Le Creuset Guest Recipe Post ~ Chicken with Black Grapes and Marsala Sauce

Le Creuset Guest Recipe Post 

~ Chicken with Black Grapes and Marsala Sauce ~

Day Twenty Three on the

Advent Calendar

Window number twenty three is a

Nutcracker

I was recently contacted on behalf of Le Creuset UK to feature a special recipe they had selected for me by way of a guest post; a festive recipe that combines all the elements of fine, luxury ingredients but using a cheaper cut of chicken, chicken thighs. I had to cook the recipe in a Le Creuset casserole dish of course, but that was no hardship to me, as I am an avid collector of Le Creuset casserole dishes, as well as Le Creuset sauté pans, saucepans, fondue sets, frying pans and I even own a Le Creuset salt and pepper set, in volcanic orange!

 This recipe would be perfect for Christmas Eve supper or for an alternative Christmas Day dinner for two……where a turkey would just be too big. I particularly liked that fact that the suggested cut of chicken was chicken thighs ~ a cheaper cut than chicken breasts and wonderfully succulent even after two hours of cooking. The other ingredients were pure luxury with an overtly Italian feel to them…….Marsala wine, mascarpone cheese, pancetta and oregano, as well a black grapes were the main protagonists other than the chicken thighs. 

This would also be a perfect dinner party dish, as it can be prepared beforehand and then is popped in to a slow oven to cook for over two hours; the suggested Le Creuset casserole is a cast iron round one ~ I used a 26cm round casserole in the classic volcanic colour. I am a seasoned Le Creuset cook and all of my one pot dishes are cooked in their cast iron range, from daubes and curries to hot pots and cottage pies, I love the heat retention and also their rustic oven to table good looks. I even sautéed the ingredients in the same pot, on top of my gas stove, before placing them all back into the casserole and cooking the dish in my wood burning Aga oven. 

The combination of ingredients is wonderful and after slow cooking for well over two hours you are rewarded with succulent chicken thighs in a creamy Marsala sauce with plump grapes, crisp pancetta and aromatic herbs….I served this straight from the casserole dish (on a heat-proof trivet on the kitchen table) with steamed potatoes and shredded baby Savoy cabbage; it was declared an instant hit by all at the table.

The benefits of cooking in cast iron are numerous, I love the fact that you can cook with them on any heat source and that they retain heat very well……as well as keeping food moist and succulent even after long cooking times; Le Creuset casseroles have a lifetime guarantee and are also freezer and dish washer proof. Although there is an amazing range of colours currently available in Le Cresuet, colours to suit any kitchen colour scheme and theme, I still love the original Volcanic Orange….and I have a four pan set in that classic colour, with the wooden pan and lid stand….a much loved and much used piece of kitchen equipment. Having said that, I would not be adverse to collecting a few more colours to add to my expanding collection! I will leave you with the recipe now and it’s really starting to feel like Christmas, so I will be back tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, with some magical wee bites! See you then, Karen.