Ginger Braised Chicken

1/2 chicken
1/2 lemon sliced in thin rings
3-4 celery stalks
8 oz whole button mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup sake or dry white wine

2 thumbs ginger, diced

8-10 garlic cloves, bruised and peeled

1 Tbsp butter

1 handful celery leaves, roughly chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp soy sauce

2 good glugs fish sauce

2 tsp cornstarch

Combine sake, ginger, garlic cloves, butter, celery leaves, lemon juice, soy sauce, and fish sauce in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes; whisk lightly.

Preheat oven to 300F. Put a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add oil and when hot, place the chicken skin-side down. Cook 4-5 minutes or until well-browned.

Turn the chicken over and remove the skillet from heat. Place lemon slices on the chicken and arrange the mushrooms around it. Pour on the braising liquid, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and place in oven for 60 minutes. Uncover, add celery stalks, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove chicken, mushrooms, and celery to a serving platter. Whisk cornstarch into the braising liquid; there should be enough residual heat in the skillet to thicken - if not put over a low burner.

Serve with rice.

Guest Recipe: Sangria

I'm not much of a mixologist, but this sounds great. From TaMara at What's 4 Dinner Solutions.

Photo from Food Network

One of my favorite movies is Tortilla Soup. I mean it has Hector Elizondo and beautiful food. And Raquel Welch, camping it up. What’s not to love? You know the food is an important cast member when the food and menu designers are listed first in the credits. I was watching it the other weekend and there it was, on the table, a big pitcher of Sangria and my first thought was, I need to find a recipe for Sangria to share. So off I went, looking for a simple, tasty recipe. I haven’t made Sangria in a long time, but it might be time to whip up a pitcher. I’m going to a family reunion next month, might be the perfect time.

This Sangria recipe is pretty traditional. The next one is a blend of very different flavors. Both are easy to double for a big party.

Sangria

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• 1 orange cut into wedges
• 1 lime cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Splash of orange juice or lemonade
• 2 shots of gin or triple sec (optional)
• 1 cup of raspberries or strawberries (may use thawed or frozen)
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 4 Cups ginger ale

Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple then add sugar, orange juice and gin. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving. If you need to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice. Best Sangrias are chilled around 24 hours in the frig. – allowing the flavors to really macerate.