Food Pairing: A Balanced Brut Champagne With An Easy and Elegant Roast Chicken
By: Sheri Wetherell
Published: April 29, 2014

Champagne isn’t just for special occasions. Every day should be celebrated! And a weeknight dinner needn’t be a boring frozen casserole thrown in the oven. This roasted chicken recipe is elegant, amazingly easy to prepare, and you’ll use only one pan. It’s a dish that pairs perfectly with a balanced and bone dry Brut Champagne. So go ahead and enjoy life on this splendid Tuesday. That's reason enough to pop the cork and savor a simple meal.
	Need help selecting the perfect Brut? Check out Fat Cork, provider of exclusive Grower Champagne to bubble lovers across the U.S. All of Fat Cork's Bruts have been aged for a minimum of three years before release; and with age, comes complexity.
 Roasted Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Manzanilla Olives
	Courtesy of Ethan Stowell and Olives from Spain 
	Serves 4
	4 chicken breasts 
	1 cup Manzanilla olives 
	2 preserved lemons, rinds removed and thinly sliced 
	1 lemon, juiced 
	4 sprigs rosemary 
	1 cup loosely packed parsley leaves 
	Olive oil 
	Salt and pepper   
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
	Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy bottomed sauté pan over medium high heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. When hot add the chicken breasts skin side down. Cook until skin is golden brown and the skin is crispy, about 4-5 minutes. Flip chicken breasts over, add the rosemary sprigs to the pan and place the entire pan in the oven. Cook until the chicken is just cooked through, about 10-12 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 150 degrees internally. Remove the chicken from the pan, add the Manzanilla olives, preserved lemons, lemon juice, parsley, and about ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil to the pan—this will be the sauce.
Divide the chicken between four plates, heat the sauce over medium heat and spoon evenly over the chicken breasts. Serve while hot and enjoy with a vegetable side such as roasted onions or carrots.