Chicken in Red Wine Sauce

Let's talk chicken - $8 for a 4 pack of chicken breasts is stupid. My advice: buy the whole damn bird for $5. It's not that hard and even though it takes longer the flavor is better and you can move on to bigger and better things culinary-wise.

You need:
-butcher's twine
- 1 whole chicken
-butter
-1 minced shallot
-3 garlic cloves
-salt and pepper
-1/2 crate of Mushrooms
-10 pearl onions
-1 1/2 cups Red Wine
-1 cup chicken stock
- Pinch of sugar
-Olive oil
-Tbs. Flour

Start by cleaning out your bird (i.e. taking out the neck, liver, etc) then truss your bird. Trussing is not a big deal and there are great videos on Youtube.com to help you through it. Tying the bird really changes the flavor by holding the juices in the meat. Place 3 crushed garlic cloves in the breast cavity and then season the whole bird accordingly with salt and pepper. Once tied, place the whole bird in a pan full of butter - olive oil mix and let that sucker fry. Try to get some decent coloration on both sides. Remember to start with the breast side down first.

Then place the bird on a roasting tray and into the oven at 360 for about one hour depending on the size of your bird. Baste the bird with the fat that drips off. Now that you have your bird going, cook your mushrooms in butter and the pearl onions in another pan with water, salt, butter and sugar - enough to steam them until soft.

Now to ratifier the sauce: use the the same pan you seared the chicken in to sauteee the minced shallot for one minute. Crank up the heat to high and add your wine, and then Flambee, or light a match - as I like to call it. Once cooked off and reduced slightly add your stock. Reduce until the flavor is to your liking, adding salt sparingly due to the amount of sodium already in the stock. In a small dish mix flour and an equal amount of butter, making a paste and then add it to the sauce. Bring it to a boil and it will instantly thicken. Finally add your pearl onions and mushrooms.

Cut up your bird and serve on a bed of mashed potatoes garnished with watercress.