Recently I made a super cool discovery that’s made cooking with wine so much easier. It’s brilliant, really.

The common advice you’ll get about cooking with wine is “don’t cook with it if you wouldn’t drink it”, which is fine I suppose, but honestly? I can’t justify using an expensive wine in my dishes when the cheap stuff works brilliantly. If I’m making a meal for guests, sure, I’ll pop for a more pricey wine, but when I just want something for my husband and I to enjoy, the cheap stuff is just fine. However, I’ll give you this caveat: We’re not wine snobs AT ALL. We like Wild Vines as much as we like a good Moscato d’Asti. Take that as you will.

So anyway, our local grocery stores has these little baby bottles of Turning Leaf wines — about 2 glasses worth — for $1 apiece. I stocked up on a few white and a few reds and let me tell you, they are PERFECT for cooking!! Just enough for a recipe!

I’ve actually tried to make this before in the past, but I ended up reducing the sauce too much and ruining it all. The turkey had amazing flavor, infused with the wine, but I ended up destroying the sauce. Naturally, when I saw the turkey thighs in the discount meat bin again (<$2 for two!) I picked them up for round two.

This is no shortcut recipe, but it is really simple. It just involves occasionally babysitting while you go about your day. Also? I just made this recipe up. I call it Country French Turkey because the flavor reminds me of Chicken Tonight’s Country French sauce, but I don’t know how French it is. I just know it’s delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Two turkey thighs, skin-on
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 5 mushrooms, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • Thyme and Tarragon
  • Salt & pepper
  • 2 cups chicken/duck/poultry stock or broth (I used some of that duck stock I made a few weeks ago and froze)
  • 1 baby bottle of Turning Leaf Pinot Noir
  • Olive oil

Season the turkey breasts with a little salt and pepper. Coat the bottom of a sauté pan with a thin film of olive oil and, when hot, place the turkey thighs skin side down. Add the onions and vegetables and cook until the turkey skin is browned. Add the stock and wine, a dash of tarragon and a dash of thyme (fresh is better, dried is fine). The liquid should cover the meat about 1/2 way. Bring to a slow boil, then simmer, covered, on low for about 2 hours, checking the liquid levels every 30 minutes or so (my downfall the first time I did this) and flipping the thighs over about halfway through.

Leave uncovered for the last half hour to help the sauce reduction along. Keep an eye on it at this point! When all is cooked, you can continue reducing the sauce or you can thicken it with a little cornstarch. I serve this with a white-and-wild rice mix, but it would also be awesome with garlic mashed potatoes. It’s beautiful comfort food and a super elegant meal that certainly doesn’t taste like it costs so little per serving!