CHICKEN IN RED WINE

CHICKEN IN RED WINE

Yesterday was one of those remarkable days where I packed so much activity into a single day that it only goes to prove what I have been sharing through my book MasterMind. Throughout the day I kept praying these simple sentences..God give me the strength to cope with this...and at the end of the day at about 6.00 pm when it was my exercise time...a walk in the park with my daughter...I thought I simply am not going to be able to go today..but like I said your mind can guide your body and so I applied a generous amount of foot cream which soothed my tired feet somewhat and with my i-pod in my ears (the music to some extent distracts you from counting the number of rounds you walk) I marched on. And then I actually came home at 7 and cooked this absolutely delicious meal which was a cut above 5 star... like my hubby said..you sometimes outdo yourself. 

To get back to the recipe I had marinated a whole chicken (cut into 4 pcs) with just half a teaspoon 

of ginger/garlic paste and 1/2 teaspoon garlic/cumin/green chilli paste and a little salt in the morning and left it in the fridge. I then added a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil and butter in a large non-stick pan and added the chicken pieces into it. Then I raised the heat for a couple of minutes and flipped the chicken over. This method seals in the juices so that your chicken will not dry out in the cooking. Then I poured a 1/2 litre bottle of red wine, covered the pan and allowed it to cook on simmer. After a while if you have some clear chicken stock then add it or otherwise a half cup of water will do quite well too. I always like to add some amount of water to whatever I am cooking as that keeps the meat moist and the water invariably dries up at the end of cooking time.I then added 1 tablespoon of homemade gooseberry jam (the jam is quite tart and mildly sweet).Keep turning the chicken pieces over and when you find your wine has evaporated 3/4ths then add a mere half teaspoon of cornflour to one corner in the pan and blend it in. Keep covered for a few more minutes and it is ready.

I had served this chicken with mashed potatoes. Using 1 potato for each person eating I boiled the potatoes (use the floury ones for mashing) and in a glass baking dish I added some milk , olive oil and butter (very minute quantities)salt and pepper to the mashed potatoes. I then covered it with this spread.

2 tablespoons fresh cream

1 large tablespoon fresh curd

1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

2 green chillies fresh from my garden

some grated mozarella and some other cheese( I source my cheese from manali where the cows feed on free range grass growing in the apple orchards. I had gone there for a holiday a couple of years back and located this cheese factory. I communicate with the owner and he parcels me the cheese through fed-ex...a bit expensive but as I want the cheese I willingly pay up).

You simply microwave the potato mash on grill mode.