Join Chef John in the kitchen as he reveals the secrets to crafting a sensational dish that fuses the exquisite flavors of a rich champagne and mushroom sauce with succulent chicken breasts. Level up your cooking skills, and treat yourself to a gourmet delight with this exclusive recipe.
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00:00 Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Champagne Chicken!
00:08 That's right, champagne problems need champagne solutions, which sometimes is actually champagne.
00:14 And that's exactly what I used to turn some boring old boneless, skinless chicken breasts
00:19 into a truly amazing dish featuring a world-class pan sauce.
00:24 And this might sound fancy, but it is very simple and easy to make.
00:28 And to get started, we will season both sides of our chicken breasts with some kosher salt.
00:33 And you know me, I like to be generous, especially if we're using large breasts.
00:38 These were like 8 or 9 ounces each, so we do want to make sure we use enough salt.
00:42 And once that's been accomplished, we will head to the stove, where we're going to brown
00:46 these over high heat in some olive oil in a pan that's big enough to fit all the breasts
00:50 in one layer.
00:52 And also, it's nice if we use a pan that's a couple inches deep, since we want plenty
00:55 of room to make this incredible pan sauce.
00:58 And while that first side browns for about 3 or 4 minutes, we can go ahead and season
01:02 this side with some freshly ground black pepper, as well as a few shakes of cayenne.
01:07 Oh, and applying this evenly is just for show, since any and all spices and seasonings are
01:12 going to dissolve into the sauce.
01:15 But anyway, the point is we could add that at any time.
01:18 And for me, this was the time.
01:20 And that's it, after 3 or 4 minutes, we'll turn those over, and we'll brown the other
01:24 sides for a few minutes.
01:25 And we're using the term loosely, since there's no skin on these, which is actually what browns
01:30 up when you pan fry chicken breast.
01:32 But as you can see, we are going to get a little bit of color, which will add a little
01:36 bit of flavor, and make our sauce look even better.
01:39 And once we have both sides browned, we will turn off the heat, and remove that chicken
01:43 to a plate.
01:44 And no, it is not cooked all the way through yet, but that's perfect, since we're going
01:48 to finish it in the sauce.
01:50 Speaking of which, we'll start that by tossing some butter into the pan, and we'll turn our
01:55 heat back on to medium high.
01:57 And please note all those gorgeous chicken drippings caramelized onto the bottom of the
02:00 pan.
02:01 That is always how you want to start any great pan sauce.
02:05 And then once that butter is just about melted, we'll go ahead and transfer in some sliced
02:08 mushrooms, along with a nice big pinch of salt.
02:11 And as you might know, what's going to happen is that salt is going to draw moisture from
02:15 the mushrooms, which is going to deglaze and release all that goodness from the bottom
02:19 of the pan, which is going to soak into the mushrooms while they brown.
02:23 And how long you do this, and how deeply brown you get these mushrooms is going to be up
02:27 to you, but I think we definitely want to get a decent amount of color on these.
02:32 Not just for appearances, but also for a deeper flavor.
02:36 So I think we should cook those at least this far, and we could if we wanted even go a little
02:40 further.
02:41 But anyway, these were looking good to me.
02:44 And once they are, we'll stop and add some finely diced up shallots, plus a few cloves
02:48 of finely minced garlic.
02:50 And we will mix those in, and then we'll cook this stirring for about 3 or 4 minutes, or
02:55 until those shallots just start to turn translucent.
02:57 And when we're using shallots, since this is based on an old school French sauce, but
03:03 feel free to substitute with any other kind of onion.
03:06 But anyway, once that's been sauteed for a few minutes, we will stop and sprinkle over
03:10 some flour, which we are going to stir in and cook for about a minute, just to sort
03:15 of take off the raw edge.
03:17 And once that flour stops looking like flour, and it starts sticking to the bottom of the
03:21 pan, and it looks a little something like this, that is our clue to stop and pour in
03:27 the star of the show, which is half a bottle of champagne.
03:32 Although we probably don't want to use real champagne here.
03:34 Alright, let's save that to drink.
03:37 Alright, what we really should use is a nice dry sparkling wine, something in the $10 to
03:42 $12 bottle range.
03:45 And yes, if you're not going to drink the rest, they sell half bottles at this store,
03:49 which is the perfect amount for this.
03:51 But anyway, no matter what we use, we'll go ahead and stir that in, making sure we're
03:55 scraping the bottom of the pan with our spatula, to release any and all that caramelized goodness
04:00 and cooked on flour.
04:02 And once we do that, we're going to let this cook on medium high heat for a few minutes,
04:07 or until that champagne reduces by about half, and this mixture thickens up, which is obviously
04:12 happening because of that flour we added.
04:15 And one visual clue you've gone far enough, is if we drag that spatula along the bottom,
04:20 it actually takes like half a second for that to fill in.
04:22 Right, you see that?
04:24 That is just about perfect.
04:26 And once we do get to that point, we can add the rest of the sauce ingredients, except
04:30 for one secret ingredient later.
04:33 But at this point, we'll add a little bit of tomato paste, for some color, savoriness,
04:37 and acidity.
04:38 And then we'll also do a little bit of freshly picked thyme leaves, which is one of the great
04:43 chicken herbs of all time.
04:45 And then we'll also at this point add some chicken broth, or chicken bouillon, or chicken
04:50 stock.
04:51 And no, it definitely doesn't need to be homemade.
04:53 Okay, I just mixed some chicken bouillon paste into some hot water.
