Wine and Food Pairing: General Guard Chicken and cider

Among the delicacies featured at this year’s Live at the Vineyards event on August 13 is a sweet-and-spicy offering from the new “unconventional” Chinese restaurant in the Lowry restaurant district, Lucky Cat.  ”General Guard Chicken” featured natural orange flavors and a couple of pepper treatments: arbol and the southeast Asian chili relish sambal.  The recipe from Lucky Cat executive chef Troy Guard is posted below.

In the KUVO studios to pair with that dish, sommelier Carolyn Joy from Joy Wine and Spirits.  ”This is a great summer dish with the vegetables coming into season, so I chose a Colorado product to match our Colorado chef, ‘New Avalon Apple Cider’ from Jack Rabbit Hill Farm in Hotchkiss, Colo.   It’s not too heavy, and with a spicy dish, you never want to choose something with too much alcohol or too much tannin.”

“They use the entire apple. They’re not pressing it – they put the whole apple, skin, seeds, core into a vat and let it ferment slowly.  No yeast, no temperature control, and so it takes about three months for this to ferment.  And they somehow incorporate the pomace from their pinot noir, so we get a little more complexity in this cider.”

Wine tastings at Joy Wine and Spirits (1302 East 6th Ave. at Marion, Denver) are Wednesdays from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Music on this feature by Helen Sung, “Hope Springs Eternally,” from the CD “Anthem for a New Day.”

Wine and Food Pairing with Carolyn Joy

General Guard Chicken

Ingredients:

2 pounds             marinated chicken thighs (recipe follows)

1 cup                     flour mix (recipe follows)

1 quart                 orange sauce (recipe follows)

½ ounce               dried chilis, you can use arbol from the grocery store

2 each                   baby bok choy, rinsed, chopped and blanched

1 each                   large red bell pepper, rinsed, diced and blanched

1 each                   large green bell pepper, rinsed, diced and blanched

1 each                   large yellow onion, cleaned and diced

                ½ pound              broccoli florets, trimmed down so they are smaller and easier to eat and   

                                                blanched

¼ pound               green beans, cut into 2 inch batons

Blanching: 3 quart pot pour in 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. When boiling place each vegetable separately into the water for about 45 seconds then shock in ice water (this makes the vegetables easier to cook so as not to burn when cooking)

Directions:

After washing and cutting all your vegetables, set them aside for later use. Slice your boneless skinless chicken thighs thin (about ¼ inch) and dust then with the flour mixture. In a large hot sauté pan place 8 ounces of oil and brown your chicken, be careful of splattering of oil. Take the chicken out and place onto paper towel to soak up and excess oil.

Leaving some oil in the pan sauté the vegetables together for 1 minutes to ensure they don’t overcook. Toss in the chicken and the sauce and mix together until hot, about 1 to 2 more minutes. Now you’re ready to enjoy, serve over some jasmine rice and have a family feast

Orange Sauce

Ingredients:

4 ounces              canola oil

½ ounce               chopped ginger

½ ounce               chopped garlic

3 ounces              sambal

8 ounces              oj concentrate

1 each                   orange peel

1 ounce                                sesame oil

12 ounces           rice wine vinegar

3 ounces              soy sauce

1 pound               sugar

                ½ cup                    thick cornstarch slurry (corn starch and water, ½ starch and ½ water) you can also use arrow root if you would like. If using arrow root the amount will vary.

Directions:

In a 3 quart pot pour in the oil and heat until hot, toss in the garlic and ginger (careful the garlic and ginger will let off a lot of steam) and cook until the oil start to look as if it is boiling and browning on the sides add in all the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, when boiling add in the slurry and let boil for another minute until it thickens.

Marinated Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

2 pounds             boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can also use breast if you like)

½ cup                    soy sauce

¼ cup                     shoaxing wine, if you can’t find you can substitute with marsala wine

1 tablespoon      chopped ginger

1 tablespoon      chopped garlic

½ cup                    sugar

2 each                   egg whites, beaten until frothy

Directions:

In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly, place into the fridge for 2 hour (to incorporate the flavors)

Flour Mixture

Ingredients:

½ cup    rice flour

½ cup    corn starch

Directions:

                In a small mixing bowl combine and set aside for future use.