As promised, Chef James sent this recipe for his Molé Chicken for White Wine Connoisseurs. This was the Main Dish for the May 2011 tasting of white wines at the Treasure Valley Wine Society. Thank-You Chef James for sharing this recipe with us. Do enjoy this.

Executive Chef James Grimes

Ingredients:
2-2 ½ lbs Chicken diced ¾” pieces, boneless skinless thigh meat
2 T Corn Oil
½ c Onion, diced bruniose (See below)
2 cloves Garlic, minced
10-12 ea Tomatillos, skins removed and quartered
127oz can Green Chilies, diced or fresh Anaheim Chilies, roasted, peeled & diced
2 ea Jalapeno Peppers, seeded and chopped
¼ c Cilantro, fresh snipped
2 T Sesame Seeds, toasted
2 T Almonds, sliced & toasted
¼ t Cinnamon, ground
¼ t Kosher Salt
1½ oz White Chocolate, small pieces
¼ c Corn Meal, lightly roasted
½ c Sparkling Wine, vintage of choice
1 Glass Sparkling Wine, for the cook

Directions:
Rinse and pat dry chicken. Heat 1 T, tablespoon, of the corn oil in a heavy duty 12 ” skillet, add onion and garlic, cook 3-5 minutes until onion is translucent, not browned.

Remove from oil and place into stock pot with additional oil and balance of ingredients except corn meal, sparkling wine and chocolate, cook 15-20 minutes, medium heat, stirring frequently to not scorch or burn bottom.

Combine corn meal and sparkling wine to make a smooth paste and incorporate into vegetable mixture to create a slight thickening, binder. Blend sauce ingredients until smooth and cover browned chicken pieces. Add white chocolate. Adjust seasonings to taste i.e. salt & liquid pepper (Tabasco).

Add chicken pieces to heavy duty skillet and brown thoroughly on all sides, medium high heat. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165° for at least 15 seconds. Add sauce to chicken and simmer 10-15 minutes.

Serve with white rice, your favorite vegetable to accompany and of course your favorite Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling Wine.

Note: Bruniose [broo-NWAHZ] – Name for a French style of cutting vegetables. This term is applied to a method for both cutting vegetables into a minute dice (small dice) and for the actual diced vegetables. Most often braised in butter, brunoise is used as a garnish for soups, sauces and stuffing, and also serves as a flavoring, for dishes like Osso-bucco.
General size: 2 to 3 mm square.
Knife Skill: Brunoise is an extremely fine and exact dice.