This Thursday night, July 29th, Chef Richard Haake will do a recipe demo paired with  X Winery’s Carneros Chardonnay. Richard will do a cajun classic, Chicken Maque Choux, which is pronounced “Mock Shoe”. Its is so good and the recipe is below.  This dish is seasonal classic that utilizies corn, peppers and tomatoes. Its paired with the X Winery Carneros Chardonnay. We hope to see you at the Chefs Market. Richard will be giving out samples with the help of Chef Annie Baker. X Winery will also be there so join us for a summer pairing.

Cheers!!!

Chicken Maque Choux

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon corn oil

salt and fresh ground black pepper

2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skin off, cut into bit size pieces

½ cup bacon

1 tablespoon bacon fat

½ cup onions, small diced

¼ cup celery, small diced

¼ cup green bell pepper, small diced

¼ cup red bell pepper, small diced

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 cups white wine

4 ears fresh corn, fresh cut off the cob, be sure the scrape out all the pulp

1 cup roma tomatoes, seeded and medium diced

1 tablespoon fresh picked thyme

1 tablespoon old bay seasoning

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup of heavy cream

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

salt and fresh ground black pepper

In a large sauté pan over high heat add the corn oil. Season the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the pan; sear the meat well making sure to brown on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and to a plate lined with a paper towel. In the same pan add the bacon. Cook until crispy. Strain the bacon fat into a small bowl, reserve and place the crisp bacon on a plate lined with a paper towel. Place deep-sided sauté pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of bacon fat to the pan. Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, and garlic then sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes or until tender. Add the wine and reduce until almost dry. Add the corn and tomatoes, stir together with the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in thyme and Old Bay seasoning. Place the chicken back in the pan and cover with the chicken stock. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid from the pan, stir in the heavy cream and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Finish with a dash of hot sauce and serve over rice with te crispy bacon as a garnish.