Day 12: riesling to the challenge
The very idea of a stew, or casserole, brings me great joy, and while I am sure a purist would insist on a definitive boundary between the two, and be most offended by my blasé referencing, what I am referring to here is anything that takes the proud form of a one-pot-wonder. Whether it is cooked on the hob or in oven, is irrelevant to to me. One pot, numerous ingredients, liquid, seasoning and a few hours on, or in, the heat and you have yourself a dish that could deliver with every mouthful in return for fairly minimal effort.
Ease aside - as they can often come with many stages of cooking, such as sautéing vegetables or seering the meat in numerous intervals - they represent the epitome of comfort, particularly during the winter months. The biggest challenge for me when cooking stews and casseroles, is the very fact that many (for those set apart by soft, tender meats anyway) come with a ‘cook low and slow’ label, leaving me feeling pretty useless in the kitchen in the meantime. Though I especially cannot deny this gift when entertaining friends for dinner, and you can actually sit with them as they arrive and enjoy your drink without clanging about the kitchen in a hot mess making sure everything is ready on time. I know this is something I often blow out of proportion; creating unnecessary panic in a space that is supposed to be an oasis of calm.
Anyway, in danger of digressing even further - Nigella’s Coq Au Riesling seemed the perfect candidate to fulfil today’s challenge. I knew the day would be spent kitting out the house for Christmas, which is always a task that takes three times longer than you actually schedule, so I needed something fairly quick to assemble - yet deliver a new flavour, with maximum comfort.
Nigella’s Coq Au Riesling
Riesling has always been, or at least until recently, a wine I have subconsciously avoided, much like Chardonnay. I speak of wines with much naivety, so sommeliers and wine aficionados - I apologise profusely. I shamefully admit that I never opted for Riesling because I rarely heard great things, and I’ve clearly I allowed myself to be influenced by others’ opinions. So, in the spirit of this 365-day Nigella cookalong challenge, I decided to challenge this hearsay myself with Nigella’s Coq Au Riesling.
During cooking, there was a pungency of bay in the air, and I know these were taken fresh from the garden (so I did in fact only use two and not three as instructed), but I thought it unusual. That is to say unusual in a positive frame. I am assuming the botanicals/fruits/flavours within the Riesling were amplifying this very welcomed and comforting scent.
The meat fell apart tenderly (without hours of cooking), the sauce was imbued with rich aromatic notes from the wine and bay leaves and the citrussy acidity from the dry Riesling was balanced perfectly with the splash of double cream. Served with my crispy all spice scented roast potatoes and deliciously sweet, simply buttered, petit pois - this chicken made happy tummies.
Flavour musings
I have on many occasions made chicken in wine, but never with Riesling, and I think it was this that delivered a much richer flavour and scent, as described above. Yet, it was addictive to eat and less heavy on the tummy than it’s red wine counterpart I found. Refraining from continual ladling onto the plate to pacify the accompanying ‘just a smidgen more’ phrase, was a challenge within itself, but securely sealing the remnants in a freezer container ensures leftovers for the very foreseeable future.
