Saturday morning we headed out to the market in Arles in order to pick out the ingredients that we would consume for dinner. Full expecting to buy some seafood, we changed course when we realized that there were roasted chickens everywhere… and veggies being roasted in the chicken fat.
Perfect inspiration!
So we opted to buy a local free-range chicken, (with no feathers or talons at my request), some fresh and local veggies and some local bull sausage for happy hour.
The Meal: Roasted Chicken w/Veg
The chicken was given a lovely, under the skin, massage of compound butter of Provencal herbs. Then rested on a bed of potatoes, onions, carrots ad tomatoes. After is was baked a gravy was made with the left over juices, mixed with red wine and mushrooms. The gravy was so good we ended up cracking a new loaf of bread to soak it all up.
The Wine: Mas Grange Blance AOC Cotes du Rhone
Wow, what a pairing! Not only did this wine work well in the gravy, it tasted awesome with the entire meal! On the nose the wine came off a little fruit forward, but on the palate tobacco smoke filled our mouths with an afterthought of vanilla. We still have another bottle of this to consume and I don’t think that anyone in the house will object when it appears on the table again – perhaps this time with some dark chocolate!