Braised Chicken Thighs with Green Figs and Balsamic Vinegar

This is one of my favorite winter braised dishes though it is light enough to enjoy any time of the year.  I made it this weekend for a potluck and wine tasting to a great response.  It's chicken thighs braised in balsamic vinegar, port, mushrooms, green figs, onions and bacon.

I went over to a friend's house to pick some plums off their tree and they had a smaller green fig tree.  I was there to grab fruit for yellow plum jam, but this offering put this dish into the forefront of my mind.

You're going to need:

5 or 6 Chicken Thighs
3 or 4 slices of bacon
1 Small Red Onion
2-3 Garlic Cloves
6 Fresh Figs, Stemmed and Quartered
10 Cremini Mushrooms
2 1/14 c Chicken Broth
5T Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 c Port Wine (cooking or whatever you have on hand)
1/2 c Polenta
2T Unsalted Butter
Parsley, Chopped

There is plenty of room to modify this recipe or to add whatever you think would work well.

-  Slice the bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Saute on medium heat in a medium saucepan until crispy and remove.

- Mince the onion and slice the mushrooms into 1/4 slices.  Cook the onions until translucent and then add the mushrooms.  Sprinkle in a bit of salt and pepper.

- Mince the garlic and when the onions start to caramelize, add it.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.

- Pour in the balsamic and port.  Deglaze the pan by scraping with a wooden spoon.

- Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add the thighs to the pan and pour in 1/2 cups of the chicken broth and add the figs.

- Simmer for about 20 minutes.

- Pull the thighs out of the pan and remove the meat from the bone.  you can discard or add a bit of the skin to the pan.  You can skip this step by using boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

- Smash or stir the mixture a bit to break down the figs and onions into the sauce.

-In another pan add 1 3/4 c chicken stock and bring to a boil with 1/2 t salt.  Whisk in the polenta and cook for 5-10 minutes until the mixture thickens and the grains soften.  You can also add a splash of milk or half and half to add to the richness.  When the polenta is cooked, whisk in 1 T butter and check the salt and pepper for seasoning.  If the polenta seems to thick, you can always add additional stock or dairy.

- Scoop the polenta into 2-3 bowls.  Top with the chicken mixture, bacon and chopped parsley.

- Serve warm and pair with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir as your taste dictates.

High West Midwinter Night's Dram Act 2.6

High West is a distillery located in Salt Lake City, Utah.  They have largely gained fame for their whiskey over the years by sourcing some amazing barrels and creating delicious mainstream and limited releases.  They have since set up a distillery and have stocks of various whiskey aging. 

The limited edition Midwinter Night's Dram is released yearly (with Act 3 arriving Fall 2015).  It is their standard Rendezvous Rye Whiskey that has been finished in Port and French Oak barrels.  The whiskey inside is sourced from MGP in Indiana (6-year 95% Rye, 5% Barley) and Barton Distillery (16-year 80% Rye, 10% Corn, 10% Barley), and is then finished for a period in the Port and French Oak Barrels.


The color is a deep reddish mahogany.

There is a sweetness on the nose of brown sugar, butterscotch and caramel, along with straw/hay, dill, nutmeg, clove and raspberry.

The palate is medium weight and drier than on my previous tasting, showing oak, vanilla dusty hay, dried herbs, caramel, brown sugar, raspberry, dried cherry notes and cinnamon.

The finish is long, warm and smooth. There are some hay/grain notes, along with vanilla, oak and caramel syrup.


This bottle has been open over a year and it has changed a bit. I still love it however, and would snap up any of it I can find. I think overall the fruit characteristics have toned down (previously I got fig and plum) and the sweetness has tapered from molasses, toffee and a lactic creaminess. I think the bottle has become drier, picking up more hay, dill and dried herbal notes.  Still a favorite, but is becoming more toned down.

Celebrating the Fourth of July with a Sazerac Cocktail with Twisted Manzanita Rye Whiskey

The Sazerac Cocktail has its roots all the way back in 1850 and may even be the root of the English word cocktail (the measuring cup that Antoine Peychaud used in New Orleans was called a coquetier).  The original Sazerac was made with Cognac (Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand), but the phylloxera epidemic in the 1870's in France made Cognac less available and in 1873, the Sazerac cocktail was altered to include the use of American Rye Whiskey.


You are going to need a few ingredients for a good Sazerac cocktail.

3 oz Rye Whiskey (I used Twisted Manzanita Rebellious Rye from Santee CA)
1/2 t (a rinse) of Absinthe (I used Wild Card Absinthe from Bend OR)
2-3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
1/2 oz Simple Syrup (traditionally a sugar cube is used and doused with the bitters)
2-3 Luxardo Cherries (not traditional, but they are great cherries)
Meyer Lemon Rind for garnish

-Take a chilled coup or rocks glass and rinse with the absinthe.  Just run it around the inside of the glass and either leave the excess in, or shake it gently off.   My first Sazerac had too much black licorice or fennel character because of how much absinthe I used, so experiment.

-In a shaker with ice, combine the rye whiskey, Peychaud's bitters, simple syrup and shake until chilled.

