Delicious New Beginning

[Shanta Plansinis]

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I guess Champagne Chicken could be considered semi-traditional for us. Gleaned from some long forgotten online source, I first made this dish back in the early 2000s when I had champagne (or some kind of sparkling wine) leftover from toasting the New Year. For a while, it became my go-to recipe for a special occasion dish. The tang that the wine imparts to the cream makes the sauce stand out from the usual herbed, sauced chicken. It is delicious over angel hair pasta, but I initially always served it with rice and asparagus on the side.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. In batches of 2, dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess and place in the hot butter/oil mixture. Cook, flipping once, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a plate and continue with remaining chicken.

Add the champagne to the butter mixture and scrape any browned bits from the skillet. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook for about 6-8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Again, remove the chicken from the pan and whisk the cream and rosemary into the champagne. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer lightly until sauce thickens. Return the chicken to the pan and coat with sauce.

To kick off National Prime Rib Day, The Outlook at Windhaven (OAW) community celebrated a day in advance on April 26, with an inaugural dinner! Sixteen residents and VIPs indulged in a delicious meal, highlighted by perfectly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth prime rib, prepared by the talented OAW Culinary team. It was a fantastic way to cap off the first week in their new home.

Barthod. We tasted 7 of the 9 premiers crus, and as usual the terroirs were well-defined. The wines had good freshness and balance, though in general, as with most wines of this vintage, they are going to be enjoyable fairly early. The village Chambolle displayed lots of sweet fruit and was juicy and delicious; it seems likely to be a relatively good value. The Chambolle Gruenchers had excellent minerality, which gave lift to the nose and showed raspberries and caf au lait, good delicacy and a saline finish, while the Chambolle Charmes was quite reduced but had a nice delicacy and a subtle finish of excellent clarity and freshness. Better still were the Chambolle Fues, a pure, silky wine with a lot of body and an exceptionally long finish; and the Chambolle Veroilles, which displayed the richest fruit of the range, along with a peppery quality and a beautiful cherry and mineral-inflected finish. The Chambolle Les Cras was to me the finest wine of the range, with dense, complex fruit, a saline quality, good punch and a brilliant, balanced and very long finish that lasted perhaps 2 minutes.

Clos des Lambrays. While both the Morey village and the 1er cru Les Loups were on the light side, the grand cru Clos des Lambrays was dense on the palate, with rich red fruit, and tannins evident on the spicy finish, which took on greater mineral purity as it unfolded.

The categories are getting ever blurrier, as many ngociants have (and continue to expand) substantial domaines, while an increasing number of domaines also produce ngociant wines. That said, the distinction remains an important one in Burgundy.

Lafarge. While the range was a little inconsistent, the best of these wines captured the potential of this vintage. As usual, the Bourgogne was excellent, with lovely red fruit, and it was soft, easy and charming, though with a touch of tannin on the long finish. Both the Volnay and the Volnay Vendages Slectiones were quite attractive, the former combining nice strawberry fruit with a creamy texture and the latter deeper and more powerful, while the Beaune Grves had a subtle, deep and complex nose, and was dense but with great lift. The Volnay Caillerets was rich and very ripe on the palate, round and with huge fruit character, while the Volnay Clos des Chnes started out fruity and subtle, then acquired more structure and density. The Volnay Clos du Chteau des Ducs was particularly outstanding, with a brilliantly complex nose underpinned by black cherry and spice, and was dense on the palate, with very refined tannins.

Domaine Pierre et Franois Labet. From the owner of Ch. de la Tour, who produces a small range of reds and whites, predominantly from the Cte de Beaune. While all were enjoyable, I particularly liked the Beaune Coucherias, with a nose of cinnamon, earth, perfume and red fruit; there was power here, and a strong mineral streak on the palate, with good volume and length and little apparent tannin.

Henri Germain. Though mostly known for its whites, this domaine produces some very good reds as well. The Bourgogne Rouge, from Meursault, was full of strawberry fruit and was ripe, easy, balanced and quite pleasant. The village Chassagne, while richer than the Bourgogne, with a more minerally edge, was easy and enjoyable if a little rustic. The Meursault Clos des Mouches had a somewhat dull nose but was better on the palate, with excellent minerality, while the Beaune Bressandes was a bit earthy and rustic but extremely well-made, with lots of rich fruit.

