“Interesting," Elaine said as Rick poured the vodka over the chicken and struck a match. "Until I met you, I never thought of using 'Polish food' and 'romantic' in the same sentence.” From Death In the Science Classroom
Polish Chicken Flambé with Big Basin's Pinot Noir
Serves 4
4 chicken quarters
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons strong Polish vodka or other vodka
4 stale dinner rolls
1/2 cup milk
1/ 4 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon finely chopped almonds
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/ 4 cup chopped fresh parsley
In a medium bowl, soak rolls in milk add butter or margarine, eggs, 1 tablespoon of salt, dry bread
crumbs, walnuts, almonds, nutmeg, and parsley. Use a food processor to combine ingredients.
Grease a baking pan, place the stuffing inside and cover with foil.
Rub chicken with 1tablespoon salt. Preheat oven to 375F.
Cover and bake 30 minutes. Remove cover; bake 30 minutes more or
until juices run clear. Place chicken quarters, skin -side up, on a platter. Pour vodka over
chicken. Using a long match, carefully ignite vodka. Serve immediately.
This dish is perfect with a bottle of Pinot Noir from Big Basin Vineyards.
Big Basin Vineyards, founded in 1998, is located next to the
Big Basin Redwoods, California's oldest state park, and home to the largest
continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco. Wine grape
cultivation started by French immigrants in the 1900s continued until 1965 when
the property was sold to a timber company, at which time the vineyard was in
disrepair.
The current owners, Bradley Brown, and his sister have been
restoring this historic vineyard site using modern, organic viticultural
methods. Drainage and erosion problems have been corrected, and over ninety
percent of the estate is being preserved in its natural state.
The winemaking process starts by sorting grape clusters,
gently desteming the fruit and then sorting the berries, which roll into small
open top fermenters. Whole berries are cold soaked for several days before
being fermented with native yeast. They pump the liquid over the berries and
then punch the grapes down by hand. When the wine has achieved the desired
intensity they gently press off the skins. The wine then goes into French oak
barrels for two to three years of aging.
The new winery building, constructed from redwood
selectively harvested from the estate on the same site as the original 1890s
house/winery structure was completed in December 2003. This winery concentrates
on Syrah, Grenache, and Pinot Noir.
Bradley Brown co-founded the Shakti Yoga Shala with his wife,
Samantha Shakti-Brown. Participating in the weekly yoga class is now an
integral part of working at Big Basin Vineyards.