This New Year’s Eve, I hosted a small dinner party for 15 guests. I had each guest bring champagne or their favorite other bubbly and well, we wound up with a lot left over as each person brought 2-3 bottles. It was a wonderful evening of fantastic food, magical ambiance and celebration. However, the most upsetting part of the evening was when we opened a magnum of Veuve Clicquot and didn’t finish it. In fact, I had half of the bottle left. Needless to say, I was distraught at the thought that I would have to throw out what I deem as liquid gold. And decided to come up with a solution to salvage the champagne.
So, here is the magic question: What do you do with all of that leftover champagne??!?!?!?
The answer: New Year’s Day Chicken
The recipe below was made in an 8 qt. slow cooker and finished in the oven. It is my riff on a classic French chicken stew with tons of veggies, fresh herbs, and flavor. It’s a two-step cooking process, but I promise you the chicken will be super moist and the skin nice and crispy.
Leeks – white parts only cut into 3” chunks and sliced in half lengthwise
4
Celery Stalks – cut into 1 ½” chunks
5
Garlic Cloves – peeled but whole
1 bunch
Fresh Herbs – really whatever you have around. I used parsley, thyme, and dill all tied up together in a little bouquet.
To Taste
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
750 ml.
Champagne or Prosecco – that’s basically one bottle of whatever you want.
3 Tbs.
Unsalted Butter – melted
2 Tbs.
Dried Herb Mixture – I used Herbs De Provence or you can use whatever herb mixture you like.
½ cup
Heavy Cream (optional – but trust me, it’s worth it.)
2 Tbs.
Fresh Herbs – finely chopped
Equipment Needed: 8qt. Slow Cooker, Large Cast Iron Pan or Roasting Pan, Saucepan, Kitchen Twine
Process:
Prep all of your veggies and add them to your slow cooker. Liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper both inside and out.
Put the fresh herbs in the chicken’s butt with about 1-2” sticking out and tie the legs together. Also, fold the chicken’s wings back behind her neck. Put the chicken on top of the veggies in the slow cooker and nestle her in there with some of the veggies around.
Pour the champagne around the chicken.
Cook on low for 5 hours. NOTE: Your chicken will NOT be fully cooked at this point. If you let it go a little longer, do not fret, just adjust the cooking time in the oven. This recipe is VERY forgiving.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Melt the butter and set aside.
Pull out the chicken and place in a roasting pan or a cast iron pan. Baste the chicken with the butter and sprinkle with herb mixture until it’s nicely coated.
Carefully add the veggies around the chicken. Be sure not to disturb the chicken. You don’t want to accidently wash off any of the butter and herb mixture.
Give everything a nice sprinkle of salt and pepper and cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is nicely browned and fully cooked.
In the meantime, make the sauce. Pour all of the juices from the crock pot into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Skim off as much of the fat as you can and then add the cream and bring to a low simmer to reduce by about half. Check seasonings and adjust if need be.
Once out of the oven place the chicken on a cutting board to rest for about 10 minutes with some foil over it.
To serve, I like to use a shallow bowl and add some of the veggies with sliced chicken breast of a leg and thigh on top. Ladle sauce over chicken and garnish with fresh herbs. I like to serve this dish with crusty bread and a side salad.
NOTE: If you have a smaller slow cooker, you can certainly adjust the ingredients so that everything can fit. If you are trying to use a 4 qt. slow cooker or less, try a Cornish game hen. If you do this, I would cut the cooking time to 2-3 hours. Please check you slow cooker recipe book for the exact time. Remember you want to undercook it, so that you can finish in the over.
