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Feta Chicken Bake - Lemon Dijon Beans - Wine Choice

FETA CHICKEN BAKE

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (approx. 2 lbs)

3 tbsp. lemon juice                     ¼ tsp. pepper

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled       ¼ cup chopped red pepper

¼ cup freshly chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange chicken in a baking dish.  Drizzle with 1 ½ tbsp. of lemon juice.  Sprinkle with black pepper. Top with feta cheese and remaining lemon juice.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the red pepper and parsley.

Serves 6

 LEMON DIJON BEANS 

1 lb. fresh green beans                         2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. lemon juice                               2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp. Dill                                            2 tbsp. sliced almonds

Cook fresh beans in butter until crisp.  Add lemon juice, mustard & dill.  Toss well, heat through and sprinkle with almonds.

WINE CHOICE

For a change, I knew immediately what wine I wanted to try with this month's meal.

Karen had obviously paired two dishes that both used lemon juice.  That might seem tough to match against, but a meal like that requires wines with a little fruity feel and some citrus in them in my mind.  Wines like Riesling, Chablis, and Unoaked Chardonnay.

I say Unoaked because the big, buttery, toasted-oak flavors of the California Chardonnays we all indulged in a few years ago just won't do.  Better to go with a steel-fermented bottle, I thought.

As it happened, I had just the bottle I wanted to try.  Channing Daughters Winery, out in the Hamptons at the end of Long Island, makes a wine like that, their 2005 Scuttlehole Chardonnay.  we have made it our Wine of the Month for May of 2005, so take a look there for more information.

You might have a little trouble finding this wine if you are not from New York state; very few places seem to carry it beyond the borders.  If you are in a wine store looking for a Chardonnay to go with this meal, wondering which Chardonnay is steel-fermented or unoaked, ask the wine salesman.  Tell him you are having it with a lemon-chicken dinner, and that you don't want a buttery, heavily oaked wine.  If he knows his stock, he'll have immediate suggestions for you.

Feta Chicken Bake - Lemon Dijon Beans - Wine Choice

 Last modified: August 07, 2007