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20070205

Snakshot part deux: Après-poulet

après snakshot organic local grain-fed chicken saint vincent montreal jean talon market quebec brussel sprouts basmati brown rice green peasIn the world of food and wine pairings, the chicken breast is like that kid who plays right field in pick-up baseball. He'll contribute but certainly not play a starring role. By the end of the evening, he'll get the job done and little more than that.

Unless that chicken breast is from a flavourful grain-fed roasted bird. Yum. Then you can tell the difference a local organic chicken makes. You're not out in right field anymore, that's for sure.

The following are scenes from that delicious whole bird, post-incision. Feast your eyes. Like the chicken, the Brussels sprouts were grown in Quebec too. I'm spoiled now. Spoil yourself too. Enjoy it with anything but a run-of-the-mill wine.

Enate Somontano Chardonnay 234 2004Based on comments left on this site's last chicken entry, it's the wine that helped wash down this chicken that people really want to talk about. I had half a breast and half a leg with the 2005 Pastiche from Joseph Phelps. This Californian red table wine is unlike any other I've tried and was perfect for a whole roasted chicken like the one we ate. Its New World take on the wines of Old is definitely worth noting and I will be integrating it into my post for Wine Blogging Wednesday #30 (which, by the way, is on February 7 -- already upon us -- and the topic is a juicy one: New World Syrah/Shiraz.)

We actually opened a Spanish Chardonnay first, but it was mostly gone by the time the chicken was done. Chardonnays aren't a bad idea either for roast chicken. The Enate Somontano Chardonnay "234" 2004, though nicely bodied and slightly nutty, was not oaky though; an interesting Arbois take on Chardonnay, such as a Savignan-Chardonnay blend or, for the initiated like the Montreal's very-own Caveman, a full-on Savignan, is a perfect fit.

Savignan with dinner... definitely don't expect any right-field boredom there.

Who else has got a favourite organic product? Or favourite organic food supplier where they love to shop?

3 comments:

wine4life said...

I was wondering. In the photo of the brussel sprouts, what was crumbled ontop? I make B.Sprouts often and always look for different ways to prepare them.
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

is this what happens when i check out for two months? you start reviewing new world wines and no one tells me? next time, put out the press releases...

Marcus said...

'4life: If you enlarge the photo, you might be able to make out that there is no recipe crumbled on top of the sprouts, but rather they are just arranged around another sidedish we had with the chicken. I should've mentioned it because it was real good: Brown basmati with a few green peas mixed in. The secret to its deliciousiness was some caramelized red onion and reduced chicken juices. My friends own a rice-cooker too.

'lative: You're jumping in just in time. More on the American Pastiche coming up and a heap of New World Shirazes. Don't hesitate to provide me any free samples of interesting product you may have on hand from your New World travels! I will review even more at the wish of readers like you.

P.S. I also should've linked to the Spanish white wine in this post. I thought it was no longer available in Quebec, but it is. Click on the bottle image for details. In addition, the website does everything but come right out and say that it is organic. So the label on this post regarding the wine is a bit tenuous.