While cooking with wine is popular, we recommend adding high-quality suds.
Utah isn’t known for having the most liberal alcohol regulations, but it is producing some of the West’s finest craft beers. Among the state’s recognition-worthy microbreweries is Wasatch Brewery in Park City, Utah. Established in 1986 by Milwaukee transplant Greg Schrif, who discovered that drinking and brewing were all but forbidden in the Beehive State, Wasatch, named after the Wasatch Range that frames Park City and the nearby Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, was the first brewery in Utah and counts among the earliest of craft breweries in the United States. Greg. Two years later, Schrif opened a brewpub, a microbrewery-restaurant hybrid that combines onsite brewing with elevated bar food, often paired with the establishment’s beer. One such dish served at the Wasatch brewpubs (there are two: one in Park City and another in Salt Lake City) is the braised chicken thighs shared below as part of C&I’s continuing celebration of American Craft Beer Week.
Wasatch Brewpub Braised Chicken Thighs
(Serves 5)
5 pounds chicken thighs
¾ cup bacon, diced
¾ cup shallots, sliced
1¼ cup white button mushrooms, quartered
½ cup yellow onion, medium diced
1 clove fresh garlic, chopped
1¼ cup red wine
1 tablespoon chicken base
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
3 cups water
salt and black pepper, to taste
Tobacco onions, for garnish
Bias cut scallions, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Season thighs with salt and pepper, and set aside.
In a large shallow pot, sauté the diced bacon until golden in color. Add garlic and rosemary and sauté until garlic starts to gain some color. Add sliced shallots, minced onion and mushrooms to bacon mix and sauté until caramelized. Deglaze the pan with the red wine until liquid is reduced by half.
Once the wine has reduced, carefully add the chicken base to the hot liquid.
Add water and bay leaf to mixture and place in a baking dish. Add chicken and incorporate thoroughly. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and allow to braise in the oven for 45 minutes.
Serve over wild rice prepared per package instructions and garnish with tobacco onions and bias cut scallions.
Pairs deliciously with a Wasatch Ghostrider White IPA (or a six pack!)
For more information on Wasatch Brewery and its brew pubs and where to find its beer, visit the brewing company’s website.
Keep coming back to C&I for more American Craft Beer Week coverage.