Cooking With Wine – Riesling Chicken

A new way of cooking with wine

Welcome to our new blog series on cooking with wine in which we begin our culinary adventure with Riesling Chicken. When you have a craving for barbecued chicken “beer-can style” but there’s no beer in the house, try this recipe. You can use Gewürztraminer, Müller Thurgau, Muscat or Riesling which are made from cool climate grape varieties.

Before we begin, there’s one thing that we find really handy and that’s to know a few things up front. First, how long will it take to prep, cook, set aside, refrigerate, etc. before it’s ready to eat? Second, how many people will it serve? Lastly, the grocery list.

Nice to know details

Depending on the size of the chicken, the cooking time will vary. However, as a general rule, set aside the following times:

1. 15 minutes preparation
2. 75-90 minutes cooking
3. 10 minutes resting
4. Serves 4 people

These are for the chicken so they don’t include the time to make the broth which you’ll find at the end of this blog.

Grocery List

• 1 whole chicken
• 1/4 cup of coarse sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup of demerara sugar
• 1/4 cup of sweet paprika (or hot paprika if you want a little spice)
• 3 bottles of Riesling (one for cooking, an extra one for cooking just to be safe and one for serving)

The Rub

It’s a great idea to always have some rub on hand so this batch is good for 8 chickens. It keeps well because the all the ingredients are dry.

Mix these ingredients together:

• fresh ground black pepper
• coarse sea salt
• demerara sugar
• sweet paprika (or hot paprika if you want a little spice)

Set 2 1/2 tablespoons aside for this recipe.

Store the rest in an airtight jar to keep moisture out.

Cooking

Just to be safe, it’s a good idea to have a few extra bottles of Riesling on hand. You might need more than 1 bottle for the cooking stage. Also, you’ll need a bottle in the fridge to be served with dinner!

Prepare the chicken

• Remove the giblets and set them aside
• Cut off extra fat inside the neck and body
• Rinse thoroughly, inside and out
• Blot dry inside and out with paper towels
• Rub 1 1/2 tablespoons of Rub on the inside of the chicken
• Rub 1 tablespoon of Rub on the outside of the chicken
• Lay the chicken in a roasting pan
• Pour 1 bottle of Riesling in the bottom of the pan

Roasting

• Place the roasting pan in a pre-heated barbecue
• Close the lid
• Check on it every 30 minutes
• Baste gently so you don’t disturb the spice mixture
• When skin is a crisp dark golden brown, remove from the barbecue
• Let stand 10 minutes to keep the juices in

Notes

• If the wine seems to be evaporating, add more so it doesn’t get dry.
• If the skin seems to be getting too dark, cover loosely with a tin foil tent.
• Internal temperature of the chicken should be 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
• This recipe works great in the oven too, set at a 400 degrees Fahrenheit!

Serving

If it’s just for you, carve it right in the roasting pan. If you’re serving guests, transfer the chicken to a platter and carve at the table. You will be absolutely amazed at how juicy and delicious this chicken is.

Try it with arugula salad garnished with grape tomatoes, shaved parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and homemade dinner rolls.

Pairing

We recommend serving this meal with a chilled bottle of your very own DIY Riesling craft wine. If you’ve used one of the others suggested during cooking, serve Gewürztraminer, Müller Thurgau or Muscat.

The Broth

We never let a good thing go to waste because the leftover juices in the roasting pan make an amazing broth. Even if you don’t have the giblets, the broth turns out to be a delicious addition to other recipes.

• Remove fat, gristle and meat from the bones
• Place bones in a large saucepan along with the giblets
• Add water so everything is submerged
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and let simmer until liquid has reduced to 1 cup
• Remove giblets and set aside for another use
• Strain liquid into a container for the freezer
• Freeze until you need it for another recipe

Tips

• If the bones are sticking out of the water, break them apart a bit so they are submerged.
• This broth is great in soups and stews because it adds such delicious spices!

We hope you enjoy this Cooking With Wine – Riesling Chicken recipe.