Jadot. Among those I found easy to like were the Beaune Clos des Ursules, with lots of ripe red fruit, an earthy note and lots of charm; a ripe, well-knit Pommard Rugiens with very good balancing acidity and a fair amount of tannin; and a Corton-Pougets with grand cru weight, plenty of fruit balanced by good acidity, and refined tannins.

Benjamin Leroux. Among the better wines we tasted here was a Volnay Caillerets, which despite needing to integrate some oak combined a plethora of ripe, rich fruit with a nice stony edge and showed a sense of elegance and depth on the finish.

Bernard Moreau. Once again, this domaine produced some of the finest Chassagnes we tasted, though they are a stylistic contrast to the Pillots, which are leaner, more intensely minerally and more driven, while the Moreaus have a bit more elegance and are softer without losing focus.

The William Fvre Chablis also showed quite well, including a Vaulorent that had very good energy and a long mineral finish; a Bougros that was denser and quite intense on the finish; a powerful Cte de Bougerots (though to me this was a bit heavy; others liked it more than I); a nicely balanced, ripe but minerally Preuses; and a Clos that stood out from the pack, with a nose that indubitably announced itself as Clos and a piercing, powerful palate that nonetheless remained balanced by some slightly light but pleasant fruit and a floral component. This may turn out to be a very fine Chablis vintage, but we simply did not taste broadly enough to draw any firm conclusions.

Faiveley. We only tasted a portion of the range, and of these a few had undergone a very recent battonage and were consequently cloudy and not showing as well as they might have. However, the Bienvenues-Btard had a nice floral quality on the nose and seemed to be a step up from prior years: it had good balance and while not intense (and hinting at some tropical fruit), it was flattering and pleasant, and had an impressively long finish. The Corton-Charlemagne had a nice stoniness on the nose and a floral aspect, and avoided being too rich or heavy, with a slightly light body but fine minerality and a long spicy finish.

During the late 1800s, Dubuque, Iowa was transitioning from a lead mining leader into an industrial center. The growth of mill-working businesses helped push the city to be one of the 100 largest urban areas in America, between 1860 and 1880. This period saw enormous expansion, as well as a bustling downtown. These days, many of the historic buildings have been re-purposed , and continue to serve the community. Our first dining experience in this river city landed us at 1st & Main. It would make for a delicious start in Dubuque, and fuel our afternoon of exploring.

It was pretty easy to locate 1st & Main since the address is obvious. Once inside, we discovered that the interior was a nice mix of old and new. The industrial feel was apparent in the exposed brick and high ceilings. A long bar occupied one side, while table-tops lined the other. There were a few regular tables near the entrance, and even more in a second dining room. We were seated at one of the short tables, with a good view of the entire place. We examined the menu and quickly found a couple of delectable sounding handhelds.

Crystal chose the Greek Chicken Sandwich, which had a nice combination of flavors. The marinated filet is topped with feta cheese, tomato, lettuce, and basil pesto sauce. The sandwich came with a choice of fries. Crystal went for the Garlic Parmesan Sidewinder Fries, which had a nice crisp, and a good texture inside. While her choices were very interesting, mine would be a special treat.

As I perused the menu, I came upon a sandwich made with an intriguing combination of ingredients. Once I found the 1st & Main Burger, my mind was made up. Now, this dish starts basic enough, as it has the best of a bacon burger. The addition of pepper jack cheese adds a little spice, but what comes next was surprising. How about slathering on some peanut butter and jelly? Oh yeah, this had to be tasted. My first bite was a big one so that I was sure to get all of the flavors. Wow! The creamy and sweet addition was the perfect complement to this juicy patty. Toss in a side of sweet potato fries, and I was in foodie heaven. It was definitely a delicious start in Dubuque. The burger was large, but the flavor kept bringing me back for more and more. By the time we left, I was completely stuffed.

Not only does Jen have some great tips for green smoothie beginners, but she is also sharing her magic formula for fruit and vegetable ratios so you can change the recipe to suit your taste, dietary needs, or whatever you have on hand.

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