04:57 And we'll stir that in, and wait for everything to come back to a simmer.
05:01 And while we do, I'm going to go ahead and add the last official ingredient, which is
05:05 a generous splash of heavy cream, which I guess is technically optional, since if you
05:10 don't add it, you'll still have a very, very delicious champagne sauce.
05:14 It's just not as delicious, and rich, and beautiful as if we add it.
05:19 And then what we'll do is let this cook on medium high for about 10 minutes or so, until
05:23 everything reduces and thickens up again, which is probably going to take about 10 minutes,
05:29 but that's just a guess.
05:31 So we'll just keep checking with a spoon.
05:34 And right here it was starting to thicken up, but not nearly enough.
05:38 Okay, what we're really going for is something that looks like this.
05:42 Alright, it should definitely be thick enough to coat a spoon, since if it coats a spoon,
05:47 it will definitely coat a chicken breast.
05:49 And once we decide that's gone long enough, we'll reduce our heat to low, and we'll stir
05:54 in that secret ingredient I mentioned earlier, which is a tablespoon of aged balsamic vinegar,
06:00 which adds some acidity and makes the sauce color even more beautiful.
06:04 Plus I think it elevates the flavor of our champagne even more.
06:08 But anyway, that addition is up to you.
06:11 I mean you are after all the Taylor Swift of whether the sauce needs a lift.
06:15 But either way, once that's in, we can go ahead and transfer our chicken back into the
06:19 pan, along with of course, any accumulated juices.
06:24 Can you believe some people throw those away?
06:26 I know, that is terrible.
06:29 But anyway, what we'll do to finish this recipe is finish cooking our chicken breast in the
06:33 sauce over somewhere between low and medium low heat.
06:36 And what I like to do after giving these a quick toss, is let them simmer for a couple
06:41 minutes on one side, and then flipping them over and giving them a couple minutes on the
06:45 other side.
06:46 And I'll keep doing that until my chicken safely cooked through.
06:51 And in between flips, mostly because it's fun, we can take a spoon and baste the tops
06:55 with our hot sauce, which might speed things up a little bit.
07:00 But don't forget, our chicken was already cooked about halfway through, so this really
07:04 is not going to take too long.
07:06 But regardless, we still want to flip those back and forth to make sure we're getting
07:10 a nice even cooking.
07:12 And I would love to give you a specific time for this, but I can't.
07:16 It depends on the size of your chicken breasts, and how long you initially browned them for.
07:21 So time is not going to work, but internal temperature will.
07:25 And what I generally shoot for is an internal temp of 150, which if held at at least that
07:30 temp for 3 to 4 minutes, is totally safe.
07:34 So that's my system.
07:35 If you ask the government, they're going to tell you to go to 165, which yes, would be
07:39 totally safe, and totally, totally dry.
07:44 And that's it, once we determine our chicken's cooked, we are done.
07:48 Although we really should taste the sauce for seasoning, which I did, and it was perfect.
07:53 And if it is, we'll go ahead and pull that off the heat, and maybe make it a little more
07:56 presentable for our guests, or in my case, contractually obligated pictures.
08:02 And all that means is situating these exactly how we want, and then maybe spoon in some
08:06 of that gorgeous sauce over the top, so we get to see some of those beautiful mushrooms.
08:12 And once I was finished fussing around, I went ahead and finished up with a few more
08:15 freshly picked thyme leaves, and that's it, our champagne chicken is ready to enjoy.
08:21 And I know, it's not really champagne chicken, but sparkling wine chicken just doesn't have
08:26 the same ring to it.
08:27 So if the name bothers you, that's your problem, which literally and figuratively, would be
08:33 a champagne problem.
08:35 But anyway, I grabbed a fork and knife and dug in, which is not smart, because you don't
08:39 want to wreck your nice cookware.
08:41 But I could not help myself, since this looked and smelled so good, I had to take the chance.
08:46 And that my friends, really was phenomenal.
08:48 Right, these type of old school pan sauces are classics for a reason.
08:53 Right, the depth of flavor here is impressive.
08:56 And if everything goes according to plan, we're going to end up with the perfect balance
08:59 between sweet and sour and savory.
09:03 And yes, we could do the exact same sauce with any white wine, but there's just something
09:07 a little extra special that happens when we use the champagne.
09:10 It just seems to make it that much better, and of course makes for a much sexier name.
09:16 And I know a lot of you aren't paying attention, because you're scared I'm going to scratch
09:19 this pan, like my wife.
09:21 So let me stop before I do any real damage, and I'll serve one of these breasts up, like
09:26 God intended, on top of some mashed potatoes.
09:30 And if you follow the recipe fairly closely, you should end up with four very generous
09:33 portions of sauce.
09:35 And then I went ahead and finished up with some more fresh thyme.
09:39 And then I grabbed my fork and knife, and went back to eating this, in a much smarter,
09:44 more appropriate way.
09:46 And by the way, at home, just put the chicken next to the mashed potatoes, since it's a
09:49 lot easier to cut and eat that way.
09:51 Right, people like me have to put it on top, to give it some height, so it looks better
09:55 for the picture.
09:57 But either way, no matter how you serve this, as I was saying, it is beyond delicious, and
10:02 one of my favorite chicken preparations of all time.
10:05 And whether you end up doing this with sparkling wine, or you actually use real champagne,
10:10 this is a must-learn, must-make dish, and I really do hope you give it a try soon.
10:17 So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
10:22 more info, as usual.
10:23 And as always, enjoy!
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