Champagne Chicken and Veggies

You may have noticed a theme that my last two recipes have "champagne" in the title. But don't be mislead into thinking that I'm regularly sipping on champagne and munching beluga caviar. It's actually more of a using up leftovers thing. But I figured this title resonated more than "Using up Leftovers Chicken".

When I got home from work this evening I was hungry but not super hungry and my husband requested something light. I felt like having chicken so I pulled out two bone-in chicken breasts to defrost. I then searched my fridge to find accompanying ingredients. The first one to be found was the last bit of leftover champagne from Saturday's dinner (carefully capped with a specific champagne corker so that it wasn't yet flat).



I also found a red onion, garlic (yes I'm finally the proud owner of garlic again), mushrooms, carrots and celery. I knew I was onto something. And the best part is that I knew it would be easy and ready in no time.



I browned the chicken in right in the pressure cooker on both sides. As the chicken was browning I chopped the onion, sliced the mushrooms, chopped the garlic, peeled and sliced the carrots, and diced the celery.

I removed the chicken from the pot, chucked in my prepared veggies and let sauté until softened. I added my bubbly, let it simmer down, threw in some canned tomatoes, returned the chicken, secured the lid, and brought up to high pressure. Easy pleasy. After 15 minutes I turned the burner off and let the pressure fall.

Before serving I did a quick check of the chicken temperature to make sure it was cooked through. It was more than done at about 180-190F depending which part of the bird breast I was aiming for. Despite the high internal temperature it was super tender and infused with the yummy vegetable goodness.

And what to serve with? Why, leftover champagne and leek risotto of course!

Champagne Chicken and Vegetables

2 tbsp olive oil
2 bone-in, skin on chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 mushrooms, sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tsp thyme
3/4 cup champagne
14 oz canned tomatoes

Heat the oil in the pressure cooker. Add the seasoned (salt and pepper) chicken breasts and brown on each side for about 4-5 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate for now. Add all of the veggies except the tomatoes and they thyme. Let cook for about 5 minutes until reduced. Add the champagne and let simmer down for about 1 minutes. Add the tomatoes and mix through. Nestle the chicken breasts into the stew-like mixture and secure the pressure cooker lid. Bring to 15 psi pressure and let cook 15 minutes. Use the quick-release method to release the pressure.