Chicken Fricassee With White Wine Recipe
Sauces
How to Cook Beer Basted Mushrooms
These beer basted mushrooms are smooth, velvety and full of flavor. These basted mushrooms go great with steak, burgers or as a side dish. In our test kitchen, we were able to turn a few of our non-mushroom eating friends into fans.
The Mushrooms
This recipe lends itself to just about any variety you'd like to use. You can also use a mix of mushrooms to give it more flavor. The three mushrooms that lend themselves best to basting are the white button mushroom, Crimino mushroom, and the Baby Bella mushroom.
Slicing the Mushrooms
How or even if you cut the mushrooms really depends on how you are going to use them. The recipe stays the same. For burgers or steaks, it's best to slice the mushrooms. If serving as a side dish these look great halved or even whole if the mushrooms are small enough.
The Sauce
The mushrooms will absorb most of the butter but they will also release their own liquid. As the sauce continues to simmer it will thicken slightly.
INGREDIENTS
- 16 ounces of mushrooms sliced
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅔ cup beer
- Sprinkle of thyme (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a 10-inch pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter on medium-high.
- Add mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes or until golden.
- Sprinkle with slat and pepper.
- Add beer and remaining 2 Tablespoons butter.
- Sprinkle with thyme if desired.
How to Cook Beer Basted Mushrooms
These mushrooms are great with burgers, steaks or as a side dish. Let me show how quick and easy they are.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces of mushrooms sliced
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅔ cup beer
- Sprinkle of thyme optional
Instructions
- In a 10-inch pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter on medium high.
- Add mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes or until golden.
- Sprinkle with slat and pepper.
- Add beer and remaining 2 Tablespoons butter.
- Sprinkle with thyme if desired.
Bourbon Whiskey Barbecue Meatballs
Whiskey gives these meatballs a punch but don’t worry, most of the alcohol will be cooked off by the time you serve them!
The Meatballs
When you have plenty of time and feel like really diving into making this recipe you can use our meatball recipe or your own. When you're in a hurry or just don't feel like making fresh take a shortcut and use some store-bought ones. You can find them in the freezer section or at the meat counter. I suggest plain instead of those preseasoned Italian ones.
Cook the meatballs following the instructions in the recipe or on the packaging if using store-bought ones.
The BBQ Sauce
Again, you could make a sauce from scratch but let's be real, there are some really great bbq sauces on the shelves at most stores. In our test kitchen, we use Stubs or KC Masterpiece.
Whiskey Vs Bourbon
For a whiskey to call itself bourbon, its mash, the mixture of grains from which the product is distilled, must contain at least 51% corn. (The rest of the mash is usually filled out with malted barley and either rye or wheat.) ... The distillate must be aged in a new charred oak barrel. In this recipe, we use bourbon whiskey but you could use regular whiskey.
Slow-Cooker
This recipe lends itself well to the crockpot/slow-cooker especially if you're using frozen meatballs.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of traditional style meatballs
- ¾ cup bourbon whiskey
- 1 Cup BBQ sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Directions
- Cook the meatballs according to the recipe or package directions. If using a crockpot or slow-cooker you do not need to pre-cook.
- Warm the barbeque sauce in a small saucepan. Add in the bourbon and mix.
- Pour the warm sauce into a serving dish and add in the cooked meatballs. Serve immediately
Pairings
These meatballs are great as appetizers or for tailgating. Corn on the cob is one of our favorites to serve with these tasty little gems.
Bourbon Whiskey Barbecue Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound of traditional style meatballs
- ¾ cup bourbon whiskey
- 1 Cup BBQ sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Cook the meatballs according to the recipe or package directions. If using a crockpot or slow-cooker you do not need to pre-cook.
- Warm the barbeque sauce in a small saucepan. Add in the bourbon and mix.
- Pour the warm sauce into a serving dish and add in the cooked meatballs. Serve immediately
The Best Vodka Sauce Recipe
The Williams Sonoma Essentials of Italian cookbook states that it was invented in the 1980s by a Roman chef for a vodka company that wanted to popularize its product in Italy.
Along with the penne pasta, this dish generally contains cream sauce mixed with tomatoes or red sauce, which are a combination unusual in Italian cooking because the acidity of the tomatoes tends to make the oil in the cream separate.
