By Lisa Golden Schroeder

No, I promise I wasn’t trying to fool anyone. At the last minute I decided to sprinkle some crumbled feta cheese over the salad we served at the 2010 Minnesota Monthly Food and Wine Experience show in Minneapolis. We had such a good time meeting everyone who stopped by our booth, though we found ourselves almost “in the weeds” when the show opened on Saturday. Hundreds of people streamed in late morning, and we could barely keep up with the hungry crowd. The garlicky chicken and toasted couscous salad we dished up was a hit—the couscous created as much of a stir as the interest in how Just BARE™ chickens are raised. But one lady teased us that the recipe we handed out was missing that important ingredient, like the church basement ladies who give out their best recipes with a crucial step slyly omitted!

The aroma of sautéing shallots drew folks in, too; that maple and red wine sauce for the chicken fillets was a good choice for making an impact. Its simplicity and ease underscored our message of uncomplicating great food. It was sort of funny how we were making and sharing really delicious dishes based on a few excellent ingredients and bold flavors while local chefs battled to win a complicated “Iron Chef”-style cooking competition across the convention floor. And we had not only attendees but vendors from other booths stopping by because they were told we were offering up some of the best food at the show. I think it was because it was freshly prepared and simple—recipes that can be whipped up on a weekend night or ahead of time for families struggling to find extra moments to sit and share a good meal but who really care about what they eat.

I think we had a successful weekend increasing the visibility of our products. And there were lots of avid (and discriminating) cooks who stopped by to say they’re big Just BARE™ fans now as more and more grocery stores have a Just BARE™ section in their meat departments.  As one fan put it, “you can just taste the difference.”

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I think I’m one of Just BARE™ Chicken’s biggest fans. Knowing where the chicken grows and how it makes its way to my family table is a relief—and a delight—in these days of alarming stories about food safety. And I’m not the only one who recognizes that family-owned farms and companies seem to have the pulse of what careful cooks are looking for—Just BARE™ keeps cropping up in the news as a brand to watch. So I’m very glad to represent such a delicious product at the upcoming Minnesota Monthly Food & Wine Experience.

I always think of this food show for passionate “foodies” as an extravaganza rather than an experience. The event is a fundraiser for Minnesota Public Radio and celebrates its 2oth anniversary this year. And it’s gotten bigger and bigger as the years have gone by. The sheer volume of flavor-packed edibles and quaffable wines, on display and generously served up, is incredible. And the food purveyors—as varied as small local organic farms that produce amazing cheeses, regional spice companies and smoky barbecue pit masters—compete with wine wizards and brew maestros from all over the world.  Just BARE™ Chicken is one of many show sponsors, and I’ll be hanging out in our luxurious show booth, demonstrating and sampling a few of our favorite recipes for crowds hungry to taste new and innovative food.

I decided that since it’s a food and wine show, I’ll cook up the maple and cranberry glazed chicken from the New Year’s post. I’ll deglaze the skillet with red wine and real maple syrup after I brown some chicken breasts, creating a luscious sauce. The aroma is so enticing I thought it would draw people over to see what we’re up to. When I’m not cooking, we’ll sample an addicting salad of tender pearl pasta, chunks of garlicky sautéed chicken thighs, Kalamata olives and sweet teardrop tomatoes tossed with a lemony basil pesto. If you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to drop by and see us.

GARLIC CHICKEN AND TOASTED COUSCOUS SALAD

Makes 6 (about 1-1/2 cups) servings

Pearl, or Israeli couscous, is different from the golden grains of North African couscous. It’s a very small semolina pasta that is rolled into balls, then is toasted to dry. This seals each pearl of pasta so that when it’s cooked in water or broth it retains its texture, while still soaking up the flavor of and sauces and dressings. It’s very quick cooking and makes a wonderful salad that can feed a crowd and keep in the refrigerator for several days without getting soggy.

INGREDIENTS

For the salad

1-3/4 cups uncooked pearl couscous or orzo (Rosamarina) pasta

2 teaspoons olive oil

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 package (20 ounces) Just BARE™ hand-trimmed boneless skinless thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

2 cups grape cherry tomatoes, halved

½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted, chopped

6 cups arugula or mixed baby greens, if desired

For the dressing

1 large lemon

3 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tarragon or white wine vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add couscous; toast until lightly golden.
• Bring eight cups water and one tablespoon salt to a boil. Add couscous; cook for about 10 minutes or just until al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water; place in a large serving bowl.
• Heat two teaspoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and chicken; sauté for about 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Cool.
• While the chicken is cooling, prepare the dressing. Grate the zest from lemon; juice lemon. Whisk together juice, zest, pesto, two tablespoons olive oil, and vinegar.
• Add chicken, tomatoes, and olives to couscous. Toss with dressing until well coated; season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve over greens, if desired.

By Sally James

Arguably America’s favorite white wine, chardonnay has evolved into a beverage of probably more diversity than any other wine.  However, in all its styles and characters it seems to always go well with chicken, depending on the accompaniments of course.

Now, as you know, I’m a firm believer that one should enjoy the beverage they like with their meal, regardless of those “wine rules.” But there are ways to make a dish a little more on par with the particular wine and make the whole experience more enjoyable!

For example, if you were to be drinking a classic Napa chardonnay, usually big, oaky and buttery, I would choose a chicken dish with depth and body and bring some cheese into the dish also.  Or a warm salad with orzo, chicken pieces, ricotta and peas, drizzled generously with some rich, fruity extra virgin olive oil.

