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Beat in the Parmesan. Reheat the vegetables and the scallops in the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over the linguine. Makes 6 servings.

Chicken in Champagne and Mushroom Sauce
The Champagne and cream lend considerable refinement to the tender chicken meat.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, about 4 lb (2 kg), cut into 12 serving pieces
1 shallot, minced
12 tarragon leaves
Salt and Freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup (5 fl oz/155 ml) brut Champagne
1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) light cream
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot
1 teaspoon mustard
1 lb (500 g) very fresh mushrooms

Directions:
Remove the skin from the chicken pieces and make incisions in the flesh. Put
the chicken, shallot and tarragon into a 10 1/4 inch (26 cm) nonstick sauté
pan. Season with salt and pepper and add the Champagne. Bring to a boil over
low heat. Stir, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the cream, arrowroot and mustard. After the chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, pour this mixture into the pan and cook, covered, for another 15 minutes over low heat. Meanwhile, cut off the mushroom stems level with the caps and discard them. Wash the caps, pat dry and finely slice. Add to the pan after 45 minutes cooking time and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring often. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 5

Roasted Pheasant with Champagne Cabbage
This hearty meal combines juicy roasted pheasant with sausage and cabbage in a champagne sauce.
Author: Ferdinand E. Metz, CMC

Ingredients
2 pheasants, large
1/2 ea bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, as needed
4 oz butter, melted
salt
black pepper, to taste
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 lb bacon strips
2 ea onion, sliced
1/4 ea bay leaf
1 ea cabbage head, sliced, blanched
16 fl oz champagne
1 sprig thyme
3 ea juniper berries, crushed
3 ea parsley sprig
3 ea black peppercorns, crushed
4 oz garlic sausage
4 oz pork sausage
1 ea onion, stuck with a clove
Cheesecloth, 3 1/2-Square Yards

Directions:
Clean and truss the pheasants and stuff the interior with parsley. Brush the pheasants with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Place in a 450°F (230°C) for about 15 minutes making sure the pheasants are brown on all sides.
Remove pheasants and wrap the breasts with strips of bacon. In the same roasting pan saute sliced onions and bay leaf. Add the cabbage and continue to saute for 2 more minutes. Stir in the champagne and chicken stock. Place thyme, juniper berries, parsley sprigs, and peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth and tie with string. Add the spice bag, garlic sausage, pork sausage, and onion stuck with a clove to the pan, along with the pheasants. Bring to a boil and cover with foil. Return pan to the oven and cook at
375°F (190°C), for 45 minutes. Remove sausages and keep warm. Continue cooking until pheasants and cabbage are done. Remove pheasants from pan and allow to rest. Strain liquid into a sauce pan and reserve cabbage. Remove bouquet, bay leaf, and studded onion, and discard. Cook liquid over high heat until reduced to about 1/3 its original volume. Slice sausages and arrange on a serving platter with cabbage and
pheasants and top with the reduced sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Servings: 5