Champagne-baked Chicken

I was at as wine store with a friend, and the sales person was extolling the benefits to buying this champagne they were selling – among them that you could use it as a marinade for chicken – sounds good to me!!

I found a very simple recipe online from French Women Don’t Get Fat which seemed to fit the bill:

– Get chicken pieces with the skin on – they say breasts but the store only had drumsticks – no worries!
– Season them with salt, pepper, and herbs – I used thyme
– Stick a piece of garlic into the meat under the skin – they actually say shallot but I didn’t have any, but either way this is brilliant because it really flavored the chicken – will definitely do something to this effect from now on!
– Pour in 1/2c champagne
– Broil the chicken on both sides for ~5 minutes until it’s a little crispy
– Add in another 1/2c of champagne
– Bake at 475*f until done, basting with the liquid a couple times, ~25 min
– Serve!

Optional (their suggestion – a good one): make sautéed mushrooms to go with it with salt, pepper, olive oil, butter, and lemon juice. Yum!!!

Oh yeah, and drink the rest of the champagne with dinner 😉