If you were to opt for a French chardonnay such as a Mersault with its wonderful depth and complexity, try cooking the chicken long and slow with bay leaves, thyme, chicken stock and wine, a bit of lemon for freshness at the end, and serving on a buttery bed of mashed potato or squash (drizzled divinely with truffle oil if you dare). A lighter white burgundy with mineral and fruit would be delightful with a chicken schnitzel and green beans with almonds, or some wine braised wild mushrooms.

Australia is renowned for its unoaked chardonnays, ripe and fruity, fresh and vibrant and perfect for chicken with fresh herbs, a pizza or Asian dishes such as stir fry or pad Thai.

And just pure and simple, sauté chicken and finish by braising with a splash of whatever chardonnay you are enjoying and a few leaves of basil – a meal fit for a king regardless of the accompaniment. A bed of pasta, farro or rice, zucchini, spinach, perhaps?

Cheers!

By Sally James

There are way too many rules out there when it comes to selecting food to go with wine! Whatever happened to individual preferences and tastes? I recently had a long conversation with Tim Hanni, an amazing Master of Wine (the first in the USA) and creator of Vignon (a seasoning designed to make food more wine-friendly with any varietal).  His mission is to educate people to understand their own wine palate – that is, whether their taste buds are hypersensitive or just tolerant – and this is largely determined by the number of taste buds on their tongue.

“The wine industry has convinced people what they have to drink to be sophisticated,” Hanni says. “We’re making mistakes from false assumptions and from not knowing how drastically an experience might vary from one person to the next.”

His theory is that some people, the “hyper-tasters” (and I’m in this category), just don’t like red wine – it’s way too strong for their hypersensitive taste buds. This is great news for me – now when I go to a restaurant and want the boeuf bourguignon with a Semillon, I have the perfect response for the waiter who rolls his eyes at my decision! As a hypertaster, we also have a greater sensitivity to bold and bitter flavors and sometimes have trouble finding foods we like. The tolerant tasters, on the other hand, can cope with pretty much anything and are much easier to please.

By finding your own taste “profile,” it will better enable you to find foods and wines that bring you the most pleasure, not what someone else tells you that you should be enjoying! Tim’s Web site will help you discover your degree of sensitivity.

So how will this help us all in pairing food and wine? What it really does is empower you to realize that if you like a certain wine with a certain food, or just want to drink a certain wine with any meal, that it’s OK! Sure, there are some combinations that don’t work for most people. For example, if you are ordering a Thai curry dish, chances are that a bold red is going to leave your tastebuds pretty burned out – much better a beer, sparkling wine or Sauvignon Blanc. And some foods, such as asparagus and artichokes, need something like nuts or cheese to enjoy with wine.

But let’s take chicken as a general example, as it’s a wonderful playground for flavors. Choose the wine you want to serve. If it’s a big bold red, then bring some bold earthy flavors to the chicken, like rich tomato sauces or braised mushrooms. Try my Tomato Braised Chicken on Couscous (below), or the Pistachio-Crusted Chicken with Plum Relish.

If you like that grassy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Aussie Semillon, Pinot Blanc or French Sancere, chicken salads or pastas go really well, as do Thai or Vietnamese dishes.  If it’s a buttery Chardonnay, I like to go all out French with a goat cheese filling and peas.

Have fun and experiment – I’ve always found that guests love to be experimented on!

Tomato and Olive Braised Chicken with Couscous
Makes 4-6 servings

As the colder weather creeps in, I begin to long for braised dishes, but still with a light hand. Chicken is perfect for these occasions, and you just can’t ruin it. It just seems to get better the longer it bubbles away in a rich flavorsome brew!  Pearl couscous is a great base, too, as it’s large grains feel lighter, yet silky in texture with a great mouth feel.

INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp olive oil

1 package Just BARE boneless skinless chicken thighs or drumsticks (I sometimes do a mixture)

1 leek, cleaned and sliced

1 bulb fennel, white part diced

½ tsp dry chili flakes, or paprika

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

½ cup sliced mushrooms

½ cup dry white wine (or light red such as Pinot Noir or Rose)

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 pound Israeli or pearl couscous

½ cup sliced black olives

juice and grated zest of one lemon

½ cup coarsely torn Italian parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large casserole or heavy bottomed large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the chicken in batches, cooking for 2-3 minutes or until browned all over. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the leek, fennel and chili to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or until just starting to soften. Add the tomato paste and cook a minute longer or until turning deep red and aromatic. Return the chicken to the pan with the canned tomatoes, mushrooms, wine, vinegar and ¾ cup water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.
• While the chicken is cooking, place the couscous in a large saucepan over medium high heat, cover with water and bring to the boil.  Cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Turn into a colander and toss with the remaining oil and lemon zest. Keep warm.
• Just before serving, add the olives, lemon juice and parsley to the chicken. Serve over the couscous.

By Sally James
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I love the smell of summer,
A firm ripe juicy heirloom,
the water on a fresh garden bed,
rain on sun burned ground.
Peaches and apricots,
Plump papayas and lime leaves,
I could just smell a dish and be happy,
Layers of squash, fresh herbs and lemon!
The summer barbecue,
wafting aromas of sizzling meat,
A whole roast chicken
Cooked on a grill,
The splash of a crisp cool wine,
A harvest table,
Overflowing with daisies,
Jugs of lemon iced water
Hot baguettes ready for the dipping!
To sit on the beach,
Devour a mango,
Then rinse it off
With waves of delight!
Each season has its bounty,
But summer seems to pulse
With an energy of bounty
God’s gift for the world!