-Strain into the chilled glass, add a few cherries (if you feel like it) and twist your lemon rind over the cocktail to release the essential oils and create a brighter, more fresh tasting cocktail.


This cocktail is generally more dry than a manhattan, but has a more herbal edge than and old fashioned.  You will find many recipes for the Sazerac Cocktail in books and online.  There will be some subtle, and not so subtle variations.  Give it a try your way and just enjoy a refreshing cocktail with a hint of history.

Pikesville Straight Rye Whiskey

I've always enjoyed using Rittenhouse Rye whiskey from Heaven Hill in cocktails.  So when I saw that they were resurrecting the Pikesville Rye Whiskey brand I was excited to try it.

Rittenhouse is a 100 proof, four-year aged bottled in bond rye whiskey.  Heaven Hill decided to take this already enjoyable rye, age it another two year and up the proof to 110.  The result is incredible, the successful resurrection of an 1890's northeastern US brand of rye whiskey.  Pikesville sells for about double Rittenhouse.

It falls under what a lot of people refer to as "barely legal rye" with a mash bill of 51% Rye, 39% Corn and 10% Malted Barley.  This shows on the palate with a much heavier, more rounded flavor.


A dark brown amber color.

Medium nose of brown sugar, sweetness, spicy character and a bit of alcohol.

The palate was richer than expected (probably due to the high proportion of corn), but still dry with prevailing flavors of spice, grain and dust, with moderate wood and caramel. Not a ton of fruity or floral characteristics.

The heat leaves quickly and you are left with a long finish of caramel, toffee and a light coffee bitterness.


This is a great rye whiskey to have around to sip neat or even mix into a cocktail.  The Rittenhouse seemed like more of an over ice or mixer whiskey.  The mash bill gives it a more rounded palate and while there are spicy notes, they are not as prevalent as you would find in a high rye or 95% rye whiskey.  It should run between $40-50 depending on where you live.

Alchemy Distillery Boldt White Whiskey

I'm really excited about this review.  Alchemy Distillery is a new, local distiller in my neck of the woods (literally) that has done, and is doing things right.  They have another business and about two and a half years ago started a kickstarter campaign to fulfill their whiskey loving ambitions.  It took them a while to come to market and I think in doing so they set things up in just the right way.  They took their time, going on a distillery tour of the US, purchasing all American made equipment (including a beautiful Vendome copper still), doing all sorts of research and attending distilling classes and conferences.

Their first whiskey release was in March of 2016, nearly two years after their kicktarter concluded.  Like most new distilleries the first product to come off their still was a white whiskey.  It is different in vodka as it has to be distilled to 160 proof or lower.  To be classified as bourbon or American whiskey, it has to enter the barrel at 125 proof or lower.  Some distilleries do water down their whiskey before placing them in barrel (ie: Wild Turkey).  The good news now is that Alchemy Distillery has put away at least one barrel of their wheat whiskey and is looking to do more.

They started by sourcing local Humboldt County grains and distilling them in a 100% varietal mash bill.  This has given birth to their first two releases, a soft white wheat whiskey and a hard red wheat whiskey from Hindley Ranch.  It is bottled at 90 proof.  It was delicious, and immediately drinkable at the 150 or so still proof, but it's hard to sell a white whiskey at that proof.


The soft white wheat is brighter with more tangy, citrus, limestone, chalky notes with an edge of green.

The hard red wheat is wider with notes of grain, dustiness, sweeter, floral edges and just a hint of bitterness.

The hard red wheat gets the edge with my palate in being more whiskey - like while the soft white wheat has more of a kinship with vodka or gin.

Both worked well in a Boldt-Julep with mint, simple syrup, lime and soda water. The neat thing is that you can really taste the whiskey character in the cocktail.

For now they are only available in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Scuppernong (or Lewis and Co Orange Blossom Tea Jelly) Sour

I recently read the book Bitters by Brad Thomas Parsons and, on his incredibly enthusiastic recommendation, bought a bottle of Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters. They age their bitters in barrel "until maturity is achieved."  I found a bottle of the 2014 "vintage" on a local store's shelf.  I was looking for something to use these incredibly deep and complex flavorful bitters in when I came across his recipe for a Scuppernong Sour.

This was my first cocktail using raw egg whites.  I don't know why I hadn't tried it before.  There's just an ingrown aversion to using raw or under cooked poultry products that is really drummed into you in America.

Boy am I sad I waited! This drink had such a beautiful, rich mouth feel and a brightness from the citrus and jelly. It's the kind of cocktail that is tough to sip because you just want to down the entire icy cold, smooth and citrusy thing in one drink.

Scuppernong is a variety of Muscadine grape native to the south eastern United States.  I found a suitable substitute in my pantry.


2 T Lewis and Co Orange Blossom Tea Jelly
2 oz Old Forester 100 Proof Bourbon
2 Dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White

Shake the cocktail dry (without ice) to incorporate everything and then add ice and shake until chilled. Double strain through a fine mesh into a coup glass and enjoy.


This was an incredible, eye-opening cocktail that was my introduction to egg white including mixed drinks. Find an appropriate jelly and give it a try yourself.