Why Add Vodka?
The vodka is an emulsifier, allowing the water and lipids to remain mixed. Vodka is also thought to release certain flavors from the tomato that would otherwise be inaccessible.
INGREDIENTS
- Kosher salt
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 oz. Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 4.5- oz. tube double-concentrated tomato paste
- ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 oz. vodka
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 lb. Penne
- Basil leaves for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill a stock pot or other large pot three-quarters full with water and heat over high. Toss in a handful of salt and bring to a boil while you do your other prep.
- Peel and finely chop 1 onion.
- Firmly smash 4 garlic cloves with the flat side of a chef’s knife and remove peel.
- Grate 4 oz. Parmesan on the smallest holes of the box grater.
- Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a Dutch oven over medium (position it next to pot of water). Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, just until onion is starting to brown around the edges, 5–7 minutes.
- Add entire 4.5-oz. tube tomato paste and ½ tsp. red pepper flakes and stir until paste evenly coats onion. Continue to cook, stirring often, until paste is deep red and starting to brown on bottom of pot, 5–7 minutes.
- Add 2 oz. vodka to deglaze pan and stir to incorporate, scraping bottom of pot. Reduce heat to low.
- Using a heatproof glass measuring cup, scoop about ¼ cup boiling water from pot, then add ¾ cup heavy cream to measuring cup (this brings up the temperature of the cream so it won’t break when you add it to the pot).
- Slowly add warmed cream to Dutch oven, stirring constantly, until a smooth sauce forms. Remove from heat.
- Add 1 lb. penne to pot of boiling salted water and cook according to package instructions until al dente. About 1 minute before the timer goes off, use heatproof measuring cup to scoop up about 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Heat Dutch oven over low.
- Using a spider, transfer rigatoni to Dutch oven along with any water that’s piggybacking on the pasta.
- Add ½ cup pasta cooking liquid to Dutch oven and stir to incorporate, then gradually add half of Parmesan, stirring constantly to melt cheese. You should have a smooth, glossy sauce that coats each piece of pasta. Season with salt and add a splash more pasta cooking liquid to thin sauce, if needed.
- Divide pasta among bowls. Top with remaining cheese, dividing evenly. Drizzle with more oil, then tear basil leaves over.
VODKA SAUCE RECIPE
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 oz. Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 4.5- oz. tube double-concentrated tomato paste
- ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 oz. vodka
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 lb. Penne
- Basil leaves for serving
Instructions
- Fill a stock pot or other large pot three-quarters full with water and heat over high. Toss in a handful of salt and bring to a boil while you do your other prep.
- Peel and finely chop 1 onion.
- Firmly smash 4 garlic cloves with the flat side of a chef’s knife and remove peel.
- Grate 4 oz. Parmesan on the smallest holes of the box grater.
- Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a Dutch oven over medium (position it next to pot of water). Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, just until onion is starting to brown around the edges, 5–7 minutes.
- Add entire 4.5-oz. tube tomato paste and ½ tsp. red pepper flakes and stir until paste evenly coats onion. Continue to cook, stirring often, until paste is deep red and starting to brown on bottom of pot, 5–7 minutes.
- Add 2 oz. vodka to deglaze pan and stir to incorporate, scraping bottom of pot. Reduce heat to low.
- Using a heatproof glass measuring cup, scoop about ¼ cup boiling water from pot, then add ¾ cup heavy cream to measuring cup (this brings up the temperature of the cream so it won’t break when you add it to the pot).
- Slowly add warmed cream to Dutch oven, stirring constantly, until a smooth sauce forms. Remove from heat.
- Add 1 lb. penne to pot of boiling salted water and cook according to package instructions until al dente. About 1 minute before the timer goes off, use heatproof measuring cup to scoop up about 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Heat Dutch oven over low.
- Using a spider, transfer rigatoni to Dutch oven along with any water that’s piggybacking on the pasta.
- Add ½ cup pasta cooking liquid to Dutch oven and stir to incorporate, then gradually add half of Parmesan, stirring constantly to melt cheese. You should have a smooth, glossy sauce that coats each piece of pasta. Season with salt and add a splash more pasta cooking liquid to thin sauce, if needed.
- Divide pasta among bowls. Top with remaining cheese, dividing evenly. Drizzle with more oil, then tear basil leaves over.